Dog Treat Calorie Calculator

Why treats need a budget

Treats are an easy place for a careful feeding plan to go wrong. A handful of training rewards, a chew in the evening and a piece of toast at breakfast rarely feel like much, yet together they can add a surprising share of a dog's day. Because treats are usually given on top of a full bowl, they are a common and easily missed reason for gradual weight gain.

A widely used guideline in veterinary nutrition is to keep treats, chews and other extras to about 10 percent of a dog's daily calories. The main, complete food provides the other 90 percent, which keeps the diet balanced and the calories under control. This calculator turns that guideline into a number for one dog, and, if you have the treat's label, into a number of treats.

How the calculator works

1. Daily calories. It estimates what a healthy dog needs in a day with the same method as our dog calorie calculator: the resting energy requirement (70 × body weight in kilograms to the power of 0.75), multiplied by a factor for life stage and activity, such as 1.6 for a neutered adult with normal activity.
2. Treat budget. It takes 10 percent of that daily estimate. This is the most the day's treats, chews and extras should add up to.
3. Number of treats (optional). Enter the calories in one treat, as printed on the package, and the calculator divides the budget by it. The answer is rounded down, so following it never takes the dog over budget. If the label gives kcal per kg instead, switch to "per kg" and the result is in grams a day.

The calculator does not contain calorie values for any brand or type of treat. Treats vary widely, even within one brand, so the only reliable figure is the one on the package in your hand. If a label gives no calorie information, ask the manufacturer rather than guessing.

A worked example

A trainer is helping a client with a neutered adult dog that weighs 20 kg and has normal activity. The resting requirement is about 662 kcal, and multiplied by 1.6 that is about 1,060 kcal a day. Ten percent of that gives a treat budget of about 106 kcal a day.

The client uses small training treats whose label says 8 kcal per treat. 106 divided by 8 is 13.2, so the calculator shows up to 13 of those treats a day. For a training session that needs more rewards, the trainer suggests breaking each treat in half, or using part of the dog's daily kibble as rewards so those calories come out of the main meal instead.

For a small dog the budget shrinks quickly. A neutered adult weighing 5 kg needs about 375 kcal a day, so its treat budget is about 37 kcal. Larger chews can use much of that, so check their labels too. When one treat has more calories than the whole budget, the calculator says so.

Take treats out of the day's food

The 10 percent is part of the day's total, not an addition to it. If a dog gets its full treat allowance, the main food should be about 90 percent of the daily estimate; the dog calorie calculator shows that figure. Remember that everything counts:

• training treats and rewards, including those given by other people;
• chews, dental chews and filled toys;
• table scraps, crusts and tastes from the kitchen;
• food used to hide medication.

Then check the result the same way as any feeding plan. Weigh the dog every two to four weeks, feel for the ribs under a thin layer of fat, and adjust if the weight or body condition changes.

When not to use it

The calculator is for healthy dogs. Talk to a vet rather than relying on it if the dog:

• is on a weight-loss plan, which should start with a vet check and include treats in the plan;
• eats a prescription or therapeutic diet, where even a small treat may not be suitable;
• has a medical condition, a food allergy or a sensitive stomach;
• is a puppy of a large or giant breed, where growth needs careful control;
• has lost or gained weight without explanation, or has a changed appetite.

Some human foods are dangerous to dogs whatever their calories, so a treat budget is never a reason to share food from the table without checking it is safe.

Learn more

The full calorie method, with more examples and common mistakes, is in our guide to how to calculate a dog's calorie needs. To find the calories on a package and compare products fairly, see how to read a pet food label. For growing dogs, the puppy and kitten feeding guide explains how feeding changes with age.