Most labels on your dog food provide little information on the caloric content of the food, you have to try to figure out recommendations as a starting point. But instead of feeding the amount recommended on the bag, start by feeding 25 percent less than any of the manufacturer recommendations, and then increase or decrease the amount as necessary.

Always remember there are TWO BOWLS. You have your dog’s food bowl and you have the DoggieWater bowl. Remember that you can mix water and DoggieWater and you can also pour some DoggieWater over food to give Doggie a different experience. Now… how do you decide how much food to put in the food bowl? If you’re starting new food, and the label tells you how many calories the food contains, you may want start with the information in the table below, which lists the calorie requirements of dogs depending on the dog’s weight and activity level. On the table, an inactive dog is one who rarely gets more than a walk around the yard or moderately active is one who gets over half an hour of exercise every day, and a dog who is highly active is one who gets several hours of exercise.

Now if Doggie gains weight, decrease the amount food. If Doggie loses weight, increase the amount.

The table shown below, includes calories from all potential sources during the day, including treats and snacks.

Doggie needs more calories keep weight constant. As they get bigger, Doggie requires fewer calories to maintain weight. Larger dogs generally have slower metabolisms than smaller ones. Age can affect caloric requirements, too. As Doggie ages from year 1 to 7 the energy requirements drop by an as much as 24 percent.

Doggie metabolisms vary greatly that the best way to know exactly how many calories they need each day is somewhat  by trial and error. Feed the amount of food that will maintain your dog’s weight.