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How Many Calories Does My Dog Need? @IHeartDogscom

There are several good reasons to know how many calories your dog needs each day.

You don’t want to overfeed your dog – obesity can lead to several health problems for your pet. And you definitely don’t want to underfeed him, because that can cause issues for him too and leave him suffering from both hunger and a lack of energy. But finding the right number can be tricky, and it’s not as easy as that little chart on the back label of his food may make it seem.

There’s a way to calculate how much you should be feeding your pet – and it’s not measured in volume. Veterinarians have a formula they use to figure out the number of calories your dog needs to eat. It takes into account his current weight and activity level. The number will be unique to him and only him. It is:

RER=X(weight in kg)0.75

or

RER=X(weight in lbs/2.2)0.75

(Don’t fret if your math is rusty – we have a cheat for you!) 

“RER” stands for “Resting Energy Requirement” – how many calories your dog should be consuming a day to maintain his current weight. “X” is where you would plug in the number representative of his activity level.

Read the full article @IHeartDogscom here

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