Data and charts
Every table here is computed by the same engine as the calculators, from the Merck Veterinary Manual and AAHA figures, and dated.
Dog feeding chart
Calories and cups a day for 5 to 100 lb.
Puppy feeding chart
Calories and cups a day for 2 to 40 lb, in two age bands.
Chocolate toxicity chart
Grams that reach 20 mg/kg, by dog weight and chocolate.
What the charts show
A dog four times heavier does not need four times the food. The dog feeding chart gives a 100 lb dog 1,958 calories a day against 692 for a 25 lb dog, 2.8 times, because the energy a dog needs follows its weight in kilograms to the 0.75 power (Merck).
A puppy needs the most for its weight while it is young. At 10 lb, the puppy chart gives 653 calories a day under 4 months and 435 from 4 months, as the factor drops from 3.0 to 2.0 times the resting energy (Merck and AAHA 2021).
The darker the chocolate, the less it takes. For a 20 lb dog, 79 g of milk chocolate, 32 g of dark or 12 g of baking chocolate reach 20 mg/kg, the dose where Merck lists the first signs. Less is not safe: if your dog ate any, call your veterinarian or a poison line now.
The feeding charts assume a food of 360 kcal a cup; the calories per cup on your own bag set the real amount, so use the calculator with that figure. Every chart is worked out by the same engine as the calculators and shows the day it was checked.