What if you chose differently?
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What will dog food really cost you?
Food is the steadiest bill your dog will ever hand you — and the one where your choice of food changes the total by thousands. Pick your dog and food type; we'll show monthly, annual, and lifetime cost, built from your dog's actual calorie needs.
Sets the typical adult weight and lifespan. Adjust weight below if your dog is bigger or smaller.
lbs
Active dogs can burn twice the calories of couch potatoes — and eat twice the food.
Based on 2026 US shelf prices: budget kibble ~$1.15/lb, mid-range ~$2.30/lb, premium ~$3.60/lb, fresh ~$6.50/lb.
Training treats, dental chews, the occasional puppuccino — they add up.
Estimated food cost
$—
Your dog's numbers
Daily calories needed—
Daily portion—
How much to buy—
Per year$—
Lifetime food cost$—
How we estimate. Daily calories come from the standard NRC energy model (resting energy × an activity factor of 1.2–2.0), converted to food weight using typical caloric density (kibble ~1,600 kcal/lb; fresh food ~750 kcal/lb, since it's mostly water). Prices are 2026 US midpoints. Puppies, pregnant dogs, and working dogs eat significantly more — ask your vet for a feeding plan. Estimates for planning only.
How the math works
Most food calculators just multiply a bag price by guesswork. This one starts from your dog's energy needs: a resting-energy formula (70 × body weight in kg0.75) scaled by activity level, then converted into pounds of food using the food's caloric density. That's why fresh food looks so expensive here — it's roughly half the calories per pound of kibble, so your dog needs twice the weight of it.
Where the money really goes
For a medium dog, food is usually 25–35% of the total annual cost of ownership. The jump from budget kibble to a fresh-food subscription is the single biggest lever in a dog's budget — bigger than insurance, grooming, or toys. If the numbers above made you wince, the practical middle ground most owners land on is a mid-range kibble with a fresh-food topper a few days a week.
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