My dog Moose would eat until he hurt himself, if he had the opportunity. He’s not what I’d call “self-regulating” when it comes to meals. If the food is there, he’ll eat it. If my other dog’s food is there, he’ll try to eat that, too.
My dog Lally, on the other hand, IS self-regulating. If she isn’t hungry, she won’t eat. If I only had her, I could leave dry food out all the time and she’d nibble throughout the day, as needed. It’s what I did before Moose joined the family!
At the moment, my dogs get three meals per day. They have a small meal at 6:30am before I go to work and another small meal around 11:30am after I get home. Dinner is around 7:30pm and is twice the size of one of the smaller meals. They each end up getting a little more than two cups of dry food per day, plus treats like biscuits and chicken jerky after walkies.
This is actually less than what the bag of dog food suggests. Why? Two reasons, in Moose’s case: one, he’s on a diet. (Not that he’s lost much weight over the last few years, but we’re trying!) Two, he’s not a very active dog so all those recommended calories wouldn’t get burned up. In Lally’s case, it’s rare that she actually eats all three meals. Most days, she only eats one of those meals (the other two get re-offered or shared out for Moose’s next meal). She’s a much more active dog, but also a much smaller dog. Moose weighed 93 pounds at our last vet visit; Lally weighs around 55 pounds.
What’s on the bag doesn’t necessarily work for us. It may not work for your pets, either! The guidelines on the dog food bags are an average — the average daily caloric intake for an average-sized dog.
I found an online calorie calculator for dogs that helps figure out caloric requirements based on weight, life stage, and activity level. Google wasn’t able to find me one that does the same thing for cats, unfortunately.
The real nutrition expert, however, is your vet. If you’re concerned that your pet is getting too much or too little food, ask your vet on your next visit. Talk about what you’re feeding, and how your pet is acting. Some pets act hungry all the time — but maybe what they’re hungry for is the interaction, not the food.