What makes a dog highly active & what fat % is right for my dog?

Hi and thanks so much for your post this afternoon. 18-20% protein should be just fine if Chloe is a lightly active dog. 25% protein would be better for more active dogs (such as dogs that do agility or are working dogs). I hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi and thanks for your post! Since Chloe is lightly active, I would choose the lower protein option (20% verses 25%). Higher protein foods are more appropriate for working dogs and highly active dogs. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

The recommended level for an adult, spayed dog is about 18% protein and 9-15% fat. If she is active as in a working dog, doing agility trials several times per week, or other high-intensity activities, then a higher fat/protein combination is needed as the body uses up more energy and the muscles need to be continually supplied with protein. However, for a typical house pet with regular exercise, sticking to the recommended amount is best. Overfeeding leads to excess calories which turn into fat and weight gain and are not used.

Yes, provided that Chloe is at a healthy body weight, 18% fat on a dry matter basis is fairly average for most dog foods and should be perfectly fine. I can't comment as to the volume of food that she is being fed because the caloric density of foods can vary widely. However, if you have further questions about feeding Chloe an appropriate amount, feel free to request a consultation or post additional questions.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Axel. He does not appear to be under weight based on the picture that you have attached. A dog should have a very thin covering over the ribs where you can see the last couple. He should have a defined waist from both the top and side views. However, if he is very active you can considering transitioning him to a performance diet such as Purina ProPlan Sport. It will contain more calories per cup. I hope this information helps!

Although its a little hard to tell from the photo both of your pups look to be lean with good muscle mass. To assess body condition what you want to look for are a waist behind the ribs when viewed from above, and that you can feel but not see the spine and ribs. Young active dogs are certainly apt to be a bit leaner. You could certainly consider a diet for active large breed dogs, especially for the Dane mix. To figure out how much to feed you need to know two things. First, you need to find out how many calories are in a cup of your current food. This is sometimes written on the bag or you can go online to the foods website and typically find it. It would be written kcal/cup for dry or kcal/can for canned. Second, you need to figure out what the energy requirements for your dogs are. This will be different for different weights of dogs and for dogs with different lifestyles. A good website to go to to help you with this is the Ohio State University Pet calorie calculator. If you Google OSU dog calorie calculator it should pop up. This will show you how to calculate the energy requirement for your dogs based on their weights, and let you know what factor to multiply by for their lifestyle. Then basically when you know how many calories they should be taking in per day you can figure out how much to feed. Keep in mind if you do this and change the amount you are feeding, if you are seeing weight loss or excessive weight gain you will have to adjust the plan as it's not a perfect system. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, increased protein will likely not be of much benefit for Chloe if she is not very active. Either of those foods, provided they meet the AAFCO requirements for a maintenance life stage will be sufficient for Chloe. A higher protein food would likely benefit a working dog the most. Hope this helps