How This Started
It was a Tuesday. My vet looked at my golden retriever, Max, and said the words no dog owner wants to hear: "He is getting chunky."
I was offended. Max was not chunky. He was... fluffy. Majestic. Big-boned. The vet handed me a printout with calorie calculations and I stared at it like it was written in ancient Greek. RER? Multiplier? What?
Turns out feeding a dog is not guesswork. There is actual math. Vets do it every day. But regular people like me? We just pour food until the bowl looks right. Which is how Max got to 87 pounds when he should have been 75.
I built this calculator because I needed it and the existing tools were either too simple ("feed 2 cups") or too clinical (medical jargon everywhere). I wanted something that felt like a friend explaining it over coffee, not a textbook.
That is it. No startup. No investors. No pitch deck. Just one guy, one overweight dog, and a spreadsheet that turned into a website.
Max is 76 pounds now, by the way. Still majestic. Just less... round.
Our Team
Dave Morrison
Founder & Dog Dad
Software developer from Portland, Oregon. Built DogCalorieTool after his golden retriever Max hit 87 pounds. Now writes most blog posts with too many dad jokes.
Dr. Anika Patel
Veterinary Nutrition Consultant
Board-certified vet nutritionist, DVM UC Davis. 10+ years in clinical practice. Reviews all calculator formulas and writes the science-heavy articles. Has a rescue pit bull named Bruno.
Jake Torres
Content Researcher
Former vet tech turned writer. Lives in Denver with his girlfriend and their labradoodle Luna. Does the deep-dive research: testing foods, comparing brands, interviewing vets.
Our Mission
We believe every dog owner deserves accurate, vet-reviewed nutrition information — without paying for apps, creating accounts, or wading through medical textbooks.
All our calculators use formulas published in peer-reviewed veterinary literature. Our blog posts are written by real dog owners and reviewed by Dr. Patel for medical accuracy.
We do not sell your data. We do not have user accounts. We do not even have a server storing calculator inputs. Everything runs in your browser.