How Many Healthy Calories Does A Pitbull Puppy Need?

Ever wondered how many calories your pitbull needs? If you are one of the pet parents who constantly worry about what goes into your fur baby’s dinner plate, you are not alone. Read on to discover how you can balance the caloric needs for your regular or bluenose pitbull puppy and ensure they maintain optimal weight. 

Lots of pitbull puppy breeders and pitbull owners are going the way of controlling their dog’s diet. Commercial dry food is getting replaced with high-quality raw dog food diets that consist of either organic meat products or a strict vegan diet. 

While this is great, it can still get confusing balancing the calories on your dog’s plate. Calories are the unit of energy found in each serving of food, and your dog’s caloric needs are quite different from dogs of a similar or different breed. 

Ideally, dogs need, on average, between 25 and 30 calories per body weight to keep them healthy. Yet, the best way to calculate your dog’s caloric needs is by considering its;

• Weight 
• Age 
• Sexual health
• Lifestyle 
• Health 

Your pitbull puppy’s energy needs will change as it grows older. There will be seasons when your pet puppy needs more calories on its plate. Then there will be days to slow down on the calories to prevent your pitbull from becoming obese. 

So, where do you start with calculating the calories? 

Weight

How much does your pitbull dog weigh? If the dog is underweight, it may need more calories to reach optimal weight. On the other hand, an overweight pit bull means getting too many calories than it needs, especially if the dog leads a sedentary lifestyle. 

Age

Pitbull puppies need more calories for their growth and development. As they get to adulthood, the number of calories needed will depend on their lifestyle. In their senior years, the amount of calories required reduces. 

Sexual health 

A sexually active pitbull will need more calories to keep the energy going. When in mating season, the sire tends to eat a lot, while the dam may lose its appetite due to pregnancy. Spaying or neutering a pitbull dog will reduce its sexual drive and, therefore, its caloric needs. You have to cut down on its portions to prevent obesity in the dog. 

Lifestyle 

Pitbull dogs that live an active lifestyle need a higher caloric intake, especially if they are on an intense fitness routine for Pitbulls. But if you live with a bashful bluenose pitbull dog that spends more time on the couch than in the field, you need to feed him less. Just like in humans, a sedentary lifestyle will lead to obesity in your pitty. 

Health 

A sick pitbull dog may have trouble eating. You would want to ensure that the dog is still getting its required calories to fight through disease and infection. Sometimes you have to wait it out until the dog has fully recovered and regains its appetite. At this point, you may up the number of calories the dog eats to help it gain weight fast. 

How to calculate pitbull puppy calories 

Calculating the number of calories a pitbull dog needs to the last digit is no easy feat. Besides weight, age, lifestyle, sickness, or reproductive health, there are plenty of other factors that could cause a shift in your pitty’s caloric needs.

However, we can calculate a caloric range for our bluenose pitbull puppies. As long as we keep the dog’s dietary needs within this range, we won’t see much fluctuation in its weight. Also, ensure you take a visit to the vet before you decide how many calories your pitbull dog needs. 

A trained and professional vet will assess your pitbull puppy’s health and help you develop a caloric diet that specifically suits your dog. Remember, all dogs, including Pitbulls, differ in the number of calories they need to fuel their day. 

Most vets use the following formula for calculating calories in all types of dogs;

The formula for calculating pitbull calories 

First, you measure the weight of your bluenose pitbull puppy in pounds then divide by 2.2 to convert it into kilograms. Using the weight in kilograms, you will determine the resting energy requirement (RER) of your dog using the below formula. 

RER= 70(Dog’s weight in kg)^0.75

Next, multiply the RER number with a pre-determined multiplier that suits your dog’s size and activity level. The result you get is the actual maintenance energy requirement (MER) of your pitbull puppy or dog at any given age. 

MER=Multiplier X RER

Multiplier chart;

Pitbull Condition	Multiplier
Less than four months old pitbull puppy	3
More than four months old pit puppy	2
Bulking Up	1.7
Shredding	1
Moderate lifestyle	3
Super active lifestyle	6
Sexually active	1.8
Spayed/Neutered	1.6

Example

If the average weight of an XXL pitbull puppy is 90lbs, we divide this number by 2.2 to get weight in kgs, which is 40kg. To get resting energy requirement;

RER=70(40)^0.75

=384.92

For an XXL pitbull dog that stays super active, the average calories required to stay healthy and active will be;

MER=384.92 x 6

=2309 cal/day

Your brawny XXL pit puppy will need at least 2309 calories a day to stay fit. 

Best caloric diet for Pitbulls 

We have determined that a raw all-meat or all-veggies diet is ideal for pitbull dogs and any other dog breed out there. While an all-vegan diet is not bad for your pitbull puppy, it can be limiting in balancing the right amount of proteins required by the dog.

Dogs derive their calories from proteins, and they need about 22 amino acids in their diet. You have to supplement your dog’s diet with pet-approved supplements to make up for the missing proteins. 

We always recommend Bullyade pet supplements for Pitbulls because it has the required 22 amino acids and important vitamins and minerals for dogs.