How Many Treats Should a Dog Have a Day? The 10% Rule, Explained Properly
The 10% rule is the standard answer, but nobody explains how to actually apply it. Here is how to work out your dog's treat allowance in about two minutes, with real examples.
The short answer
Treats should be no more than 10 percent of your dog's daily calories, and that 10 percent has to come off their meals rather than sit on top.
For a 10kg dog that is roughly 40 to 50 calories, which is less than most people expect. Skipping the second half is how a sensibly fed dog quietly gains weight.
The standard answer is that treats should make up no more than 10 percent of your dog's daily calories. Everybody repeats it. Almost nobody explains how to actually use it, which makes it about as helpful as being told to eat a balanced diet.
So here is the working version, with numbers.
Step one: find your dog's daily calorie total
The easiest route is the back of the food bag. Whatever you feed, the packaging gives a daily feeding guide by weight, and most brands now list calories per 100g or per cup. Multiply it out and you have a daily total.
If your food is vague about calories, a rough guide for an adult dog at a healthy weight and moderate activity level:
- 5kg dog: roughly 250 to 300 kcal per day
- 10kg dog: roughly 400 to 500 kcal
- 20kg dog: roughly 700 to 850 kcal
- 30kg dog: roughly 950 to 1,100 kcal
These are ballparks. Age, neutering status, breed and how much your dog actually moves all shift the number, sometimes considerably. A working collie and a retired greyhound of the same weight are not the same animal, calorie-wise.
Step two: take 10 percent
That is the treat allowance.
- 5kg dog: about 25 to 30 kcal of treats a day
- 10kg dog: about 40 to 50 kcal
- 20kg dog: about 70 to 85 kcal
- 30kg dog: about 95 to 110 kcal
Look at those numbers for a second, because this is where most people get a surprise. A 5kg dog's entire daily treat budget is around 30 calories. That is not very much at all.
Step three: the bit nobody does
Reduce dinner accordingly.
This is the step that separates the 10 percent rule from a nice idea. Treats are not extra. They are part of the total. If your dog is having 80 calories of chews, take roughly 80 calories out of their meals.
Skip this step and the 10 percent rule quietly becomes the 110 percent rule, which is precisely how a huge proportion of UK dogs end up overweight without anyone doing anything obviously wrong.
What this looks like with real chews
Rough calorie values, because exact numbers vary by product and size:
- A small dried fish skin cube: roughly 10 to 20 kcal
- A medium chicken foot: roughly 30 to 40 kcal
- A beef trachea, medium: roughly 50 to 90 kcal
- A large pizzle or bully stick: often 100 kcal or more
- A big filled bone or hoof: can be several hundred
That last line matters. A large chew is not a treat, it is a meal component. If your 10kg dog gets a big chew on a Saturday, that chew has eaten their entire treat allowance for two days and then some. Which is completely fine, as long as you adjust either side of it.
The training problem
Anyone doing serious training work will look at a 40 calorie allowance and laugh, because a decent training session burns through fifty small rewards.
Two fixes. First, use tiny rewards. A training treat should be pea-sized, and most people's idea of pea-sized is generous. Second, take training rewards out of the day's food. Weigh out breakfast, use a portion of it as rewards, and feed the rest in the bowl. Costs nothing and solves the problem entirely.
What to do if your dog is already carrying extra weight
Do not cut treats to zero. It is miserable, it never sticks, and treats do real work in your relationship with your dog.
Better approach: keep the number of treat moments the same and shrink the calories in each one. Swap a fatty chew for a lean one. Fish skin, white fish, chicken breast and lean beef are far lighter than pizzle, tripe or anything visibly fatty. A dried fish cube delivers the same moment of joy as a rich chew at a fraction of the calories.
That is the whole trick, really. Your dog is counting moments. You are counting calories. There is no reason those two things have to fight.
The two minute version
Find the daily calories, take 10 percent, and take that amount back off dinner. Use lean chews if your dog needs to lose a bit, and use their own food for training rewards.
Every product on our site lists what it is, who it suits and how rich it is, so you can build a treat routine that fits the maths. Comment TREATS on our latest Instagram post for a discount code.
Common questions
How many treats can a dog have in a day?
Up to a tenth of daily calories and no more. Everything counts: chews, training rewards, the crust off your toast. The other ninety per cent should come from balanced food, because treats are not formulated to keep a dog nourished.
How do I work out my dog's ten per cent?
Find the daily calorie figure on the food packaging for your dog's weight, take a tenth of it, then reduce the food by the same amount on days you hand out a lot. That last step is the one almost nobody does.
Do chews count towards the ten per cent?
Yes, and they are usually the largest part of it. A single long lasting chew can carry more calories than a whole day of training treats, so it is worth knowing roughly what you are giving before you give it.
How do I train without blowing the allowance?
Use the smallest treat that still works. A recall session can run to fifty rewards, so pressed coins or nibbles broken in half go much further than biscuits, and you can take the equivalent out of the evening bowl.
