About this site

Why it exists

Ask how much exercise a dog needs and you get “thirty to sixty minutes a day” — advice that treats a nine-kilogram Pug and a thirty-four-kilogram Labrador as the same animal. They are not. One overheats in twenty minutes because of the shape of its airway; the other needs an hour before it settles.

This planner starts from the specific animal in front of you: species, breed, age, current and target weight, how active it already is, and how often you can realistically get out. It returns a distance, a duration, a calorie figure and a food adjustment — then tells you which of those numbers it had to cap for safety, and why.

How the numbers are worked out

The calculation runs entirely in your browser, in this order:

• Resting energy requirement from body weight, scaled by a maintenance factor for species and life stage, and adjusted for how active the animal already is.
• A safe weekly weight-loss target — around 1% of body weight per week for dogs and half that for cats, because cats lost weight too quickly are at risk of hepatic lipidosis.
• A split between movement and the bowl. Exercise alone cannot safely close the gap, so the planner covers part of the deficit with walking and asks the food to do the rest, never dropping below the resting requirement of the target weight.
• Distance and duration from the energy that movement needs to supply, at a walking pace estimated for that breed and condition.

The rules it will not break

Several limits override the arithmetic. If the maths asks for more than these allow, the plan is capped and the reason is shown next to it:

• The five-minute rule for puppies — roughly five minutes of structured exercise per month of age, to protect growth plates that have not closed.
• A hard ceiling for flat-faced breeds. Pugs, French and English Bulldogs, Boxers and their relatives cannot cool themselves by panting the way a longer-muzzled animal can.
• No calorie restriction for growing animals. A puppy or kitten above its target weight is given movement and a note to speak to a vet, not a diet.
• Gentler starts for sedentary pets, and shorter sessions for seniors and joint-sensitive breeds.

What it is not

These are population averages. They cannot account for medication, neuter status, thyroid disease, heart or orthopaedic conditions, or body condition score — all of which move the real numbers substantially. The planner is a starting point for a conversation with a vet, not a replacement for one. Nobody here is a veterinarian.

If a figure here contradicts what your vet tells you about your animal, your vet is right. They have examined the pet; this site has four form fields.

Corrections

If you spot a figure you believe is wrong, we would genuinely like to know — particularly if you work in veterinary practice. Get in touch through the contact page.