If you cook for your dog, you’ve probably wondered whether the bowl is really balanced. WoofChef checks your recipe and helps you work out what to change.
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Chicken thigh 260 g · White rice 190 g · Carrot 80 g · Chicken egg 50 g · Fish Oil 3 g
Calcium 20%Copper 21%Vitamin B12 23%
Hover over a slice to see its numbers.Tap a slice to see its numbers.
Chicken thigh 260 g · White rice 190 g · Carrot 80 g · Chicken egg 50 g · Fish Oil 3 g
Hover over a slice to see its numbers.Tap a slice to see its numbers.
14 of 40 nutrients are below the NRC minimum.
Milo is a healthy 33 lb dog (15 kg). This is what goes in his bowl every day. At 845 calories, it’s right around what a dog of his size needs.
Daily recipe
WoofChef’s nutrient analysis checks a recipe for 40 nutrients, using the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) guidelines for healthy adult dogs. Milo’s dinner fails to meet the guideline for 14 of them, all minerals and vitamins.
Calcium is a good example: Milo’s dinner has 91.4 mg, against an NRC minimum of 450 mg a day. That also puts Calcium and Phosphorus out of balance, at 0.12 : 1 where it should be between 1 : 1 and 2 : 1.
Out of balanceshould be 1 : 1 to 2 : 1
What’s shortshare of the minimum
Minerals
Vitamins
Pick any of them to see the numbers.
Milo is a 15 kg (33 lb) healthy adult dog with a typical activity level, and this is his recipe for one day. Each slice of the ring is one nutrient. A slice reaches the rim when the recipe has at least the NRC minimum. Our food data has no number for a few nutrients in some foods. We count those as zero, so a few totals may be lower than they really are. For the Autobalance result, we locked Milo’s amounts, so it could only add foods and supplements.
WoofChef’s Autobalance feature suggests what to add and how much of each ingredient to keep, aiming to bring your recipe in line with the NRC’s guidelines. Don’t like an ingredient? Exclude it and Autobalance will suggest something else.
Added by Autobalance13% of the bowl
Calcium : Phosphorus is back in balance, at 1.16 : 1.
Your ingredients 87%Added 13%
Every recipe you check gets a full nutrient analysis. For each of the 40 nutrients, it shows how much is in the recipe, the NRC minimum and recommended target, the safety limit where the NRC sets one, and which ingredients it comes from. This one is Milo’s dinner.
ExampleMilo's chicken & rice bowl
Chicken thigh 260 g · White rice 190 g · Carrot 80 g · Chicken egg 50 g · Fish Oil (18% EPA, 12% DHA) 3 g
Needs adjustment
14 nutrients below minimum845 kcal a day · 583 gRatios
Minerals
91.4mg a day
Where it comes from
The bar runs toward the NRC’s recommended target. The tick marks the minimum. “To review” lists 14 nutrients below the minimum, 2 below the recommended target and 1 over a caution line.
Autobalance looks for a version of your recipe that meets every NRC minimum and stays close to your dog’s daily calories. You don’t have to use it. The nutrient analysis shows what’s short, so you can also fix a recipe yourself.
In the Autobalance options you can lock the amounts you want to keep, and allow or leave out new foods, supplements and fish oil. The foods on your dog’s avoid list are left out from the start.
838kcal a day
15 kg · Typical adult
Foods to avoid · none
Every dog gets their own profile, with a daily calorie target and NRC nutrient amounts sized to that dog’s weight and activity level. You can also list the foods each dog is allergic to or can’t tolerate.
Can’t find a food or supplement in our list? Add it yourself, using the numbers on its label. WoofChef uses the values exactly as you enter them.
We check each day’s share: 1/7 of the batch.
Cook several days of food at once? Enter the amounts for the whole batch and set how many days it lasts. WoofChef checks one day’s share.
The U.S. National Research Council (NRC) published Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats in 2006, a detailed book on what dogs need to stay healthy. WoofChef uses its numbers for healthy adult dogs at a steady weight, sized to your dog.
The guidelines describe dogs in general, so your dog might need something different. WoofChef isn’t designed for puppies, pregnant or nursing dogs, or dogs who need a medical or special diet.
How the check worksWoofChef is for owners of healthy adult dogs who prepare their dogs’ meals with whole foods and want to see if their recipes meet the NRC guidelines.
Most of our food data comes from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. government’s food database. The rest comes from other published sources, such as the UK’s official food database and manufacturers’ labels for supplements.
When the data has no number for a nutrient, we count it as zero and mark it Partial data, so a missing number never makes a recipe look better than it is.
Where the numbers come fromNo. WoofChef is a planning tool, not veterinary advice, and no veterinarian has reviewed or approved its results for your dog. It does careful math with good data, but it doesn’t know your dog’s health. Please talk to your vet before you change what your dog eats.
What WoofChef can’t tell youThe About page explains how the check works, how Autobalance works and where the numbers come from, with every source listed. It also says plainly what WoofChef can’t tell you.
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