How Much Fresh Food Can You Add to Kibble? Understanding the 10% Rule

You don't have to give up kibble to feed your dog fresh food. Most kibble-fed dogs can have some fresh food on top of their meals every day. The 10% rule is what keeps that safe.

Here's how it works. Anything your dog eats that isn't complete and balanced should add up to no more than 10% of their daily calories. That covers treats, table scraps, and most toppers together. It doesn't mean 10% for treats plus another 10% for toppers.

The other 90% should come from a complete-and-balanced food. And 10% is a limit, not a goal, so you don't have to use all of it.

What counts toward the 10%

Every extra your dog gets during the day comes out of the same allowance. That includes training treats and freeze-dried toppers. It also includes the plain chicken you stirred into dinner and the toast crust they talked you out of at breakfast.

Count calories, not how much of the bowl something covers. A tablespoon of peanut butter barely takes up any room, but it has about 95 calories. Check the label, and make sure it never contains xylitol, which is toxic to dogs.

A quick example

Say your dog needs 500 calories a day:

• At least 450 of those should come from complete-and-balanced food.
• That leaves 50 for treats and toppers combined.
• If training treats use up 30 calories, you have 20 left for toppers.

That 50 is part of the 500. It isn't extra on top of it. So when you add toppers, the kibble portion goes down a little to make room.

Not sure how many calories your dog needs? The calorie calculator on the site will give you a starting number. It works for kibble diets too. Honestly it works better, because the calories are printed right on the bag.

Not every topper counts as a treat

This is where a lot of people get tripped up. "Topper" describes how you're using a food, not what's in it.

If a canned food's label says it's complete and balanced for your dog's life stage, it can count toward the 90%, even when you spoon it over kibble. If the label says it's for intermittent or supplemental feeding only, it goes in the 10%.

Check the nutritional adequacy statement on the package rather than going by the word "topper" on the front. Either way, its calories still count toward the daily total.

Why the limit matters

Extras that aren't balanced take up room that should go to food with the vitamins and minerals your dog needs. The added calories can also lead to weight gain.

Staying under 10% doesn't make every food safe for every dog, though. If your dog has a health condition or is on a restricted diet, their limit may be lower, and some foods may be off the table entirely.

When you want more than 10%

Maybe you want fresh food to make up half the bowl, or all of it. You can do that, but the 10% rule won't cover you anymore. At that point you're building a diet, not adding a topper.

If you want fresh food to make up more than 10% of your dog's daily calories, you'll need a properly formulated, complete-and-balanced fresh food or an appropriately balanced combination of foods. Mixing fresh food and kibble is the place to start.

The short version

Fresh toppers are one of the easiest ways to add fresh food to a kibble diet. Figure out your dog's daily calories and keep treats and toppers together under 10% of that number. Most people remember to count the toppers and forget the treats, so count those too.

This is general information, not advice for your individual dog. If your dog has a medical condition, talk to your vet before changing their diet.

Sources and further reading

• UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Treat Guidelines for Dogs
• VCA Hospitals, True or False: Pet treats should make up 10 percent of your pet's daily calories