All dogs have the exact same nutritional needs. However, all dogs have different caloric needs based on the activity of the dog. A house dog that primarily stays indoors would definitely be considered the least active of all other dogs.

The majority of an indoor dog's time is spent snoozing. The biggest venture, in most instances will consist of a 10-foot walk to the front door several times a day to make deposits, and from the living room to his food dish in the kitchen. Consequently, in most instances a house dog is overfed, and has more overweight problems than all other house pets.

Dogs that spend their time primarily outdoors, and only comes in during the night, has much higher energy needs than a dog who stays consistently indoors. Besides it getting more exercise, it also requires more energy to conserve its body temperature while it is outside during the cooler weather. Even with this in consideration, it is common to find that both indoor and outdoor pets are fed more than they should be and are borderline overweight.

Naturally, a dog that is spending most of his time outdoors is much less likely to approach obesity. Dogs that are outdoors have a higher need for energy to maintain body heat.

During the night and in much colder weather this extra energy need to heat his body becomes much higher. Of course, there will be times where outdoor dogs, that are not being fed properly, begin to look undernourished.

Calculation: The amount of food a dog needs is determined by the body weight of the dog, along with the caloric density of food he eats. This calculation method is done the same way for all dogs. First of all, you will need to determine how many calories are needed daily for your dog to maintain his optimum body weight. Next, you will need to divide this number into the number of calories that are in a pound of food that you are feeding your dog. The results will be the amount of food you should feed, measured in pounds.