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Step 1a - Adding your adult dog to the Pets List
Before you can create meals for your adult dog you must first add your dog to the database.
Click on the Pets button in the ribbon or on the Pets icon in the modules sidebar to launch the PETS module.
In the PETS module, click the ADD button on the ribbon. You should get the ADD PET dialog. Fill out species, call name, gender, and your pet's birthday.
After clicking the ADD button in the dialog, your adult dog now appears in the list.
Step 1b - Adding your adult dog (Editing Pet Data)
Highlight the recently added adult dog in the list and click the Edit button.
We are now in the Edit screen where you enter basic information for your dog as well as your dog's physiology (life stage, weight, etc.). Below the image section is the Pet Info Panel. The information in this panel is extremely important and you will not be able to create recipes for your newly added dog until all the required information is present. Click the physiology tab to enter life stage and weight data. On our next video we will detail how to enter a life stage record.
Step 1c - Adding your adult dog's Life Stage
In this video we will add a life stage record for our adult dog. Dogs have 5 life stages for females and 3 life stages for males. Females potentially have a gestating and lactating life stage. Female dogs may have multiple litters over their lifetime, so you will be able to store a complete history of life stage data. The software uses this life stage data to help determine your dog's nutrient requirements.
Click the Physiology tab in the Edit Pet module and then click the Life Stage tab. You are presented with a list. This allows you to record life stage records over the life of your dog.
Step 1d - Determining your dog's activity level and energy requirements
Your adult dogs' metabolizable energy (ME) requirements are determined by a simple formula (metabolic weight multiplied by some kcal factor):
ME = kcal x BW0.75
where kcal is represented by an activity level factor.
See the Activity Level tab for a list of all the activity level factors. Most household dogs have an activity level factor from 90 to 110.
From the table, we can see that Typical (Adult) has a kcal factor of 110, while Inactive (Adult, neutered) has a kcal factor of 90.
These figures are just estimates and should be used as a starting point. If your dog is losing or gaining weight, then adjust the activity level so that the kcal factor is either greater or lower.
| TYPE | CATEGORY | DURATION | INTENSITY | FACTOR |
| Pet | Typical (Adult) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 110 |
| Pet | Active (Young Adult) | <3 hr/day | Mainly High | 140 |
| Pet | Active (Adult) | 1-3 hr/day | Mainly High | 125 |
| Pet | Active (Adult, Large yard or farm) | 1-3 hr/day | Mainly High | 130 |
| Pet | Highly Active (Adult) | 3-6 hr/day | Mainly High | 175 |
| Pet | Inactive (Senior, neutered) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 90 |
| Pet | Inactive (Senior, intact) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 95 |
| Pet | Typical (Senior) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 100 |
| Pet | Inactive (Adult, neutered) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 90 |
| Pet | Inactive (Adult, intact) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 95 |
| Working | Light (e.g. police, prison, patrol,sniffer, guide dogs) | <1 hr/day | Mainly Low | 130 |
| Working | Light (e.g. police, prison, patrol,sniffer, guide dogs) | <2 hr/day | Mainly Low | 140 |
| Working | Light (e.g. police, prison, patrol,sniffer, guide dogs) | <3 hr/day | Mainly Low | 150 |
| Working | Moderate (e.g. herding dogs, sprint racing huskies, greyhounds) | 1 hr/day | Mainly High | 150 |
| Working | Moderate (e.g. herding dogs, sprint racing huskies, greyhounds) | <2 hr/day | Mainly High | 160 |
| Working | Moderate (e.g. herding dogs, sprint racing huskies, greyhounds) | <3 hr/day | Mainly High | 175 |
| Working | Heavy (e.g. racing huskies, hard-working herding dogs) | 3 hr/day | Mainly High | 175 |
| Working | Heavy (e.g. racing huskies, hard-working herding dogs) | 4 hr/day | Mainly High | 200 |
| Working | Heavy (e.g. racing huskies, hard-working herding dogs) | 5 hr/day | Mainly High | 225 |
| Working | Heavy (e.g. racing huskies, hard-working herding dogs) | 6 hr/day | Mainly High | 250 |
Step 1e - Adding your adult dog's weight and other data
Next we will enter a weight record for our adult dog. At approx. 3 years of age our dog weighs 6 lb.
Clicking on the Profile tab allows us to enter the remaining required data:
- Uncheck the Neutered checkbox,
- Select Ideal for Body Condition Score,
- Select "Inactive Pet (Adult, neutered, <3 hr/day, mainly low intensity)" for Activity Level,
- Select "Yorkshire Terrier" for Breed,
- Select "Small" for Breed Size, and finally,
- Click the SAVE button on the ribbon.
That's it! You can see that there is no more "REQUIRED" criteria in the PET INFO PANEL. You will now be able to create precisely balanced meals for your puppy.
Step 2a - Creating Recipes
First we click on the Recipes button in the ribbon. We are now in the Recipes module, where you can create, delete, copy, edit, and balance a recipe.
Next, we click the Add button in the ribbon. The Add Recipe dialog will appear. Give a name to the recipe and attach a pet. We will call this recipe, "Raw Lean Ground Beef," and attach our adult dog.
After you click the Add button in the Add Recipe dialog, a new record will appear in the recipes list. Highlight the new record and click the Recipe Balancer button in the ribbon. This launches the Recipe Balancer module, where you add ingredients and adjust amounts to achieve balance.
Step 2b - Safe Upper Limits
When formulating a diet for adult dogs it is important to make sure that there are no excesses for some nutrients. Safe upper limits will be integrated into our Pet Diet 365 line of products. The table to the right lists the safe upper limit of key nutrients for adult dogs based on the NRC recommended allowance.
We will pay particular attention to Total Fat, Linoleic Acid, and Vitamin D.
Nutrient | Safe Upper Limit (SUL) |
|---|---|
Total Fat | 597 % |
Linoleic Acid | 582 % |
EPA + DHA | 2545 % |
Vitamin A | 4221 % |
Vitamin D | 588 % |
Step 2c - Continuing to Balance our Recipe
In "Step 2a - Creating Recipes", we started to balance a raw, ground beef recipe for our adult dog. In this video, we will continue balancing our recipe while discussing tips and tricks to follow to make the process easier. We will also discuss Safe Upper Limits (SULs).
We want to pay particular attention to Lysine, Calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D, as we continue to design our diet.
Step 3a - Editing your Recipe
You can edit your recipe and add additional criteria, such as recipe directions, recipe summary, notes, pointers and suggestions, complexity, prep time, and recipe categories.
This video shows how to edit your recipe as well as how to filter recipes by category and by other criteria. We show how to print a recipe and how to sort ingredients. Before we print, we show how to perform an Integrity Check, to ensure integrity of reports.
Step 3b - Making a Recipe Batch for 7 days
We are going to make a 7-day batch. We will take the gram weight of our recipe and multiply this amount by seven. Click the button Show Gram Weight in the ribbon. The footer of the ingredient list will give you the total gram weight. Click the calculator button in the ribbon and multiply this amount by 7. Copy this number to the clipboard and go to the Report Viewer module.
Click the Batch Food Report and start entering the parameters...
Step 3c - Assess your adult dog's body condition score (BCS)
An easy way to determine whether a dog is underweight or overweight is Body Condition Score (BCS).
You should evaluate your dog's BCS periodically.
Your goal is to keep your dog's BCS at either 4 or 5 on a 9-point scale.
If your dog has a BCS below 4 then you have to make adjustments to the diet. Likewise, if your dog's BCS is 6 or higher, then you need to make adjustments.
We have developed an easy way to modify your dog's diet based on BCS (see tables below).
As an example, we will consider what to do if your dog has a 3 score (thin) or a 6 score (slightly overweight). You wll use the same procedure to adjust up or down depending on your dog's score.
Case 1: your dog has a BCS of 3 (thin).
The strategy here is to move your dog to the next BCS category, until we have a score of 4 or 5. Look at the chart below.
Our dog has a BCS of 3. Find the multiplier beside the score of 3. You should have 1.25. Take the current weight of your dog and multiple by 1.25. This will give you the expected weight of your puppy with an ideal BCS of 5.
Next, enter this weight as the current weight for our dog in the PETS module.
Finally, open your recipe in the RECIPE BALANCER module and re-balance the recipe. Keep doing this every week until you have a BCS of 4 or 5.
| Score | Multiplier |
| 1 | 1.67 |
| 2 | 1.43 |
| 3 | 1.25 |
| 4 | 1.11 |
Adapted from de Montbrun, R. et al 2019.
PDD Body Condition Score Guidelines August 2019
Case 2: your dog has a BCS of 6 (slightly overweight).
The strategy here is to get your dog to an ideal BCS of 5. Look at the chart below.
Our dog has a BCS of 6. Find the multiplier beside the score of 6. You should have 0.9091. Take the current weight of your dog and multiple by 0.9091. This will give you the expected weight of your dog with an ideal BCS of 5.
Next, enter this weight as the current weight for our dog in the PETS module.
Finally, open your recipe in the RECIPE BALANCER module and re-balance the recipe. Keep doing this every week until you have a BCS of 5.
| Score | Multiplier |
| 6 | 0.9091 |
| 7 | 0.8334 |
| 8 | 0.7693 |
| 9 | 0.6897 |
Adapted from de Montbrun, R. et al 2019.
PDD Body Condition Score Guidelines August 2019
Score | Location Feature | Estimated | % BW below or above BCS 5 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Ribs & other bony prominences Visible from a distance & easily palpable with no overlaying fat. | <4% | - ≥40% | ||||||||
2. | Ribs & other bony prominences Visible & easily palpable with no fat layer under the skin. | 4-10% | -30-40% | ||||||||
3. | Ribs & other bony prominences Discernible & easily palpable with minimal fat cover. | 5-15% | -20-30% | ||||||||
4. | Ribs & other bony prominences Easily palpable with minimal fat cover. | 10-20% | -10-15% | ||||||||
5. | Ribs & other bony prominences Ribs not visible, but easily palpable, with thin layer of fat. Other bony prominences are palpable with slight amount of overlaying fat. | 15-25% | 0% | ||||||||
6. | Ribs & other bony prominences Palpable with moderate fat cover. | 20-30% | +10-15% | ||||||||
7. | Ribs & other bony prominences Difficult to palpate, thick fat cover. | 25-35% | +20-30% | ||||||||
8. | Ribs & other bony prominences Ribs are very difficult to palpate, with thick layer of fat. Other bony prominences are distended with extensive fat deposit. | 30-40% | +30-45% | ||||||||
9. | Ribs & other bony prominences Ribs are very difficult to palpate, with massive layer of fat; other bony prominences are distended with extensive fat deposit between bone and skin. | >40% | >45% | ||||||||
Adapted from Laflamme D 1997b, Laflamme DP 1993, Laflamme DP 2006, Laflamme DP et al. 1994, Mawby DI et al. 2004.
FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines August 2018
Step 3d - Key points to remember when feeding your adult dog
The goals when feeding your adult dog are to maximize longevity and prevent disease. The food you feed your dog should provide the recommended allowances of all known required nutrients. Key ratios include calcium : phosphorus, linoleic acid : alpha-linolenic acid, and EPA : DHA.
A simple method to follow when balancing for your adult dog:
- balance amino acids,
- balance fatty acids,
- balance minerals and vitamins
- remaining calorie target is as close to zero as possible (-30 to +30 kcal)
Don't forget to choose ingredients that are palatable to your dog. Remember that meat grinds (ground food) are good for mixing supplement powders, pureed veggies, etc.
Getting Started
View these tutorials to get a good overview of the capabilities of PDD for Windows.
How to balance a puppy
Learn to perfectly balance meals for your growing puppy.
Balance an adult dog
Learn the ins and outs of balancing for your adult dog.
Balance a gestating dog
How to ensure perfectly balanced recipes for your pregnant dog.
Balance a lactating dog
Find out how to create perfectly balanced meals for lactating dogs.
Taking the Next Step
Take your pet formulation skills to the next level. Choose one of the video tutorials below.
