Until now the ration treated an eight-month-old dog like an adult of its weight, and a neutered eleven-year-old like a young athlete at rest.
What changes
- The young dog. In the ration form of a dog under 24 months, an "Expected adult weight (kg)" field. While the dog is under that weight, the ration computes its growth (the NRC 2006 puppy formula, from the share of adult weight already reached). At the end of growth, from 90 % to 100 % of adult weight, it slides gently to adult maintenance.
- The neutered dog (castrated male, spayed female, already on its page): its resting need counts at 0.8.
- The older dog, from 9 years: 0.9. A dog both older and neutered keeps the lower of the two, not their product.
- Under the number, the Ration card's formula says what applied: "neutered", "older dog", "Growth — 72 % of expected adult weight".
Who sees what
Like the ration: anyone in the kennel who opens the dog's page. The expected adult weight is entered with the ration, by those who can edit it.
What it doesn't do
- It doesn't guess the adult weight. Without it, the young dog counts as an adult, as before.
- The factor only touches maintenance. The work of a neutered dog running 40 km doesn't go down: it runs as much as any other.
- No pregnancy, no lactation: the litter keeps its hand-entered grams.
- These factors are low-confidence guides, and the screen says so; the scale and body condition remain the judges.
Two choices against the obvious
Not "puppy × 2". A flat factor overfeeds a nearly adult dog and underfeeds a very young one. Growth follows the share of adult weight reached.
Growth isn't added to work: the larger of the two is kept. A young dog starting harness gets either its growth, or its maintenance plus work — the larger, plus cold. Adding both would count the same energy twice.