A spoonful of rice in the bowl seems harmless at first. Yet even a small addition provides energy. For a healthy adult dog, softly cooked rice or potatoes can occasionally be suitable extras. They should not replace generous amounts of complete food.
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Three questions matter: is the addition suitable? How much energy does it provide? And how much room remains once treats are included?
What can go in the bowl?
Prepare a small portion separately: cook rice until soft, peel potatoes and cook them thoroughly, then leave them to cool. Serve both plain. Fried potatoes, chips, seasoned rice or mashed potatoes with butter are not suitable starting points. Raw or green potatoes do not belong in the bowl. The American Kennel Club explains potato risks with veterinary input.
Look especially for onions, garlic and leeks in sauces, stock or leftovers: these ingredients are toxic to dogs. “Left over from lunch” is therefore not an adequate safety check. The WSAVA describes unsuitable ingredients and limits for extras.
Extras remain extras
The WSAVA recommends keeping treats and other extras below ten percent of daily calorie intake. This includes food from the kitchen. The limit applies to everything combined, rather than separately to rice and rewards.
This is an upper guideline, not a daily target to use up. If your dog enjoys their complete food, they do not need an extra portion of rice. You can also set aside some of the weighed daily ration as training rewards.
Rice is not inherently a poor ingredient in dog food. Tufts veterinary school explains that dogs can generally use nutrients from grains well. What matters is the overall ration. A spoonful of rice does not automatically make a food better or more complete.
Why reducing the main food is not the whole answer
If you regularly add a side portion, account for its energy in the daily allowance. Always feeding it on top can encourage weight gain.
A calorie calculation does not, however, assess complete nutrient provision. Less complete food also means fewer nutrients from that food. A larger amount of rice or potatoes does not replace them appropriately. How much the nutrient supply changes depends on the specific original ration.
Chicken and rice is not a complete long-term diet either. Tufts explains the limits of such bland diets. If home-cooked food is to make up a larger proportion, have the whole ration professionally formulated.
A calculation example with room for rewards
Suppose 1,000 kcal per day has been established as a suitable daily energy allowance for a dog. The side portion provides an estimated 60 kcal and treats another 20 kcal. Together, that is 80 kcal, or eight percent. This leaves 920 kcal for the main food.
The following energy densities are freely chosen examples, rather than figures for a specific product:
- Dry food with 380 kcal per 100 g: 920 ÷ 380 × 100 = around 242 g.
- Wet food with 100 kcal per 100 g: 920 ÷ 100 × 100 = 920 g.
The general formula is: grams of main food = remaining kcal ÷ kcal per 100 g × 100.
The 1,000 kcal is not a recommendation for every dog of a particular weight. Needs and suitable portions vary by individual. The 60 kcal for the side portion is also an assumption for this example, rather than a fixed weight of rice.
Weighed cooked or dry?
Rice absorbs water during cooking. You therefore cannot use the weight of a cooked portion with a calorie value for dry rice. Always note whether you weighed before or after cooking, and use matching information.
Food tables offer guidance. They do not establish exactly how much energy your particular dog obtains from that preparation. Avoid apparently precise rations calculated from general table values.
How our feeding calculator helps
In the free feeding calculator, enter weight, body condition, routine and the energy content of your food. Dry and wet food options include fields for side portions. For rice and potatoes, choose whether they were weighed cooked or raw. “Weighed raw” describes when weighing took place; it is not a recommendation to feed raw potatoes.
Treats and chews are recorded separately. Explicitly select “No” if your dog has none; otherwise enter them as specifically as possible. The calculator accounts for the estimated energy in side portions when working out grams of main food.
The result is a starting point. A calculated weight or brief note about supplements does not confirm that every homemade combination is balanced. Monitor weight, body condition and tolerance; consult your vet about health questions.
Our short German-language video “Treats Count Too: How Much Food Your Dog Really Needs” shows why rewards belong in the daily calculation. The portion and snack figures it gives are examples, rather than universal quantities. Follow the same approach for rice and potatoes: account for their energy rather than feeding them on top.
Weigh instead of guessing “a small handful”
Put the empty bowl on kitchen scales and press tare. Weigh the main food, reset the display to zero and weigh the side portion separately into the bowl. Have the training portion ready too, so it does not disappear from the calculation as the day goes on.
If you already have suitable kitchen scales, they will usually do. If you are looking for a set, the Soehnle Page Compact 300 Slate is a suitable option for ordinary food portions: it offers a tare function, a display in 1-g increments and capacity up to 5 kg including the bowl. This is how the manufacturer describes this version (source below); the slate version is article 61515.
Advertisement / affiliate link: View the Soehnle Page Compact 300 Slate on Amazon.
Place the glass surface on a firm, level base. Clean it according to the instructions; these scales are not dishwasher-safe. Ordinary kitchen scales are not a suitable dosing tool for very small quantities of medication or powdered supplements.
A contented dog relaxing in their spot after dinner is often an excellent photo subject. We can turn that picture into a portrait in a wooden frame.
When to ask for advice first
For puppies, pregnant or nursing dogs, medical conditions, intolerances and veterinary prescription food, your vet should assess suitable additions. The same applies if your dog needs to lose weight or you want to replace larger parts of meals regularly with home-cooked ingredients.
For everyday use, follow a simple routine: choose a suitable addition, record the cooked portion appropriately, add all extras together and account for them in the main food portion. If unsure, have the ration checked rather than adding ever more ingredients or powders.
To think through the whole feeding plan, from the basic ration to extras and changing foods, we wrote “Dog Nutrition and Meal Plans” (book in German). All our guides are on the books page.
Further reading
- Calculating your dog’s food portions: the foundation for adding extras
- Is my dog overweight?: how to assess body condition and ideal weight
- Older dog, new rules: when the bowl changes with the years too
Sources and notes
Specialist sources: WSAVA “Feeding treats to your dog”, Tufts “Nutrition FAQs” and “Does My Pet Need a Bland Diet?”, AKC “Can Dogs Eat Potatoes?”. Sources are linked in the relevant sections. Information about the scales: Soehnle (Leifheit), Page Compact 300 Slate. Researched on 05.10.2026; calculation examples are explicitly model assumptions. This article offers general guidance and does not replace an individual feeding plan.
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