Enter your dog's weight to get their daily EPA+DHA target, how many milliliters to give, and how many pumps that works out to. For a quick-print version, use the omega-3 dosage chart PDF.
Based on NRC omega-3 guidelines and clinical dosing practice. Assumes 150 mg EPA+DHA per ml — consistent with a quality pollock+salmon blend.
Common dog weights with both dosing levels pre-calculated, assuming 150 mg EPA+DHA per ml and 1.5 ml per pump.
| Dog Weight | Weight (kg) | Maintenance mg/day | Maintenance ml/day | Maintenance tsp/day | Therapeutic mg/day | Therapeutic ml/day | Therapeutic tsp/day |
|---|
Dogs need omega-3 fatty acids, specifically EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and their bodies are bad at making them. Meanwhile, most commercial kibble is heavy on omega-6 fats from chicken fat and vegetable oils, which push toward inflammation at high levels. Marine omega-3s rebalance that ratio.
"Marine" is the word to hold onto. You'll see dog foods advertising flaxseed as an omega-3 source, and technically that's true: flax contains ALA, which dogs can convert to EPA and DHA. The catch is the conversion rate, roughly 5 to 15% for EPA and worse for DHA. Flaxseed on a label is mostly decoration. For EPA and DHA that reach useful levels, you want fish oil.
Dosing is written as mg per kg of body weight per day, and it refers to combined EPA+DHA, never the total oil volume. This trips up nearly everyone at first, including us. A cheap oil might deliver 50 mg of EPA+DHA per ml while a quality pollock and salmon blend delivers around 150 mg per ml. Same teaspoon, triple the medicine. The calculator above assumes 150 mg/ml.
The NRC (National Research Council) puts the recommended allowance for adult dogs around 50 mg EPA+DHA per kg per day. That's the maintenance range: enough to support normal skin barrier function, coat quality, and joint lubrication in a healthy dog.
The therapeutic range sits closer to 100 mg per kg per day. Veterinary dermatologists and rehab specialists reach for this tier when a dog is dealing with:
At therapeutic doses, omega-3s measurably change leukotriene and prostaglandin production, nudging the whole body toward a less inflammatory baseline. The veterinary literature supports this well. What it can't do is hurry: results arrive in weeks.
For reference, the NRC safe upper limit is approximately 370 mg per kg per day, the territory where impaired platelet function and immune suppression become theoretical concerns. Typical therapeutic doses sit far below that ceiling, and the calculator flags anything that drifts close.
Start low, ramp slowly. Begin at maintenance and work up to therapeutic over 2 to 3 weeks. Going to full dose on day one is the single most common cause of fish oil diarrhea. Not dangerous, just a bad week for everyone, including your carpet. A gradual ramp avoids it almost entirely.
With a 10-pound dog, half a pump too much is a big percentage error. Small dogs deserve exact math, not eyeballed pumps.
Puppies can benefit from omega-3s, but stay cautious with very young or very small ones. A puppy who already has GI issues needs a vet in the conversation, not an experiment.
Older dogs bring medication overlap, touchier stomachs, and chronic conditions to the table. The right adjustment is almost always a slower start rather than a bigger dose.
Sound familiar? Read can salmon oil cause diarrhea in dogs? for the fix path.
Labels express omega-3 content in frustratingly different ways. What you're hunting for is combined EPA+DHA per serving, whether that serving is a pump, a teaspoon, or a milliliter.
A few things to check:
Once you know the EPA+DHA per ml, divide your target mg/day by that number and you have your daily ml. The calculator does this for you at the 150 mg/ml baseline.
Omega-3s are nothing like an antihistamine. There's no same-day response, because the mechanism is slow: the fatty acids get built into cell membranes throughout the body over weeks, gradually changing how cells respond to inflammatory signals.
The realistic timeline:
Joint improvements, like an easier rise from bed in the morning, land in that same 8 to 12 week window and are easy to miss unless you're watching. A one-line weekly note on your phone ("still stiff on stairs" / "jumped on couch again") makes the trend visible in a way memory never will.
Club Hachiko Wild Alaskan Fish Oil lists EPA+DHA per pump right on the label, so the numbers drop straight into this calculator with no detective work. If you want a quick visual first, use the dog omega-3 dosage chart by weight or the printable dosage chart PDF, then come back for exact math.
View fish oil details →A common maintenance target is about 30 mg EPA+DHA per kg per day; many skin-support plans run closer to 100 mg per kg per day. The honest answer depends on your product's EPA+DHA concentration, which is why the calculator asks for it.
Then accurate dosing becomes guesswork, because total oil tells you nothing about active omega-3 content. We'd pick a different bottle.
Yes. The usual result is loose stool and a queasy dog rather than an emergency, but higher doses should be a decision you make on purpose, ideally with your vet.