Dog weight conversion: kilograms and pounds

Pounds to kilograms

Read down the left column to your dog’s weight in pounds and across for the kilogram figure. Values under 10 kg are shown to one decimal place because a tenth of a kilogram is a real amount on a small dog; above that they are rounded to the nearest whole kilogram. The size column is the bucket that weight falls into on the thresholds this site uses throughout — 25, 55 and 90 lb.

Kilograms to pounds

The same span from the other direction, for reading a clinic record, a European sizing chart or a research paper in US terms. The round metric numbers are the ones worth memorising: 10 kg is 22 lb, 20 kg is 44 lb, and 30 kg is 66 lb, which brackets most of the breeds people actually own.

Height in inches and centimetres

One inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so an 18-inch dog stands 46 cm at the shoulder. Dog height is always measured at the withers — the ridge between the shoulder blades — not at the top of the head, which is why a breed standard height often reads lower than the dog looks standing next to you.

Every breed’s adult size, in both units

Adult weight and shoulder height for all 66 breeds we cover, given in pounds and kilograms and in inches and centimetres, sorted lightest to heaviest. Nothing here is a second set of figures: the metric column is the imperial column converted, so it matches the range on the breed profile exactly rather than being sourced separately and drifting from it.

All 66 breeds have a recorded height range. Rows carrying a grey label — all sizes, size variant, mix or wide range — are not one breed at one size, so their converted range is the spread of the whole type rather than a target for an individual dog.

Why dog owners need both units

A US dog lives in two measurement systems at once. The scale at home, the food bag and the crate box are all in pounds and inches. The clinic record, the harness sold by a European brand, and every piece of published research about dogs are in kilograms and centimetres. Nothing reconciles them for you, so the same dog gets described as 55 lb in one place and 25 kg in another.

That matters most in two situations. The first is equipment ordered from outside the US, where a chart written in kilograms and centimetres has to be matched against a dog you only know in pounds. The second is any figure calculated from bodyweight: those are conventionally expressed per kilogram, so a pounds figure has to be converted before it means anything, and converting twice by eye is how a number ends up wrong by a factor of two.

The rounding on this page is deliberate and one-way. Weights under 10 kg keep a decimal place; above that they are whole kilograms, because a dog’s weight moves by more than a kilogram across a day. Heights are rounded to whole centimetres for the same reason. If you need an exact figure, the constant is 0.45359237 kg to the pound and 2.54 cm to the inch, both exact by definition rather than measured.

Where these numbers go next

A converted weight is an input, not an answer. The food calculator takes a weight and returns daily calories and cups — it works in pounds and converts to kilograms internally, because the resting-energy formula is defined in kilograms. The crate, collar and harness charts turn the same weight into equipment sizes, and body condition scoring answers the question the scale cannot: whether that weight is the right one for your dog’s frame.

For the ranges themselves rather than the conversion, the weight chart by breed groups the same 66 breeds by size class with lifespan alongside, and the puppy weight calculator estimates where a growing puppy will land.

Two more reference tables cover the same breeds from other angles: the life stages chart gives the age each one stops growing and the age it counts as senior, and the shedding and grooming chart sets out coat type, shedding and grooming workload.

Where these figures come from

The conversion tables are arithmetic. One international pound has been defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms since 1959, and one inch as exactly 2.54 centimetres, so those tables have no source beyond the definitions and no uncertainty beyond the rounding stated above.

The breed table is the same set of records behind our breed profiles, drawn from published breed-standard documentation and long-standing breed club descriptions, and converted rather than re-sourced. They are breed-level reference ranges, not measurements of any population of living dogs. Our sourcing note sets out the limits and the editorial policy covers how we correct them.

Common questions

How do I convert my dog's weight from pounds to kilograms?

Divide the pounds by 2.2. A 44 lb dog is 20 kg, a 66 lb dog is 30 kg, and a 22 lb dog is 10 kg. The exact figure is 2.2046, so dividing by 2.2 is out by less than a fifth of a percent — about 40 grams on a 20 kg dog, which is smaller than the difference a full bladder makes. Going the other way, multiply the kilograms by 2.2.

Why does my vet weigh my dog in kilograms?

Because almost everything a clinic calculates from bodyweight is expressed per kilogram, and converting at every step invites arithmetic mistakes. The same convention runs through veterinary research and through most of the world's pet products, which is why a European harness chart and a US one can describe the same dog with numbers that look nothing alike.

How much is 20 kg in dog terms?

Twenty kilograms is 44 lb, which lands in the middle of the medium size class — Border Collie and Australian Shepherd territory rather than Labrador. The size groups used across this site sit at roughly 25 lb, 55 lb and 90 lb, or about 11 kg, 25 kg and 41 kg, so 20 kg is a comfortably medium dog with room above it before the large class starts.

How do I weigh a dog that will not stand on the scales?

Weigh yourself, pick the dog up, weigh both, and subtract. It is accurate to within about a pound on a domestic bathroom scale, which is close enough for feeding amounts and equipment sizing but not for anything that needs a precise dose. Most veterinary practices will let you use their walk-on scale without an appointment, and that reading is the one worth writing down.