How much raw food to feed a pet dog per day?

So you’re changing your pet dog to a raw diet. Congratulations!

You may be wondering, exactly how much raw meat must I feed my pet dog per day?

The general policy of thumb is to feed the pet dog 2 to 3 percent of her suitable adult body weight. Then, change appropriately if she starts to seem as well thin, as well hungry or as well fat.

Some dogs will naturally need a lot more or less food depending upon their genetics, age, health, activity levels as well as other factors.

As an example, my pet dog Ace weighed about 68 pounds, as well as he was a healthy weight. two percent of 68 pounds is about 1.3 pounds, which is undoubtedly about what he ate per day.

I at first utilized the 2 percent policy to get a general concept on exactly how much to feed him.

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Since I’ve been feeding my dogs raw pet dog food for awhile, I have a quite great concept exactly how much to feed just by checking out the food. Every meal does not have to be determined perfectly.

Commercial raw pet dog food such as Darwin’s is commonly determined in 8-ounce patties. Sixteen ounces equals one pound, so Ace would’ve needed a bit a lot more than 2.5 patties per day. My present pet dog Remy gets 4 patties each day (2 pounds).

Commercial raw pet dog food is much a lot more practical than making it yourself, however it is likewise a lot more expensive. inspect out my publish on cost effective raw pet dog food concepts for ideas to save money on raw pet dog food. as well as right here is our post on our preferred raw pet dog food brands.

If your brain hurts from trying to determine all this, right here is a fundamental equation you can utilize to figure out the amount of raw pet dog food your pup needs each day in ounces:

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How much raw food to feed a pet dog per day

1. Take your dog’s suitable adult weight in pounds as well as multiply it by 16 to get your dog’s weight in ounces. (For Ace that would be 68 pounds x 16 = 1088 ounces.)

2. Take your dog’s weight in ounces as well as multiply it by .02 to get an quote of the amount of food she should eat each day in ounces, presuming she needs to eat around 2 percent of her weight. (For Ace, that’s 1088 x .02 = 21.76 ounces.)

I like to keep my pet dog lean, so I try to feed him the minimum amount every day for him to preserve his weight, as well as he normally does eat about 1.3 pounds of raw pet dog food per day.

Obviously if you have an underweight dog, a puppy or a expecting pet dog you are going to want to feed a lot more than 2 or 3 percent of her weight. inspect with a vet if you are not sure. likewise see our post on raw feeding for puppies.

For a lot more info, see our post: Raw pet dog food for beginners

How much of my dog’s raw diet plan must be meat/bones/fat/organs?

If you’re complying with a “whole prey raw diet,” indicating a diet plan of mainly animal products, the general policy of thumb is:

80 percent muscle mass meat
10 percent organ meat (half of that must be liver)
and 10 percent bone

This is quite common as well as agreed upon by a lot of raw feeders.

If you are feeding a diet plan that includes fruits as well as veggies as well as perhaps even some grain (barf diet plan recipes), you would change the percentages a bit, so it may be a lot more like 70 percent meat, 10 percent organs, 10 percent bone as well as 10 percent vegetation. This is approximately what my pet dog eats.

There is difference on whether dogs requirement fruits or veggies in their diets.

My belief is that fruits as well as veggies can’t hurt. While I’m not excessively concerned about what fruits as well as veggies my pet dog eats, I do try to feed them everyday in little quantities for a range of nutrients.

I’m really a lot more concerned about the high quality as well as range of meat products my pet dog eats as well as making sure he gets sufficient fat, organ meat, calcium as well as so on.

Do I requirement to include any type of supplements in my dog’s raw food?

Vitamins in a dog’s raw diet

For added nutrients, you might provide your pet dog a everyday multi vitamin. Ideally, your pet dog shouldn’t requirement a vitamin since she must be getting all the needed nutrients from her raw diet.

But, just like humans, often it’s just much easier not to concern about it as well as just take a everyday vitamin. It can’t hurt. Or, at the extremely least, provide your pet dog a vitamin every couple of days or when per week.

Fish oil for dogs

I provide my pet dog a fish oil tablet a lot of days for the omega 3s. whatever I’ve checked out about fish oil for dogs states it is helpful as well as assists to balance out the omega 6s discovered in supermarket meats such as raw beef. I take a fish oil tablet myself a lot of days.

“EPA as well as DHA, theomega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, supply extensive benefits,” according to Mary Straus in an post “The benefits of Fish Oil to Your Dog’s Health” in the September 2012 problem of “The whole pet dog Journal.”

According to the article, a few of the benefits of fish oil for dogs include weight loss for overweight dogs, a healthier coat as well as healthier skin, minimized joint pain, minimized allergies, a healthier immune system as well as lower blood pressure.

If you feed your pet dog a homemade raw or cooked diet, what are some foods you feed?

Raw pet dog food guide as well as recipes

If you would like a lot more info on feeding raw pet dog food, you will discover my ebook helpful. The expense is $9 as well as it discusses whatever you requirement to understand about raw feeding. get it here.

Lindsay Stordahl is the creator of That Mutt. She composes about pet dog training, pet dog exercise as well as feeding a healthy raw diet.