GI Actuary Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 Hi there I have a puppy labrador (M, 27kg, 7 months) and puppy German Shepherd (F, 24kg, 6.5months) and I am currently feeding them with Royal Canin breed specific puppy formula. They both look great and happy. I am thinking about making home-cooked meal for them instead using raw/cooked chicken/beef, and vegetables. Can anyone recommend the quantity (or a formula to calculate quantity) of meat / vege that I need to feed each of my dogs ? Currently they eat around 400g of dry food each, plus a chicken wing or some sardines everyday. Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 The only raw food I feed is raw meaty bones, together with dry food. I never measure anything, but watch the dog's condition and weight. Both your dogs are large breeds, so keep them lean for nice slow, steady growth (best for growing bones). Many vegetables will come out the other end undigested. Hopefully the raw feeders will be along soon and help ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 7, 2007 Share Posted November 7, 2007 I am not a measurer nor do I feed a proper BARF diet... our dogs get mostly meat-on-the-bone and some dry..and whatever eggs they scrounge from the nests how they look dictates how much they get fed. You don't need to cook your dog's food raw meat providing it is good quality, is fine. I think people who use the BARF method use pureed or grated vege/fruit matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 You are feeding them a really good, premium food with a balanced vitamin/mineral content. Why go changing what works already, I would be adding raw meaty bones to the diet to keep the teeth clean and something to keep the dogs occupied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toohey Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 How much do I feed daily?Billinghurst recommends 60% RMBs and 40% veggies, etc... however; 60% to 75% CAN BE RMBs and the rest should be a combination of veggies, organs (also known as offal, to include liver, heart, kidney, green tripe, etc...), ground meat (e.g. lean beef, chicken or turkey), eggs and supplements. If you are just starting BARF, remember to start slow by adding new food items every few days or even weeks, until your dog gets used to the new food (especially the richer foods like liver). This is only a guide to help get you started. If your dog is on the skinnier side, up the food (RMBs) and reduce the veggies....if your dog is on the heavier side, reduce the RMBs and up the veggies. To know if your dog is 'just right,' rub the back of your hand.....his/her ribs should feel the same. If you can't feel his/her ribs, then reduce the daily food intake. Multiply your dogs weight by 16 to get the number of ounces he weighs. Multiply that by .02, which gives you 2 % of his body weight. Multiply that by .6 to give you the weight of RMB you should feed. That is chicken necks, wings, backs etc. Go back to the 2% of his body weight again and multiply that number by .4 to get the weight in ounces of vegetable patty mix you should feed. For example: One of my Boxers weighs 70 Lbs. Here's the formula I used to calculate the daily food intake when I started: 70Lbs x 16 = 1120 ounces 1120 x .02 = 22.4 ounces of food per day 22.4 x .6 = 13.44 ounces of RMB -----60% RMB 22.4 x .4 = 8.96 ounces of Veg. Patty mix.-----40% Veg. Patty mix. Remember this is only a place to start - adjust everything up or down, depending on your dogs condition. from here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GI Actuary Posted November 8, 2007 Author Share Posted November 8, 2007 Thanks for your detailed response Toohey. I am thinking about changing to BARF for a number of reasons....one is I assume it would be a more natural diet which has less preservatives. Second is to find out if I can provide better food in a more cost effective way. Sometimes I really wonder if my dogs have any preference over "real food" vs dry food. They do seem to have preference over certain brand though...for example, they seem to like Royal Canin better than Hills Science, and Eukuba (??) ranks last in this aspect. But they also seem to like the taste of the less premium brand like Supercoat...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose of tralee Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 I just want to say, don't be afraid to feed raw meaty bones. Think big portions that haven't been stripped of most flesh, that the dog has to work at for a period of time, but can eat all up. A chicken frame does have kidney (and maybe testes, and gizzard attached if you're lucky) but meagre for meat which is why I add some. Current favourites are beef/ lamb heart, roo meat. Dropping the cooking and the dry food in January worked out very well for our dogs (Dals); they did continue to clean up the human's vegies. We don't leave any meat! Sardines are fine, eggs are too (and a very natural food). Lots of shiny farm dogs testify to that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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