As with kibble feeding instructions, the guidelines for feeding raw are just that rough guidelines. Dogs have different metabolic rates and activity levels. You would expect the nutritional needs for a working Border Collie to be somewhat greater than that of an elderly Basset Hound. You probably already have an idea of her general food requirements. You know whether she eats the higher recommended kibble amounts without gaining weight, what her activity level is, or if she needs to lose or gain weight. If you are not sure if she’s at an ideal weight, have your vet check her condition. Weigh her while she’s at the vet’s, and weigh her periodically to see how she is doing.
In between times I use the “rib-feel” technique. You should always be able to feel a thin covering of fat covering her ribs.
A good rule of thumb is feeding 2-3% of the dog’s ideal weight per day, in total food intake. Say Trixie is a moderately active 60 lbs. but her ideal weight is 50 lbs. You would want to feed her 2% of 50 lbs., which is 1 lb. daily. An inexpensive kitchen scale will help you. I didn’t have one and overfed Phoebe when I first started. She gained seven unwanted pounds, and it took months to get her weight down. I will warn you! An old dog with a slow metabolism will lose weight at a glacially slow rate.
I feed my dogs 20-25%, by volume, of veggie glop by simply “eyeballing” it. They get veggie glop every day. I find that too much at once doesn’t get eaten and may cause loose stools. Some people do well feeding just a few “all veggie” meals a week. Some folk feeds more vegetables, some less, some never feed veggies. Do your own “field testing” and find what out what works for you and your dog.
Now here are the caveats to that rule of thumb!
First, small dogs have higher metabolisms. Little, active dogs could need to eat as much as 10% of their weight.
A large, slow-moving dog may need less than 2%.
Dogs who spend time outside in cold weather will burn more calories than dogs who spend lots of time inside where it’s warm, even with the same activity level.
If you have more than one dog, they are likely playing and moving around during the day and could need more food than the home-alone guy who waits for you to come home.
The type of food you feed also makes a difference. If your dog gets lots of chicken backs that are usually quite fatty, they will need less than if they eat more turkey necks or rabbit meat that are fairly lean meats.
Are you starting to see why it’s difficult for me to tell you how much you should be feeding your dog?
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