Raw Diet Questions

February 22, 2010

photo credit: terriHOOOHello All,

Our raw diet article tentatively titled, “BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food)”, will be out today this week this month very soon. And in that theme, I recently received this question about the amount of feeding goes into a raw diet for a 16 month old German Shepherd, owned by John. Here’s John’s question (permission given to reprint):

QUESTION

I have a 16 month old GSD. He is on a raw meat diet. He currently weighs 80 pounds. I’m not sure how much I should feed him. Any recommendations? He has been having problems going poop. He seems to be constipated.

MY ANSWER

Hello John,

Your boy, at 80 lbs, should be eating 2.4 lbs of raw food to maintain that weight. I get that because typically, you want to feed 2-3% of their optimal body weight. So I took his weight and multiplied that by 16 to get his total weight in ounces, then multiply how much he weighs in ounces by .03 (for 3%). That is the total amount of raw in ounces to feed him per day, but then I multiplied THAT by 16 to get pounds.

But I do have a few questions for you One question is, how are you feeding a raw diet without knowing amounts per day to feed? And, what exactly is being fed? Are you incorporating a good percentage of bones (the good ones, not “recreational” bones), along with muscle meat? Are you feeding chicken or beef, or both?

photo credit: Scott Hammond
You are giving your boy the best diet in the world for a dog, so I don’t want to seem like I’m asking these questions arrogantly. But, once you a raw diet “down” – your dogs gonna (going to) be extremely healthy.

As far as being constipated, it could result in exactly what is being fed, so please reply asap.

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Posted in German Shepherd Articles