those that feed raw

[Stinkbomb]

How do you work out how much your dog needs??

Alfie is now 5 months old and weighs approx 17kg. I feed him on naturediet and he has three packs a day over 3 meals. He also has about 2 tablespoons of raw minced chicken with each meal too.

I was thinking of cutting the naturediet down and increasing the raw minced chicken. I use the prizechoice packs as they are easier and im slightly queezy when it comes to raw food!

How much would Alfie need to be fed raw if i say feed half raw/ half naturediet??? Im just not sure how much to replace it with. I think a grown dog would eat around 1kg of raw a day, is this right?? How does it differ for growing dogs though and at what age would you consider the dog to be full grown??

If i feed half raw/ half naturediet would he need any other vits etc added or would he get enough from the naturediet??

Many thanks

 

[GinaGem]

Not sure about nature diet I'm afraid. For raw quantities we just experimented and kept a close watch on our dogs weight. We started out by using an equation of how much to feed which I found on a website. I think it was 10 - 20% of their body weight a day.

They are both lurchers. One weighs 19kg and one weighs 24kg. They both get around 500g food a day.

 

[MarleyandDarcy]

I've always done it as 2-3% of body weight and so do other people I know, think 20% would be waaaay to much. Also 10-20% is a big difference between the 2.
Obviously for a puppy they would need more, although becareful you are getting the right levels of protein, especially if he is a large breed dog (guessing he is the boxer in your sig

)

 

[GinaGem]

Oops yes it must be 2% not 20%!!!! That would be a lot!!

 

[Stinkbomb]

Thanks!! Can anyone recommend a good book for beginners wanting to switch to raw???

Preferably one for idiots!!

 

[SunshineTallulah]

Google RawMeatyBones