# Why is this RAW feeding so hard???



## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

I have been reading all weekend about RAW, starting giving Chyanne frozen chicken necks, One in the morning with her kibble,She LOVES IT! Why can I not just understand what to feed, how much, blah blah blah, She weighs 45 pounds. I would like to find a plan for her like, 1 leg, chicken liver for breakfast ( i know this isnt right) and something for her night meal.For her age/weight, how many pounds of food should she be eating? I see some add yogurt, eggs, Why is this soooo confusing to me??? I see ALOT of people on here feed raw. I REALLY think someone (Lauri) should open up a paypal account and we pay her to give us a diet plan for our RAW feedings








Why am I so scared that I will not give her all what she needs, by not giving her the right amount of RMB.MM, and RMB <- just learned what that was!!
I have read some post on people just starting, but I really do not think they were confused as I am


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

Check out the RAW section and I believe Lauri has a lonk to the RAW Dog Ranch that has feeding guidelines by weight.


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## Heidigsd (Sep 4, 2004)

Don't feel bad, there is a lot to learn when you prepare your own diet.

The only person I can recommend is Monica Segal. On her website she has booklets with balanced recipes for raw and cooked. These reciped are for "Adult" dogs only, not puppies.

She also offers consultations, where she does the diet for you. Check out her website, lots of great info over in the Newsletter section too.

http://www.monicasegal.com/

She also hosts a yahoo group called "K9 Kitchen".
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/

Hope this helps









Michaela


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

Haha trust me! I was just as confused as you are now








There's just so much information out there that it's just overwhelming. 

I think a sticky with rawdogranch.com and a basic start up guide would be nice in the Raw feeding section.

Basically, you want to choose a ratio of how much RMB (Raw meaty bones - leg quarter, necks, backs, wings), MM (muscle meat - Ground meat, breast, hearts) and OM (Organ Meat- livers, kidneys, brains) you want to feed.
I chose 50% RMB 45% MM and 5% OM and went with it.

Now figure out what percentage of her weight you want to feed her. If she's a puppy I would do 6% and if she's an adult I would go with 2%.

Next, invest in a food scale so you can weigh out all her meals.

So she weighs 45lb and I THINK she's a puppy so we'll do 6% of her body weight.

6% of 45lb. is 2.7lb of meat a day.
Of that 2.7lb of meat 1.35lb is 50% RMB, 1.215lb. is 45% MM and .135lb is OM.
The oz. measurement is what's most commonly used to weigh the food so you just have to multiply/divide by 16.

To start I would just feed her chicken leg quarters and some chicken breast for about 1 week and then add in other sources of protein like beef. 
The yogurt and canned pumpkin (not the pie mix) just helps their tummys deal with the new food.
If she's either constipated or has diarrhea give her 2 tbsp (or more) of pumpkin and it should help. 
I mix it with yogurt because Denali doesn't like pumpkin by itself.

Hope this helps!


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## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: DenaliFofali
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ok Shoot me if I misunderstand, I would just take that, and divide that into 2? And that would be her feeding for the day? Yes shes a pup, turned 5 months on Saturday-


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## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

So I can give her a whole leg quarter,,, and she will not need any kibble, example tonight? This morning she had her frozen chicken neck and her kibble


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

You can do it that way OR you can feed all her RMB in the morning and then split up her MM and OM. 

Some days I feed half the RMB in the morning, the other half for lunch and then all the MM and OM for dinner. 
Some days I forget to defrost something so I throw together whatever I can.


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## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

Tahiry- You make it sound so easy, LOL
Thank you


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Chantell34So I can give her a whole leg quarter,,, and she will not need any kibble, example tonight? This morning she had her frozen chicken neck and her kibble


That's a little harder to do because I honestly don't know how to give kibble and Raw together and say it's balanced. 
The way I did it was in thirds.
I fed her kibble 3 times a day so- I took the RMB amount and split into just a third of what she should be eating.
The I took the kibble amount in cups and split it into thirds.

She never got fat that way and I think that's what's most important about weighing the food, so as long as she's not fat you're fine.

Sometimes I even feed her extra and she's still toned and has very defined lines.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Chantell34Tahiry- You make it sound so easy, LOL
> Thank you


You're welcome!
When you start feeding you'll realize that it's not so bad. I was very confused in the beginning too. 

Just remember that there are no absolutes in their diet. Just because she is supposed to be eating a set amount of a specific food doesn't mean she has to.

Just like we're supposed to eat a balanced amount of food to stay healthy and fit yet some of us go to McDonalds sometimes


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

2.7 lbs for a female? Hmmm...I've never fed a puppy raw (but I've fed my dogs raw for over two years now), but if they are supposed to be fed 2-3% of their EXPECTED adult weight, I don't even feed my full grown male (at 80 lbs ish) that much. If you start feeding 2.7 lbs - note that a common reason for the runs is overfeeding, so you may want to watch out for that and keep it in the back of your mind.

You can give her a leg quarter - but you won't know how much (if any kibble) she will need with that until you weigh the leg quarter. I've seen quarters anywhere from less than .5lbs to well over 1 lb.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: mspiker032.7 lbs for a female? Hmmm...I've never fed a puppy raw (but I've fed my dogs raw for over two years now), but if they are supposed to be fed 2-3% of their EXPECTED adult weight, I don't even feed my full grown male (at 80 lbs ish) that much. If you start feeding 2.7 lbs - note that a common reason for the runs is overfeeding, so you may want to watch out for that and keep it in the back of your mind.


Yes, you are right








You CAN feed your puppy 2-3% of their expected ADULT weight OR you can weigh them frequently and feed them 5-10% of their PUPPY weight.
Personally 10% is too much for me but 6% is nice. 

That's what I feed my 40lb. puppy and she's not fat nor does she get the runs, rather she's toned and has nice poops.

The reason they can eat so much is because of their high metabolism and the fact that they're growing. 
Note- It is cheaper to feed 2-3% of their expected adult weight and that's what I'll be doing soon with Denali.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

> Quote:I have read some post on people just starting, but I really do not think they were confused as I am


LOL, no, I was exactly were you were, same worries and confusion. The more you do it, the more confident you will be. 

Start simple - you sound like you are on the right track.

Once you get the hang of it, you will see that it is actually so simple that you will wonder if you are missing something - you'll be thinking "Is that IT???"

Chicken Leg Quarter + one Chicken Liver for a meal sounds perfect to me! And you have to do RAW completely wrong for a year or so before your pup gets all messed up from improper nutrition - and I'm sure that gives you LOTS of time to get more familiar and more confortable with feeding raw. In the meantime, you can't really go wrong.


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## mspiker03 (Dec 7, 2006)

Every dog is different (as you can see) so you will just have to find what works for YOUR dog! It also depends on how active your dog is, if they are going through a growth spurt and may need more food.


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## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Castlemaid
> Chicken Leg Quarter + one Chicken Liver for a meal sounds perfect to me! And you have to do RAW completely wrong for a year or so before your pup gets all messed up from improper nutrition - and I'm sure that gives you LOTS of time to get more familiar and more confortable with feeding raw. In the meantime, you can't really go wrong.


WHEW! Thanks, I just took a deep breath! That eases my mind ALOT!


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## slaen (Apr 27, 2009)

Try the Spreadsheet on http://www.rawdogranch.com

I think I finally figured out the correct portions this morning.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

I guess I should add a disclaimer LOL

*This might not work with your dog, it's only a way to teach how to calculate the meat ratios and how to figure out how much to feed based on your chosen percentage of body weight*


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## Chantell (May 29, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: SlaenTry the Spreadsheet on http://www.rawdogranch.com
> 
> I think I finally figured out the correct portions this morning.


I have the spread sheet printed, I guess I did not know what % to feed to her. I am at work, and I am getting my coworker to help me figure it out,,, LOL, She does not belive in RAW, but thinks we can figure it out!


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

I think the % is pretty much personal preference. 
Nobody is right or wrong. 
But if you look at it this way...
A 40lb. puppy eating 5% of his body weight would eat 2lb.
A puppy at 70lb eating 3% of his body weight would eat 2.1 lb. 
An 80lb. dog eating 2.5% of his body weight would eat 2 lb. as well.

It's all the same anyway


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU for posting this entire thread. DH and I finally decided to feed Sieger raw, but went with a packaged raw food because I honestly was too paranoid to do it myself.

Now we are concerned about possible allergies with him, so I really think it would be best to do the raw myself as even though his premade raw food only has organic and good stuff in it, it has ALOT of variety (fruits, veggies, eggs, supplements, etc) and we think we should have more control over what he is eating.

The percentages based on a puppy is sooo helpful. Lauri's site is awesome, but no specific pup stuff up just yet.

I think my biggest question is what RMB's can a 3 month old puppy eat? Right now we give him chicken necks with his premade ground raw, and he LOVES the chicken necks. He's a good chewer thankfully, but I am concerned about giving him leg quarters, seems like those bones will be too much for him still to try to chew up?

Any thoughts on that? What would be a good selection of things to be feeding him for being 3 months old as far as chewing and such? Hope that makes sense...

I can get green tripe, beef liver, grass fed beef hamburger, roasts, steaks, soup bones, chicken necks, wings, livers and gizzards and of course whole or cut up chicken and turkey and turkey necks too. Lamb I can get ground, or roasts, or chops. I can get pork too, but I heard it wasnt' so good to feed to the pups? 
Also, should I feed eggs, yogurt and cottage cheese? Was thinking maybe no dairy to start and just see how he does with minimal variations. 

Any additional help on this would be very appreciated!

-Sieger's Paranoid Mom-


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Kait~you can feed your pup all of the above, and do it just like you would an adult. My puppy Karlo would inhale his food(still does)so I hesitated on the leg 1/4's w/him til he was older. I fed wings and necks more when he was younger.
As far as allergies, if your pup is only 3 mos, I would not think a pup this young has developed any allergies yet.
But I would start w/ one protein source anyway. You have a great resource for variety!
You can also supplement with salmon oil and vitamin E. 
I feed raw eggs, yogurt, but don't give cottage cheese. I do one or the other not both at the same feeding.
One thing I believe is important in every meal is the green tripe. It provides digestive enzymes and probiotics naturally, so my dogs get a heaping spoonful at every meal(unless the chicken leg 1/4 is huge). 
Feeding the right ratio of bones, organ meat and muscle meat per meal is also important. 
I cut my turkey necks in half as they are so large, too much bone if it was given only, so I add ground meat w/ them.
BTW, you need to update your sig, I use K's whelpdate so I don't have to update the age!


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

How about cornish game hens?


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Some dogs don't do too well on pork but if your dog can tolerate it, then it's fine to feed. Mine have no issues with pork and get it regularly. When you get chicken or turkey make sure it's not enhanced, a lot of grocery store meat has a ton of added sodium. Lamb is great but for me too expensive! If I was only feeding one dog I would use it. I may have a source for whole live grass-fed lambs - my husband said he'd butcher them, but I don't know how I feel about that! My organ meat is beef - kidney, pancreas and liver. It's best not to JUST use liver, can you find another organ meat? Kidney and liver I can get at a grocery store, pancreas I got through a local co-op. I also feed beef heart regularly but of course that's not considered organ meat.

I would stay away from soup bones even when your boy is an adult, they are the weight-bearing bones of cattle and are way too hard, they can break teeth. There is really not much of any nutritional value in them.

I think your boy would be fine with any chicken bones though, all are pretty soft. You could use chicken as your base RMB until he gets older, and use the other types of meat as his MM and OM. Once he gets bigger and can handle pork bones or lamb etc then switch it up.

I also get venison through two local butchers, and it doesn't cost much more than my chicken! It makes up the base of my diet, I probably have about 200 lbs of venison in my freezer. It's the dogs' favorite, they always pick it out and eat it first! I also get green tripe and the dogs get it about twice a week in place of their MM. I don't have the stomach to do a spoonful every day! So a large quantity twice a week works just fine for me. My tripe comes in 2 lb packages and that's one day's MM for all my dogs 

I feed eggs occasionally but no yogurt or cottage cheese. If a dog is on antibiotics I fed yogurt before I could find tripe, but now I think the tripe works better than yogurt would!


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## lillysj (Sep 4, 2009)

I really don't know much at all about RAW feeding, but I buy supplement food items for my dogs from these people http://www.aplaceforpaws.com/index.html
found out about them from the Whole Dog Journal. Thought everyone might want to check them out.


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## UConnGSD (May 19, 2008)

Regarding the percentages, a lot of it is trial and error. After a month of fiddling around with Laurie's spreadsheet and experimenting with Wolfie, I finally realized that with him I have to do 2.4% of his goal weight. I also remember a note on her excel sheet saying that the weight loss/gain in any given month shouldn't be more than 10%. I guess if I were you, I would start at 4%, seeing how the pup is doing, increase it to 4.5% and progress like that. 

Regarding pork: didn't work for my dog. He kept throwing up -- so never again.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

aplaceforpaws is great, though a bit expensive when you add in the shippping/cooler cost. I have bought from there several times, and the newsletters they put out are full of information.


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

I totally agree- Lauri should set up a PayPal and let us pay her to figure our pups raw diets when we are new to this! I know it probably seems so easy to everyone, but when you are totally paranoid you will ruin your dog, especially after the vet tells you horror stories of dogs dying because of poor fed "home diets"- it all seems scary.

How do I know if pup needs more or less rmbs or more or less mm, or more or less om? I've read that you should adjust the percentages based on what your dog needs, but how would I tell if I need to adjust a percentage? Right now I am starting with the 50/45/5..

Thanks again everyone.


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## phgsd (Jun 6, 2004)

Well for example if your dog's poop is always runny and not formed you might want to add more bone or try less organ meat - or if the dog is always constipated then you'd want to do the opposite.


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