# Anyone fee more than 2lbs a day?



## Gilly1331 (Apr 16, 2011)

Those of you feeding raw do you ever have to feed more than 2lbs a day for one dog?

Our intact male is 18/19months now and weighs 90/95lbs but I think he hit a growth spurt again bc to me he looks way to skinny again. He currently gets 2lbs 1x a day. We do the premixed tubes w/a higher fat content and some days we do actual raw meats/poultries etc. He vet checked 100% healthy and exercise level is average but since then he looks skinny.

I can see every rib laying down now and his stomach indent seems a bit much from looking down from above. Can he still be growing at this age versus just filling out? I'll try to grab some above photos today when I am home.


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## Josie/Zeus (Nov 6, 2000)

What you are feeding should be enough, but yes, please post photos so we can see. My old dog Zeus was over 100 lbs. and he got fed only 2 lbs. a day.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I know that Marcia fed Navarre 3#/day for a long time. He matured out around 80#. Donovan is 90# and some days he may get 3# and other days less than 2. His brother Drigon used to easily eat 3# per day. He is around the same size. It will depend on how active the dog is and his own metabolism. I have found the males, for the most part, eat more than the girls when comparing percentages.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

my 9 month old eats about 2lbs a day and could stand to gain a few pounds


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I feed Karlo over 2# a day, he averages close to 3. 
He is 90# and not yet filled out at 2.5yrs. I feed two meals per day, not pre-made but with bones he has to crunch. I sometimes wonder if the pre-mades are going thru the system faster than a meal that is bulkier w/RMB's.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

onyx'girl said:


> I feed Karlo over 2# a day, he averages close to 3.
> He is 90# and not yet filled out at 2.5yrs. I feed two meals per day, not pre-made but with bones he has to crunch. I sometimes wonder if the pre-mades are going thru the system faster than a meal that is bulkier w/RMB's.


i've wondered this too. i had him on a pre-made diet but could not keep up with his growth so i started feeding him the hunks of meat instead of it being ground up and i noticed it helped him to gain a little more weight.

i also give him eggs now too which is another 120calories or so a meal and he gets the veggie pulp from my juicer.

i like that he eats slower with the bulkier meat too


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## dazedtrucker (May 2, 2011)

I'm feeding both my boys close to 3# a day right now. They get a chicken leg quarter each in the morning, a good recreational meaty bone during the day, and 2#s of a mix of MM, tripe, organs, eggs etc.. in the evenings. My 3 year old is looking a little thicker (he needs to), and my 6 month old burns it off, and is looking just right. (and my adults coat is feeling and looking SOOO much nicer after just 3 weeks on raw..)


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

dazedtrucker, that sounds like almost too much. Especially with only being 3 weeks into the diet. Easier to put it on than take it off.
Though, when the weather cools my dogs burn more fuel than in the heat, so the portion may be fine thru the Winter.
My females need just to maintain so I may reduce their portion(Onyx is 90# too, but only gets 2# per day, she isn't as active as Karlo but is more anxious. Anxiety tends to keep her metabolism busy.


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## 4TheDawgies (Apr 2, 2011)

I have a male at 80lbs eating 3lbs a day. 

also keep in mind at the 18-19 months stage they are still lanky and havent filled out completely. It may also just be immaturity. Would have to see pics to be sure though.


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## Ava (Mar 18, 2011)

I put Ava on raw at the beginning of August. She was 7 1/2 months old, about 22 1/2 inches tall, and barely 50 lbs. She looked and was a bit under weight. The breeder started her on Orijen which I continued for a while - not good for her. I stepped it down to Fromm - not good for her. Then TOTW, then Kirkland. She liked each switch but tired of each completely about the time the bag ran out. Each ate 2 cups twice a day of each + whatever I added to help encourage her to eat. Plenty of calories, but very slow gains and always looked too thin. 

For the first 5 wks I fed her about 28 oz a day, nothing "premade" other than canned tripe. I wanted her to gain but not too much too soon. She only gained about 3 lbs during this time. For the last three weeks she been bump up to 32 - 34 oz a day + a mid-day pork or turkey neck every other day. She may have gained another pound, still thin but a very healthy looking thin.

Metabolism and activity level plays a big part. Another thing that plays in is the actual calories in the raw. Calorie counts by weight can vary greatly. 2 lbs of raw can be less than 1,500 calories or more than 2,100 calories. I am working on understanding and managing calorie consistency better while feeding a good variety. 

I wouldn't hesitate to up his intake, just bump it a bit for a couple weeks and bump it again if he can handle it. Small bumps up mean small bumps down if you have to.


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## SitUbuSit (Aug 1, 2011)

Ava said:


> Metabolism and activity level plays a big part. Another thing that plays in is the actual calories in the raw. Calorie counts by weight can vary greatly. 2 lbs of raw can be less than 1,500 calories or more than 2,100 calories. I am working on understanding and managing calorie consistency better while feeding a good variety.
> 
> I wouldn't hesitate to up his intake, just bump it a bit for a couple weeks and bump it again if he can handle it. Small bumps up mean small bumps down if you have to.


I agree, you may want to bump it up just a little.

Because fat is so calorie dense, the percentage of fat in whatever homemade or premade raw you're feeding can dramatically increase the calorie count. 

For example, 1 lb (2 cups) of 80% lean beef has 1,129 calories, whereas 1 cup of 95% lean beef has only 579 calories. That's a huge difference.

According to Dr. Becker, the canine ancestral diet averaged about 6% fat by weight. That might seem low, but 6% fat by weight accounts for 45% of the calories! So make sure to keep an eye on the fat content -- some premades are loaded with fat, particularly the beef varieties.


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## Whiskey Six (Dec 19, 2001)

My almost 10 year old gets just a bit under 2#s and my 8 month old gets a bit over. Split into two meals with a bigger meal in the morning.


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## TerriNC (Sep 23, 2011)

I have 2 questions that are related to this discussion. We just started feeding raw 8 weeks ago and are waiting for some of the hunters in our area to bring us some green tripe. I just read on here that green tripe can also be purchased in a can? What are pros/cons to can green tripe? Also, when figuring activity-level for feeding purposes, I'm estimating my girls are average, basing it on the fact that I walk them 45 minutes-1 hour on weekdays and up to 2 hours daily on weekends. Does that sound about right for average activity level?


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## Phrixus (Sep 13, 2011)

Phrixus has been on for a little over 2 weeks. So far he has calmed down a lot food wise when I moved him up to a solid 3lbs a day. Chicken quarter and some MM/OM (and fish/e) in the morn, and pork or deer ribs plus MM/OM in the evening. 
He gets 2-3 eggs a week, and I'm going to start tripe/yogurt a few times a week too. 

He's pushing 80lbs and is just over 6 months old. No he's not pure GSD - but he has the skin issues of a GSD, and 2 weeks has made noticable difference!


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