Overfeeding calcium-based foods, particularly raw meaty bones, will result in overly hard, chalky, and/or crumbly stools. Many pets are capable of eliminating hard stools.
They really can have too much of a good thing. A high calorie count affects growth both directly through the excess of nutrients and indirectly through excess growth hormone activity. Overfeeding increases the risk so 'free feeding' is not recommended.
As a general rule, dogs should eat approximately 2-5% of their body weight in raw daily food. This will vary depending on the dog's energy and activity levels. If your pet is overweight and needs to lose a few extra kilos, feed them closer to 2% of their body weight and give them more exercise.
Is raw meat good for dogs? The American Veterinary Medical Association cautions against feeding your dog raw meat because it doesn't provide the balanced nutrition your canine companion needs in their diet. Eating raw meat regularly can increase risk of nutritional deficiencies.
The amount of raw meat you should feed your dog depends on their size, activity level, age, and overall body weight. An adult dog at an ideal weight should eat 2-2.5% of their weight per day, while a senior, less active, or overweight adult dog should eat 1.5% of their ideal adult weight per day.
For an adult dog, we advise feeding between 2% to 3% of their body weight per day of healthy, raw food. For example an adult dog weighing 10kg may require 200g - 300g per day.
The ratio for “BARF” raw feeding is 70% muscle meat, 10% raw edible bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organs, 7% vegetables, 2% seeds or nuts, and 1% fruit.
Adult Dog Raw Feeding Guide
Feed 2-3% of your dog's weight in raw food daily. For example, if your dog is 20kg. Therefore, you would feed between 400g and 600g to your dog per day.
Raw to Dry Conversion
Another handy tip to remember is that generally speaking 1/2 lb of raw is equal to 1 cup of dry food (high quality grain-free). So if you were feeding 2 cups of dry food your dog is likely going to eat 1 lb. of raw per day.
If you can't feel their ribcage there's a good chance they are overweight. Other signs of overfeeding include loss of energy, or a change in bowel movements. If their stool is normal in the morning but softer by the evening you may need to recalculate their portion sizes.
How Often Should I Feed My Puppy? Feed very young puppies 3 or 4 times per day. Older puppies generally do just fine with twice-daily feedings. Just like adult dogs, there are several factors that play into the amount of food to feed your puppy: age, weight, anticipated adult weight, breed and more.
The “95 Percent” rule: At least 95% of the product (by weight) must be the named ingredient; for example, the ingredients of “Salmon Cat Food” must include at least 95% salmon (not including water). When including water, the named ingredient still must comprise at least 70% of the product.
Digestion improves
With a raw food diet, dogs are able to absorb more of the ingredients. Therefore, dogs poop less frequently and overall produce less fecal matter. Your dog is able to go longer on less food, compared to a kibble diet.
Unbalanced Diet
The specific vitamins and minerals crucial to dog nutrition may not be present in raw ingredients, which means a raw food diet could leave your dog deficient. On the other hand, too much protein, fat, or other nutrients could lead to issues like anemia, low bone density, and liver failure.
Aim to feed a guideline of 2-3% of your dog's current bodyweight per day. This amount may be fed once a day, or halved and divided up between two meals to achieve your dog's set grams per day. For example: a dog weighing 30KG should be eating between 600-900grams per day.
AMOUNT TO FEED
A 40kg dog requires approximately 800g per day, or 5.6kg over a week.
For an adult dog
Here are a few examples of how much you can feed your canine based on its weight: A 40kg dog will consume roughly 800 - 1200g of raw meat per week. A 20kg canine will consume around 40 - 600g of raw meat per week. A 5kg dog will consume around only 100 - 150g of raw meat per week.
Feeding a raw dog food or cat food diet is a naturally great diet where animals lose body fat and gain body muscle. However, just because your pet is eating a raw diet doesn't mean your pet won't put weight on, especially if they are over eating or suffering from a lack of exercise.
You should avoid raw meat products marketed as pet food (pet meat/pet mince/pet rolls and bone products), sausages, sausage meat and cooked manufactured meats as they can contain sulphite preservatives.
Dogs prefer beef, pork and lamb to chicken, liver and horsemeat and strongly prefer meat to cereal diets. They prefer canned meat to fresh meat, ground meat to cubed meat and cooked meat to raw meat.
Raw food, especially meat, contains bacteria, parasites and other pathogens that would normally be killed during the cooking process. So feeding raw food brings extra risks, not just to your pet's health but also to other people in your household.
Most veterinarians recommend cooking eggs before feeding them to your dog, but some dog owners feed their dogs raw eggs. There are a few concerns about feeding raw eggs to dogs that owners should be aware of: Salmonella — Dogs are at risk of contracting salmonella.
Nutritional content in raw dog food vs kibble
While raw food is full of easily digestible nutrients, kibble has many vital nutrients destroyed in its processing, removing some of the goodness that dogs are able to absorb. In terms of canine nutrition, raw dog food contains natural vitamins, minerals and amino acids.