The Dish by Darcy

Hi Darcy, I am confused about feeding amounts. I read in one of your posts raw food is 2% of body weight.

They were all rescues. Darcy, thanks for sharing your expertise. Linda

Dear Linda, I’m not a nutritionist or a vet. I do have a lot of good experiences with my own dogs and have helped thousands of people move to better diets and make their dogs well dogs. We are so lucky to have logical, practical, Mother Nature provided guidelines on our side, it helps us understand what dogs need. If your dog caught a rabbit, what would he be eating? Brain, bones, meat, and whatever was the veggie matter inside that rabbit’s stomach. That’s what we try to simulate when we assemble food for our dogs. Of course, a whole rabbit is easy if you have it available, most people don’t and they assemble dinner from several different groups of foods.

This may help you more than anything. Each dog is different, just like humans are different. Amounts of food mean different things to each body. For instance, if you feed all dogs the same every day, one may gain weight, one may lose weight and one may stay the same weight. As your dogs grow older, they may need less of one thing and more of another. Some people can eat huge amounts of food in a day and never gain weight, that’s not me, if I eat too much, my fat and body mass increases. The individual body determines how the dogs use the food, and how fast, depending on their metabolism and activity.

The guidelines are just guidelines to get you started. Rule of thumb for a raw diet daily is 2% adult, 10% puppy. Here’s the test of how to determine if your dogs are getting the right amount of food. Feel their ribs, every morning. I feel my dogs ribs every time I pet them, it’s a good habit to get into.

How to feel the ribs: Run your fingers across the ribs from head to tail and back again. A dog’s ribs in good weight means that you can feel the ribs easily but they are under a lightly padded layer. The belly should not be fat, but firm and svelte. I don’t generally share other websites but this one is pretty good for showing drawings of what a dog body shape should look like. Click here to go to the site.

If your dogs are fat or overweight from the amount you’re feeding now, cut it down. Add a raw bone with a little meat, like a knuckle or something small enough for them to chew on without getting to eat it. This is for chewing pleasure. It not only helps them feel like they are getting more to eat so calms hunger that they might feel but also increases calmness and mental health. Watching a dog get down and chew on a bone is a lot like watching a person doing what they love to do, it’s total happiness and complete concentration. It does wonders to calm the mind and emotions.

If your dog’s ribs are just right and they are getting plenty of bone chewing and activity, you’re right on with what you’re feeding. Watch each individual dog. You might keep a journal but really, feeling the ribs every day before breakfast will tell you how much food they should get. If you have a fatter dog, give a little less for breakfast. A skinny dog, a little more. You might have to alter food day to day for some until you start to understand how their body uses the food. It’s a lot easier than it sounds and with practice, you’ll know just what each needs. If you can feed yourself, you can feed your dogs.

I remember our Golden Retriever Kari, she was a rescue, too. She was an easy keeper, just like me. She didn’t eat much, chewed a lot!, and had to have tons of exercise to keep her body beautiful.

And then there is Oliver, also a rescue. I don’t know how that guy got so big, he’s over 92 pounds now. He didn’t eat very much until he was about 11 months, like many rescues who go through trying times, he was afraid of food. Before he was rescued, he was alone with his sister dealing with mange and a whole lot of other life threatening issues. My best guess is that she ruled the roost. In the garage alone with his sister and a bowl of food every day, my guess is that she was the stronger dog and personality and she got most of it on her schedule. He was too sick to fight her and probably submitted to her and eventually submitted to food as well. That seems weird but I hear more and more that rescue dogs are refusing to eat. It has to do with trauma in some instances. I believe that was what happened to him. The sister was adopted first leaving him alone but the damage had already been done. He was afraid to eat for a long time and had to be coaxed out of his skinny, skinny state. After a while of living with Kent and eating raw food, his fear of food went away and his appetite kicked in, now he really loves to eat. He eats a lot! He’s still growing and filling out and he’s a highly active boy. He loves to chew! He’s quite the sweetheart.

So, determine again by weight 2% raw food of adult body weight for each day. Then adjust to the dog’s needs. Maybe a little more meat, a little more veggies, a little more chewing. Each might need something else. Lots of chewing, lots of exercise.

Don’t lose sleep over feeding the dogs right. They definitely will not go hungry. Keeping them lean is the hardest thing.

If you need hands on guidance, go to the SitStay Dog Run Forum for raw diet. They are wonderful and helpful. And SitStay.com has some great books on the subject, too. – Darcy