A Feeding Guideline and Rule of Thumb
If you are just starting raw, stop feeding kibble and do a straight swap to raw. This is the most beneficial way of converting as the stomach’s pH balance needs to adjust.
The 80 –10 –10 Guide
Proteins = 80%
Bones = 10%
Offal / Organs = 10%
Most pre-made raw foods will follow an 80/10/10 formula. As with humans, all dogs are different. Sometimes you may need to adjust the diet slightly. Examples of this can be if your dog’s struggling to go to the toilet, it is likely that the bone content is hardening the stool. This can be fixed by feeding more offal, more fruit and vegetables, or dropping the bone content slightly. If your fur baby has an upset stomach, then it might be that they are having too much offal, fruit or vegetables, in which case we recommend adding some extra bone to their meals or as a treat, this can come in the form of frozen wings, necks, or dried treats such as horns or feet.
Suspect your doggo might have an allergy? We are seeing an increasing number of dogs with allergies, breeds such as French Bulldogs, Cockapoos, Poodles, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and many more are more prone to allergies due to their genetics. We have a simple guide to follow that can help you work out if your dog is allergic to certain proteins, this is commonly referred to as the elimination diet.
Week 1: Choose any brand of food that you feel works for you, this can be any size too. You’ll want to get a week’s worth of chicken flavour. This is the perfect starting point as it is the most common allergy among dogs. Some of the most obvious symptoms of allergies in dogs is red inflamed skin, itching of paws, armpits and stomach as well as rashes, dirty ears and sometimes brown patches on the skin. If you notice any of these symptoms within the week of feeding chicken, then your fur baby is most likely allergic.
Week 2: You can either stick with the same brand as before, or choose a different brand, but for this week, you will want to get only turkey. Some dogs will be allergic to chicken, but not turkey, some dogs are allergic to both. You’ll want to feed just turkey for one week, keeping an eye out for symptoms once again.
Week 3: This week will be a week of beef. Beef is one of the less common allergies, but symptoms of beef allergies can be diarrhoea. It could be that you feed one meal and your dog gets an upset stomach, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your dog is allergic, it could be due to the fact that beef is much more rich and nutrient dense than chicken and turkey. If your dog is experiencing an upset stomach for multiple days on this diet, it could indicate an allergic reaction to beef.
Week 4: You have now completed the most common allergies among dogs, if you haven’t spotted any of the symptoms mentioned, your dog has no allergies so you can feed these proteins and mix flavours. If your dog has experienced symptoms we advise that you avoid those flavours in both food and treats. You will be able to feed more exotic proteins, such as rabbit, goat, horse and venison, as it is very rare that dogs have issues with these flavours.
How Much to Feed
Most adult dogs eat around 2% to 3% of their ideal adult weight per day, we advise 2.5% of the body weight if you have a dog that is particularly active, and less if your dog is a bit of a couch potato.
For puppies, it is a little bit different:
2-4 months old 10-8%
4-6 months old 8-6%
6-8 months old 6-4%
8-12 months old 4-3%
How Much – Guidelines for Dogs
How Much – Guidelines for Cats
What to Feed
At Raw4pets we have a vast number of quality products, to start your shopping, visit our shop or see our specials.
Proteins 80%
White meats: chicken, farmed rabbits, turkey
Red meats: pork, beef, lamb, goat, duck, goose, venison, elk, bison kangaroo, wild rabbit, game birds, moose,
Game/wild animals need to be frozen for 2 to 3 weeks.
Organs Fed as Muscle/Protein Meat:
tripe, heart, gizzard, tongue, trachea and lungs
Bones 10% – NO COOKED BONES
All parts of chicken, duck, turkey, rabbits, game, fowl, small prey
Ribs (feed in sections) neck, shoulder – pig, lamb, goat, deer
Offal/Organs 10%
5% Liver
5% Other Offal/Organs – Kidney, spleen, thymus, brain, pancreas, testes and eyes
Feeding a variety of proteins is ideal as it will prevent boredom and fussiness!
The Raw4pets Commitment to You
At Raw4pets we are 100% committed to following and promoting a raw diet for our loved ones. If you are looking for any advice or support in starting or continuing your raw feeding journey, please feel free to call us on 01344 208 343 (operating hours 10am to 4pm, Mon to Sat) and we will be glad to help.
For more help and advice for raw feeding your loved ones, feel free to access the Raw Feeding Advice and Support website at https://www.rawfeedingadviceandsupport.com/