trial and error kind of, after using dogs weight/activity level/age etc. its not rocket science, but i do weigh how much of each ingredient ,keep track and then keep an eye on their body shape, my older dog is easier to tell for some reason, i like to see a little ribs and hourglass shape, when people see my old almost 11 yo they are shocked when they hear how old he is, they usually say they thought he was 5 or 6 or something like that, because hes not fat it really helps his joints etc, I feel this diet has turned back the hands of time for the old timer, only wish I would have done this years ago!
my young dog eats around 1/2 to 3/4 lb on avg more than the old guy even though hes around 15 lbs lighter. the young lab is still growing ,hes around 65 lbs , and eats about 35 ounces of raw meat ,bones,organ meats, veg etc. , its all done in percentages, lots of great info on the net, hes on a modified "B.A.R.F. diet its called. When hunting hard junior gets bumped up to 45 to 50 ounces . normally they are fed once a day in morning.( like I mentioned ,they fast 1 day a week, very good for them)
if hunting, I feed them when we get home. ( they might get a few freeze dried meat snacks during the day or for the ride home.)
If Im going on a long vacation I meal prep the meals and freeze them in tupperware containers , then keep taking 2 out each day to thaw for next day etc.
I'm always keeping my eyes open to meat going on sale or marked down for quick sale and stock up as needed,
I do a lot of shopping at a large oriental supermarket, there I can find all the organ meats you could imagine, they eat lots of cow hearts, liver, kidneys.
almost forgot just tonight I raided my parents huge deep freezer, they had freezer burnt 5 6 7 year old meat way down in the bottom, going to waste, lots of veggies, brought home a whole laundry basket full. I asked her a while ago and my vet said no probs for the dogs, she has 4 or 5 dogs raw fed and is always looking for stuff like that she said, she feeds lots of wild game as well.
also at that market I can get wild caught "fresh" (relatively)? mackerel from Norway.
you should see the pups devour a mackerel, head and all, very crunchy and tasty the way they carry on.
the whole idea is to mix up the diet, pork,chicken,lamb, beef, goose,duck,pheasant, as apposed to what ever is cheapest, usually chicken. they need variety, the veg and fruit and raw seeds/ nuts are blended into a smoothy, as they don't digest the raw veggies well as far as getting all the nutrient benefits, when its ground up they reap all the healthy benefits. if veggies are cooked they can digest them better, but the cooking destroys a lot of the nutrients I understand.
not gonna lie, its a bit of work, cost wise a little more money than top quality kibble, but im self employed, so kind of laid back ,make their meals after a cup of coffee no big hurry, if i worked 9- 2- 5 id be meal prepping once a week or every 2 weeks. doing the freezer thing.
the biggest thing is the fear factor at first when you see your dog scarf down a whole chicken drumstick in like 4 or 5 crunches and swallow,wow.
On their birthdays and Thankgiving they each get a whole cornish game hen, man they make quick work of it. THE BIIGEST THING IS THIS, THE BONES HAVE TO BE RAW. a cooked bone will do damage or could kill your dog, raw no problem they are crunchy but pliable, ive seen it enough times now, but my friends and relatives freak out when they see them chomping down a chicken bones and all .
I still monitor them as they scarf down their meals every day. the weirdest/coolest thing is my young lab had a sensitive stomach , sometimes would throw up and not want to eat his kibble or not be that interested, wasnt sure how he was going to transition( thats something I forgot, there is a process to slowly transition over to raw and amounts of different types of meat and liver at first) but any ways the first time i gave him a chicken foot he carried it around and played with it for quite a while, before eating it,was funny to see, now 2 bites chicken foot gone. He has not once thrown up since starting the raw diet,( almost a year) and im ready to throw up just preparing some of the nasty stuff they scarf down, no problems whatsoever.
let me know if any questions or need help finding websites/info etc.
Mike
