How to Start Feeding Pet Raw
BJ’s Raw Pet Food knows that feeding raw can be overwhelming for a pet owner. There’s so much information to consume and so many options. How do you know where to start when asking the question of how much raw food should you be feeding your dog?
Our raw dog food calculator gives you the ability to do just that. You can find out exactly how much raw dog food you should be feeding your dog!
Dogs are family, they are lives that we are responsible for. That’s why we believe that our furry companions should be fed the best and at the ideal amounts. Using our raw dog food calculator will help you properly feed your dog the right amounts of raw food and help them boost their quality of life.
Is Feeding Raw Dog Food Safe?
Years of Research
After countless years of research on pet health with leading scientists like Dr. Bilinghurst, it's clear that across the board, feeding raw is significantly superior to artificial, burnt, brown, crunchy, over-processed kibble. In fact, feeding raw is directly connected to positive outcomes like healthier coats and longer lifespans. Dr. Bilinghurst is the leader in healthy nutrition programs for dogs. His BARF Diet provides a balanced diet for your pets which can help obesity, arthritis, allergies, diabetes and more diseases and illnesses.
A Change in Your Dog's Life
Feeding raw provides your dog(s) with the proper nutrients and enzymes they need, boost energy levels, and even promote healthy brain functions. Dogs are not meant to eat overly processed man-made kibble, and that’s why raw is the best option for a healthy dog. Raw foods consist of organ meats like liver, kidney and hearts. Whole chicken, beef, pork, and seafood. Whole or ground bone and even dog-safe fruits and vegetables.
You’ll see a drastic difference in your furry family members after switching to a raw dog food diet. Shinier coats, healthier skin, increased energy, and even improved dental health. Be your dog’s hero, see for yourself how a raw diet can make a change in your dog’s health.
Raw Dog Feeding Calculator
Feeding Raw To Different Dog Breeds
All breeds are different and require different raw feeding strategies. Answering the question “How much raw food should I feed my dog?” can be tricky for many reasons, one of them being how your dog's breed affects how much raw food you should be feeding it.
We’ll talk through size and breeds here to help you know exactly how much raw dog food you should be feeding your furry friend, so they have the happy and healthy life they deserve!
Feeding Raw To Small Dog Breeds
Small breeds, sometimes called toy dogs, are dogs that are 15 lbs or less. Some common examples of small/toy dog breeds are chihuahuas, pugs, and Maltese dogs. On the other hand, the more uncommon examples would be Pomeranians, Havanese, and Miniature Dachshunds. These dogs may be small in stature, but they’re huge in personality. If you have a “toy dog” as part of your family, then knowing how much raw dog food they need is important.
Feeding Raw To Small Breed Puppies
A Toy dog breed is already small in stature and in their puppy stage of life, they’re even smaller (and cuter for that matter)! That’s why in order to properly feed your Chihuahua or Havanese puppy, make sure to give no more than BJ’s suggested 8 ounces a day for your toy dog breed puppies. You should split their meals between 3–6 times a day for the most effective feeding. We suggest 4 meals portioned out at 2 ounces of raw puppy mix per serving.
Feeding Raw To Small Breed Adult Dogs
Although toy breed adult’s sizes are not much bigger than their puppy size, their feeding raw amount has vast changes. With a dog’s maturity comes a balance in activity, metabolism, and total weight. With all these factors being included in your pet’s diet, we recommend a maximum of 5 ounces of raw food a day. Any full-grown pug or miniature dachshund or other toy breed adult is going to love you for feeding them a delicious and healthy raw diet. For their diet to be the most effective, try to split their meals between 2–3 times a day.
Feeding Raw to Small Breed Pregnant Dogs
We recommend increasing your dog’s food intake by 5-10% once the 3rd trimester starts (around day 40 of your dog’s pregnancy). This may seem like a small change, but it will make all the difference for your dog momma and her new puppies.
A pregnant or lactating dog will require a slight change to the way you give them their raw food. Just like humans, their dietary needs increase to support the excitement of their new babies coming into the world!
These modifications in your dog’s diet ensure that the pregnant momma and her puppies get all the essential nutrients needed to develop and grow. Just like any pregnancy, a dog has three trimesters. You can continue to feed your pregnant dog regularly for the first two trimesters of pregnancy, the third trimester is when feeding habits need to change. During the 3rd and final trimester, the production of milk begins to increase. This process becomes physically demanding on the body of the mother.
Feeding Raw Food To Small Breed Senior Dogs
Some of the most common things that challenge any senior dog are injuries, joint pain, or even a previous diet that was poor. These can heavily affect a senior dog’s overall health. You know your dog best (you’ve seen them from a floppy-eared doplick pup to a graying senior) so gauge their activity level and determine how much food you think is right based on how much energy they expound. When you transition to feeding raw, you will see health benefits over time as well as an increase in happiness and energy.
We recommend that a healthy senior dog with no health issues eat 2% of their body weight daily. If your dog has suffered from a health issue in the past or has health issues presently, we recommend you start off with ¾ lbs until you can safely work up their activity level again.
Feeding Raw Dog Food to Medium Dog Breeds
A medium dog breed weight is usually between 20-60 lbs. Just like the name entails, a medium-sized dog is not small but not big. The most common medium-sized dogs are Beagles, Goldendoodles, Labradoodles, and Poodles. On the other end of the spectrum, the expensive ones like Samoyeds, Chow Chows, and French bulldogs can cost you a pretty penny. Most dogs fit into the medium breed category so pay close attention to this raw feeding guide if you have a medium-sized dog breed.
Feeding Raw to Medium Breed Puppies
Your medium dog breed puppy will soon grow to be a young adult but for now, it needs all the nutrients and energy it can get to grow. With puppies that are medium-sized, BJ’s recommends feeding raw anywhere from 2-3x the amount of raw dog food that a dog of the same weight would eat. For example a puppy that weighs 10 pounds would need to eat 2-3x the amount of raw dog food that a 10 pound adult dog would eat. If your puppies are between 0–4 weeks, feed them 3 to 4 times a day for a proper diet.
Feeding Raw to Medium Breed Adult Dogs
Your medium-sized lovable fur ball is now an adult. You might be wondering what changes? The most important thing is… yes you guessed it, dietary habits. Weighing in at 20–60 pounds, your dog will be brimming with energy. That's why to support their active lifestyle, you will need to up your pets' food intake. BJ’s recommends a dog with a medium-sized build to receive 2-5% of their body weight in raw food every day. If you are trying to put your dog on a diet and lose weight, you should lean towards the 2% side with increased exercise. If you want your dog to gain weight, then we suggest leaning towards 5% and bulking your raw food with extra fat and protein.
Feeding Raw To Medium Breed Pregnant/Lactating Dogs
A very obvious change is a small increase in food intake. This modification to your pregnant dog’s diet ensures that she and her puppies get all the nutrients they need to develop healthily. You can continue feeding a regular diet to your dog for the first two trimesters (around 40 days). Once your dog enters the third trimester, she will need changes to her diet.
The production of milk for dogs begins to increase during the third trimester. This process is physically demanding on your dog’s body and will take a toll on her energy levels if you don’t feed them properly. BJ’s recommends increasing the feeding amount to your pregnant dog by 5-10% once her third trimester starts.
Feeding Raw To Medium Breed Senior Dogs
As medium-sized dogs get their gray hair a number of things change for them: onset of obesity, arthritis, drop in cognition, and appetite loss become more and more common. Because of the loss in muscle mass that comes with age, you will need to feed your dog more protein, 50% more protein to be exact. With raw food, organ meats are common so promoting organ health won’t be hard. You will need to feed your aging dog raw food that can properly stimulate organ health.
Raw food is a great source of protein as it comes packed with natural and fresh muscle meats. Organ health can also be a factor. Same as an adult dog, keep a close watch on underweight dogs and overweight dogs. Feed them 40% less in ounces to lose weight, and feed them 40% in ounces to gain weight.
Taking care of a senior can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. With this information, you can safely and successfully feed your senior dog!
In-Depth Senior Dog Feeding Guide
Feeding Raw Dog Food To Large Dog Breeds
Last but not least, we have the big boys (big good boys). A dog is considered a large breed when its full weight is 70 pounds or more. Dogs like rottweilers, doberman pinschers, and German Shepherds are great examples. Some of the more expensive large breeds are dogs like the Tibetan Mastiff, Canadian Eskimo dogs, and Saint Bernards. Large dogs' weights can range from 70 pounds to the heaviest dog breed which is the English Mastiff which can grow up to 230 pounds! That’s why if you’re the owner of a large dog, you need to feed them the right amounts, so they can support their big frames and get the nutrients they need.
Feed them nutrient-balanced food like raw and keep an eye out for their growth. Because of their rapid growth, it’s easy to stray away from their ideal weight. BJ’s suggests feeding your puppy 50-60% of their body weight in ounces. This will help your dog gain the ideal weight it needs to step into adulthood.
Feeding Raw To Large Breed Puppies
A large breed puppy, if you can even call them that, can get pretty big. Some large breed puppy weights are more than medium-sized breed's full weights. Because of the vast size differences, you have to approach feeding raw to large breed puppies in a different manner. You need to be careful with the frequency of your meals. At this stage, their stomachs are still tiny. If you give them as much food as they want because of their size, they can easily become overweight. Spread out their meals to 3–4 sessions a day.
Feeding Raw To Large Breed Adult Dogs
If you have a large breed of dog, you know how much they eat. That’s why it is critical to know how much to feed large breed dogs. BJ’s recommends 2-3% of your dog’s weight in raw food daily for a large breed dog. You should be splitting this in between 2 meals.
For example, a 100 pound dog will need 3 pounds of raw food a day to stay at his ideal weight. An even bigger dog, like a 175 pound dog, will need 5 ¼ pounds of food a day. Their food should be filled with protein and fat to keep up with their growing body. A raw diet will keep your dog happy and healthy while providing them with the nutrients they need.
Feeding Raw To Large Breed Pregnant/Lactating Moms
A large breed dog is big enough, now add pregnancy to the mix and it’s no joke. Not to mention that her puppies will be considerably larger than medium and small breed puppies. Because of this, your pregnant dog will need to up their food intake. Just like the other sizes, you won’t need to adjust anything for the first two trimesters (around 40 days). Once she reaches the third trimester, milk production will increase and will have a physical toll on her body so she will need more protein, and nutrients to keep up with her ever changing body. BJ’s recommends increasing feeding raw by 5-10% once the third trimester starts.
These are the basics to care and feed for a large pregnant dog. After delivery, she should be fed approximately the same amount of food as an adult dog of her size. With every week that lapses, you should be increasing the volume of food up to four weeks. Litter size will also affect how many calories you need to feed your dog mama. So check every outcome that is possible for your breed and gauge how you want to go through with your feeding plan.
Feeding Raw To Large Breed Senior Dogs
A senior is a senior no matter what size you are. Large breed dogs suffer from the same health conditions that a small, or medium-sized dog would. The only difference is… they’re big. Because of this, they are more at risk for joint problems, mobility issues or organ problems. If you’ve fed your dog healthy food their whole life, then you will experience less of these health concerns. A large senior dog will require a similar amount as an adult dog but you need to monitor their health. If your dog is injured or has had an injury that affects their activity level, you need to adjust how much food to give them. Using this information, gauge how much food is right for your dog.
How Large And Small Dog Metabolisms Affect Feeding Raw
There has been a considerable amount of research on the topic of a domesticated dog’s metabolism. Dogs have immense diversity in weight and height. There are specific differences in metabolism between small dogs compared to large dogs. Specifically for small toy dogs like chihuahuas or pomeranians, they have a lower basal metabolic rate and higher mass-specific metabolic rate than larger dogs. You might be wondering what that really means? The simplest way to put it is that smaller dogs burn fewer calories while performing basic life functions than larger dogs do.
So if your small puppy stayed in bed all day, it would lose fewer calories compared to a large dog that stayed in bed for the same amount of time. On the other hand, they exhibit a faster mass-specific metabolic rate. This term is used for the rate at which an organism consumes energy per gram of body weight. In the short term, your small dog can process food and resources at a faster rate than a larger dog can.
Feeding Raw Dog Food To Help Your Dog Gain Weight
An important aspect of having a pet is making sure they are properly fed and kept at the appropriate weight. If you take a look at your dog and see your dog's ribs, spine, and pelvic bones prominently sticking out, you might have an underfed dog. Some more evidence of an underweight dog would be low energy, lost shine in their coat, and no evidence of fat on their body. If you observe any of these characteristics in your dog, consult with your vet to determine whether or not there is a medical cause other than underfeeding. You will need to start feeding your dog more if they are underweight and there are no other medical issues.
In order for your dog to gain weight it will need to be fed more than the required amount it would need to maintain its weight. You don’t have to worry as underweight dogs can return to their normal weight with dedicated nutrition and care. You will need to feed your dog food that has a higher protein and higher fat content. This is also a perfect time to start feeding raw as you will need to feed your dog food with higher protein and higher fat. Begin with 90% and 10% of the raw food and gradually increase the proportion of raw food everyday until you’re eventually at 100% raw food. BJ’s also suggests feeding your dog a 40% increase in ounces of their recommended amount of food to help with the weight gain process.
Feeding Raw Dog Food To Help Your Dog Lose Weight
You might take a look at your chunky dog and think they’re cute just the way they are but they could be at risk for health problems. The first step you should take is determining what is the standard healthy body weight for your dog’s breed. It’s natural for some breeds to have a little extra fat, but the norm is different for more lean breeds. The best way you can help your dog live a long and happy life is yes, you guessed it, a proper diet. If your dog is used to processed kibble, excessive treats or even table scraps, your dog is prone to gaining weight quickly. We suggest consulting with a veterinarian first before starting any new diets.
Dogs gain weight the same way that humans do. No exercise and too much junk food will wreak havoc on your dog’s weight. BJ’s recommends a 40% decrease in ounces of raw food if your adult dog needs to lose some extra pounds. You can also cut back on calories by reducing the amount of treats your dog receives.
Another way you can help your dog lose weight is with additional exercise. Most dog breeds love to be active whether that’s a walk, a hike, a run, or even a swim. Get your dog outside and enjoy outdoor activities with them. Most dogs only need 30 minutes to an hour of exercise every day. Committing that much time to them every day will help you keep your dog in your life longer and it won’t be bad for you either.
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Why Is it Important to Feed the Right Amount of Food?
How To Transition To Raw.
Why Feed Your Dog Raw?
How Much And How Often Should I Be Feeding Raw?
How Do I Know If I’m Feeding My Dog Enough Raw?