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Originally Posted by merroo
My dog is 35lbs at his healthy weight but right now he's maybe 45lbs max. How much food should I typically give him?
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2-3% of his ideal weight. However, because he's overweight, you could aim for 2-3% of 40lb to start until he reaches it. For example, 2.5% of 40lbs = 1lb. You do have to take into account his activity level though. What breed is he? How old is he? I mention activity level because we have a 24lb mixed breed dog who eats 1.25lbs per day. If I fed her only 2-3%, she'd be awfully underweight. You say your dog isn't very active but how much activity does he get a day ie. walks, playtime, etc? You can get an electronic kitchen scale to accurately measure how much your feeding until you get the hang of it.
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Originally Posted by merroo
I gave him a meaty pork breast bone and three chicken hearts. Is this okay?
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How much meat on the bone are you talking about? 1/2 meat, 3/4 meat, etc? The ideal ratio of meat : bone : organs should be something like 75-80% : 10-15% : 10% which would translate into 12-12.8 oz meat : 1.6-2.4 oz bone : 1.6 oz organs.
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Originally Posted by merroo
Tomorrow I was planning on giving him half a liver for dinner (would this be enough?)
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What kind of liver? You run the risk of diarrhea if feeding only organs for a meal.
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Originally Posted by merroo
We have chicken breasts (could I give him one as a meal?)
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Full breasts with meat? That is fine.
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Originally Posted by merroo
what other kind of bones could I feed?
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We feed mainly chicken carcass, chicken neck, and pork bones. The softer the bone, the easier to digest for our dogs (why we don't feed any weight bearing bones such as chicken thigh for example). We also feed whole frozen sardines and mackerel for their high calcium content.
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Originally Posted by merroo
Do I need to give a bone every meal?
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No, you don't. As long as he's getting the right percentage over a few days, he should be ok. If you skip a day of bones, you can feed 3.2 - 4.8oz bone the next day. We use the consistency of our dogs' stools to help guide us. If they seems constipated and/or their stools are very hard and crumbly, we ease back on the bones...if their stools are too soft, we add a little bit more.
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Originally Posted by merroo
Would I be able to feed bison and deer? I know I can feed rabbit. Are these high in fat, and roughly how much would I need to feed? I don't want to feed anything with high fat contents since my dog isn't very active.
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Fat makes up about 10-15% of the meat we feed our guys. Remember that some fat is good...raw fat does have some health benefits, unlike processed fatty grease.
Yes, you can feed bison and deer. I have heard that organs from hunted animals shouldn't be fed though to avoid transmission of parasites. I never really researched it as it doesn't apply to us. If you're just starting out with raw, try to stick to one protein source at a time for a couple of weeks to make sure your dog tolerates it well. If you don't mix and your dog reacts negatively, it'll be easier to figure out which meat he doesn't tolerate well (all our dogs have explosive diarrhea with lamb, and two if I feed beef more than 3 meals in a row).
In conclusion, if your goal is 75-80% meat, 10-15% bone, 10% organs, from a variety of sources you're well on your way to feeding a well-balanced raw diet.