???
Doing a fresh cooked or raw food diet can feel overwhelming. We want to be sure our dogs get all the vitamins and nutrients their body needs. I’ve used the following 3 supplements on my dogs for many years with fantastic results. This reduces my anxiety of attempting to feed my dogs a balanced diet each day/week. To learn more about feeding a fresh food diet to your dog, check out more of our articles here in our Safari Doodles Education blog
1️⃣ I highly suggest you feed the NuVet Plus vitamin. This covers many nutrients your dog needs that might not be covered when making your dog a fresh diet.
2️⃣ We all need fish oil. Grizzly Salmon oil 3-4 days a week is an easy option. This fish oil covers DHA/Omega 3. This is a very popular brand amongst holistic vets. Feeding too much fish oil is toxic. Limiting your dog to the suggested dose 3-4 days a week is best. A second alternative is to feed sardines. 1oz per 20 lbs of body weight. I feed no salt added Sardines in water.
3️⃣ 3 days a week take iodine or kelp. Getting iodine can be tricky. Limit this supplement to just 3 days a week to avoid overdose. Many humans & dogs are deficient in Iodine. This liquid Mary Ruth’s Liquid Iodine was recommended by a human holistic pediatrics doctor. It is also great for pets! Using the liquid helps when dosing small dogs. For a natural Whole Food option, feed this Kelp Seaweed
Feeding a fresh food diet means your dog gets more water per bite than when feeding only dry dog food. This green chart is for a dog eating a Prey Model fresh food diet. The grey chart is a veggie added diet. Both diets can be done raw or cooked. Do not feed any cooked bone. The percentage of meat should be close to:
? Prey Model Diet
A) 80% muscle meat/ the meat should have 8-10% fat (careful not to feed high fat to most adults). Growing puppies should have 10%-20% fat.
B) 10% organ meat (5% liver/5% other)
C) 10% Soft whole raw bone (like chicken wings) or Ground Bone. Increase bone content to 20% for growing puppies and reduce meat to 70%. Raw bone has the perfect ratio of calcium to phosphorus.
The “prey model” diet is only meat, organs and soft bones or ground bones. This is a complete diet if a dog gets fatty fish or fish oil 3 days a week and eggs 3-7 days a week. Texas Tripe is a raw pre-made dog food supplier with a prey model diet blend. Prey Model diet is suggested diet for any dog with allergies or gut issues. Texas Tripe makes great raw blends that are cost effective.
Veggies + Protein Diet
? For a cooked diet or raw that includes veggies, the percentages are:
?60-80% meat
?20-40% veggies/fruit/grain.
?A puppy who eats veggies should have 60% muscle meat, 20% edible bones (or ground bone), 10% organs (5% liver, 5% other), 10% Veggies/fruit/grains. Puppies need higher bone content than adults. For puppies on prey model (see green chart), take away the 10% veggies and increase the muscle meat by 10%. This equals 70% meat / 20% bone /10% organs.
?As an example, an older dog can reduce the amount of ground bones/ soft edible bones to 5-10% of the diet and increase veggies or lean meat. An example is
65% lean meat (with 10% max fat), 5% bone, 10% organ, 20% veggie/fruit/grains. Adult dogs calorie and calcium needs are less than a growing puppy.
| 2-4 months old |
| 8%-10% of current body weight |
| Feed 3-4 meals |
| 4-6 months old |
| 6%-8% of current body weight |
| Feed 3-4 meals |
| 6-8 months old |
| 4%- 6% of current body weight |
| Feed 2 meals |
| 8-12 months old |
| 3-4% of current body weight |
| Feed 2 meals |
| Small breeds 12+ months old |
| 2%-3% of current body weight |
| Feed 1-2 meals |
| Large breeds 12-18 months old |
| 3-4% of current body weight |
| Feed 2 meals |
| All breeds 18+ months old (adult) |
| 2%-3% of current body weight |
| Feed 1-2 meals |
⭐️⭐️On a calculator, type in your dog’s weight. Then look at the list below and enter the percentage based on your dog’s age. Next multiple your dog’s weight by this percentage. Hit the equal sign. This amount is how many pounds your dog needs to eat per day.
Example of how to calculate:
Dog’s Weight = 50 lbs
Age of dog, 2 years, means he eats= 3%
On a calculator 50 x 3 then hit the “percent button” % = 1.5 pounds of food / per day
Or
Dogs Weight = 50 lbs
Age of dog, 2 years= 3%
On a calculator 50 x 0.03 = 1.5 pounds of food / per day
? ⚖️??
A large breed puppy who is 12 lbs at 8 weeks old needs 1.2 lbs of food per day, divided up into 3-4 meals per day.
When that puppy is 3 months and 20 lbs he eats 2 lbs a day
At 4 months and 40 lbs he eats 3.2 lbs a day.
At 7 months and 60 lbs he eats 3.6 lbs a day.
At 9 months and 70 lbs he eats 2.8 lbs a day
He needs to continue eating 3%-4% of his body weight until he’s 18+ months old. At that point he can drop to 2%-3% of his body weight.
Notice that a puppy who is 3 months old & who weighs 15 lbs gets 10% of his body weight per day. That also equals 1.5 lbs of food. That is the same amount the 50 lbs grown adult eats.
?
Every dog is unique. Some have a fast metabolism and highly active. Those dogs need the highest percentage of food for their body weight/age. Some dogs are lower energy or have a breed type who easily carry a healthy amount of body fat. For those dogs, feeding the lower end percentage is ideal. It is imperative that your dog eats the amount of food that keeps him at an ideal body weight. Don’t over feed and have a chubby dog!
A dog with too much body fat will be less healthy long term than a dog in a more fit body weight. The key is that you can EASILY feel his ribs, but there is also a little bit of fat covering the ribs.
How does your dog add up?
???
Doing a fresh cooked or raw food diet can feel overwhelming. We want to be sure our dogs get all the vitamins and nutrients their body needs. I’ve used the following 3 supplements on my dogs for many years with fantastic results. This reduces my anxiety of attempting to feed my dogs a balanced diet each day/week.
1️⃣ I highly suggest you feed the NuVet Plus vitamin. This covers many nutrients your dog needs that might not be covered when making your dog a fresh diet.
2️⃣ I suggest you feed Grizzly Salmon oil 3-4 days a week. This fish oil covers DHA/omega 3. This is a very popular brand amongst holistic vets.
3️⃣ I suggest you supplement 3 days a week with iodine. Getting iodine can be tricky and most humans & dogs are deficient. This brand was recommended by a human holistic pediatrics doctor. It is also great for pets! Use the liquid for small dogs. The pills are easy for large dogs.
Iodine pills from kelp/seaweed
Author: Alicia of Safari Doodles has fed raw/cooked food to her dogs her whole life. She comes from generations of fresh food feeders. Join the Facebook group: Texas Doodle Education to learn more ways to keep your dog healthy.
To learn more about feeding a fresh food diet to your dog, check out more of our articles here in our Safari Doodles Education blog
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