Nutritional Superiority Crafting Tailored Raw Dog Diets for Your Pup

Raw Dog Food Calculator Ensure Balanced Nutrition with Proper Food Portions!

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Disclaimer:The calculations and information provided by these tools are for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional advice. Always consult a qualified expert before making any decisions based on these tools results.

Stepping into the raw food realm for your four-legged buddy? Meet the raw dog food calculator, your next best friend! Its not just about numbersits about whisker-licking meals and wag-worthy nutrition. Lets set the table for a paw-some feast!

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Factors Influencing Dogs Raw Food Needs

Feeding your dog a raw diet can be an exciting journey, but ensuring they receive the right nutrients in the right quantities is important. Lets dive into the factors that influence a dogs raw food needs:

Dogs Weight

Just like in humans, a dogs weight plays a crucial role in determining the amount of food they need. A heavier dog requires more calories to maintain its ideal weight than a smaller one. You can estimate your dogs body mass index and ensure a healthy weight with our dog BMI calculator!

The caloric needs of dogs can vary. For instance, a 10-pound dog might need between 200-400 calories daily, while a 100-pound dog could require between 1200-2500 calories, depending on other factors.

Dogs Energy/Activity Level

A dog that spends most of its day running, playing, or working will burn more calories than a couch potato pup. Active breeds might require up to 20%-40% more calories daily compared to their less active counterparts. Always keep an eye on your dogs weight and adjust accordingly.

Dog Breed

Every dog breed has unique characteristics. Some breeds naturally have faster metabolisms, while others are prone to weight gain. For example, Greyhounds are known for their lean bodies and fast metabolism, potentially requiring more calories per pound than a Bulldog, which might be more prone to obesity.

Spayed/Neutered Dog

Altering your dog can impact its metabolic rate and energy needs. After being spayed or neutered, dogs tend to have a 30% lower energy requirement. This means you might need to adjust the amount of raw food or risk obesity.

When deciding on a raw food diet for your dog, its crucial to consider all these factors and regularly monitor their weight and health. Regular vet check-ups and adjustments to their diet based on their changing needs will help ensure they stay happy and healthy.

How Much Raw Food Should I Feed My Dog

Venturing into the realm of raw diets for your canine companion? Its essential to get the portions right to ensure optimal health. Always consult with a veterinarian when making significant changes to your pets diet. Heres a guide to help you determine the right amount of raw food for your dog.

A general feeding guideline helps maintain consistency and ensures your dog receives nutrients. Most raw feeders suggest feeding dogs raw food amounting to 2-3% of their body weight daily. So, for a 50-pound dog, this translates to about 1 to 1.5 pounds of raw food a day.

Puppies are growing, so their dietary needs differ from mature dogs. Puppies generally require a higher percentage of their body weight in food because of their rapid growth. Depending on the breed and age, they might need food amounting to 5-10% of their current weight.

The more active your dog is, the more calories they will burn. If your dog is highly active or working, you may need to feed them on the higher end of the percentage scale or even a bit more. Less active dogs might require food on the lower end.

Every dog is unique. Its vital to monitor their weight and health to adjust portions as needed. Regularly weigh your dog and observe for signs of weight gain or loss. Adjust the food quantities accordingly, and ensure they get the necessary nutrients.

You can conveniently find the perfect portion for your pup with our dog food calculator, which will help to provide tailored food proportions for your best friend.

While these guidelines provide a foundation, individual dog needs can vary. Working with a veterinarian or a pet nutrition expert is essential when transitioning to and maintaining a raw diet. They can provide specific advice tailored to your dogs unique needs.

General Insight to Raw Dog Food Calculator

Our raw feeding calculator is an invaluable tool designed to take the guesswork out of feeding raw diets to our canine companions. Given the intricacies of a dogs dietary needsvarying by weight, breed, age, activity level, and morethis calculator aids pet owners in determining the total amount of raw food to offer per day.

By inputting essential information about the dog, such as its weight and activity level, owners can receive recommended calculations on food quantity, ensuring their adult dog receives optimal nutrition.

Remember, while such calculators provide the easiest way as starting point, consulting with veterinarians or pet nutritionists is always advised to fine-tune dietary specifics and guarantee the dogs overall well-being.

Importance of Feeding Your Dog the Appropriate Amount of Raw Food

Please note that feeding your dog the right amount of raw food is paramount to their health and well-being. Firstly, an appropriate amount ensures a balanced intake of essential nutrientsproteins, fats, vitamins, and mineralsthat contribute to muscle growth, energy levels, and overall bodily functions.

Overfeeding can lead to obesity, which brings with it a slew of health issues such as diabetes, joint problems, and heart disease. On the other hand, underfeeding can result in malnourishment, making your dog susceptible to a weakened immune system, reduced muscle mass, and poor bone density.

Moreover, the right portion ensures that your dog maintains a healthy metabolism, reducing the risk of digestive issues. Feeding appropriate amounts also proves economical, preventing wastage and ensuring that every bite contributes to the dogs health.

Ultimately, just as with humans, the right diet in the right quantities plays a pivotal role in ensuring a long, healthy, and active life for our furry companions.

FAQs

How much raw food should I feed my 1-month-old puppy?

For a 1-month-old puppy, feed approximately 8-10% of its body weight daily, divided into multiple small meals. However, consult with a vet or pet nutritionist for specific needs.

What should be the percentage of meat and bones in daily dog raw food intake?

A balanced raw diet should typically consist of about 80% muscle meat and 20% bones. However, this can vary based on specific dietary needs and dog breeds. Always consult with an expert for personalized guidance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a raw dog food calculator is an indispensable tool for pet owners venturing into the world of raw feeding. Providing personalized portion recommendations based on specific dog details ensures our furry companions eat optimal food tailored to their unique needs.

While it offers a practical starting point, collaborating with veterinarians or pet nutritionists guarantees a balanced, healthy diet, allowing our dogs to thrive.

Raw Food Diet for Dogs: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide

If youve been thinking about switching your pup to raw dog food, you may have a lot of questions, like what is a raw food diet for dogs? Can dogs even eat raw meat? Is raw meat good for dogs? What are the benefits of a raw diet for dogs? Is raw meat for dogs safe? Can puppies eat raw food for dogs?

Heres everything you need to know about raw dog food for beginners.

What Is Raw Dog Food?

Raw dog food is an uncooked diet for canines that features a mixture of raw meat (and associated connective tissue and fat), organs, and bones. Some people also choose to add fruits and vegetables to their dogs raw food diet, but those ingredients typically arent necessary since dogs are biologically designed to thrive off animal parts alone.

While humans need to cook meat before consuming it to remove pathogens and properly digest it, dogs are still designed to safely eat and digest raw meat, just like their wild wolf ancestors. Unlike humans, dogs have strong stomach acid, bile, and digestive enzymes that are specifically designed to kill pathogens and break down raw meat.

Is Raw Meat Good for Dogs?

Yes! Raw meat is the diet nature intended for dogs, as long as its nutritionally balanced. Just giving your pup muscle meat without including any organs or bones would cause nutritional deficiencies, so its crucial to provide food (like We Feed Raw) that has the right proportions of muscle, organs, and bones.

Why Is Raw Dog Food Better Than Cooked Homemade Dog Food?

If you love cooking for your family, you might already cook for your dog (or be interested in trying). While cooking for your pup is a far better option than highly processed kibble, raw is actually the best diet you can choose for your dog. Cooking meat also removes much of its nutritional value, which then needs to be added back. Your dog is designed to get the most nutrition from raw food; feed them what nature intended.

Benefits of a Raw Food Diet for Dogs

Raw food has a wide variety of benefits for dogs of all ages. Here are some of the reasons people are switching their dogs to raw diets.

Smaller, Firmer Stool

Since raw food for dogs isnt packed with species-inappropriate grains, fillers, or other ingredients your pup cant digest, your dog will have smaller, firmer poops on a raw diet. Thats because your dog is actually digesting and absorbing more of their food, so less comes out as waste.

Improved Skin and Coat

With its increased moisture and healthy fats, dogs fed a raw diet tend to have healthier skin and coats than dogs on other diets. Additionally, with fewer ingredients, raw diets may be less likely to cause allergies. In fact, a recent study at the University of Helsinki showed that puppies fed raw food are less likely to grow up to suffer from canine atopic dermatitis compared to puppies fed kibble.

Since gut health affects skin health, it shouldnt be surprising to learn that dogs fed a species-appropriate raw diet have healthier skin and shinier coats than dogs fed kibble or canned food.

Weight Control

Packed full of carbohydrates that dogs cant properly digest, kibble is one of the leading causes of the pet obesity crisismore than half of all dogs and cats are overweight or obeseand obesity causes many of the same health issues in animals as it does in people.

Switching to a raw diet and cutting out certain treats may help your dog lose excess weight and maintain a healthy figure. 90% of our customers said their dogs maintained a healthy weight after switching to We Feed Raw.

Better Dental Health

Highly processed foods like kibble contain high levels of starches and sugars that can cause unhealthy bacterial growth. As much as dry dog food manufacturers want you to believe that kibble is good for your dogs dental health, its about as effective at cleaning your dogs teeth as eating crackers would be at cleaning your teeth.

On the other hand, raw dog food contains naturally occurring enzymes that do help protect gums and teeth. We also recommend feeding recreational raw bones a few times a week to naturally clean plaque and tartar from the teeth while also providing jaw exercise and mental stimulation.

More Mealtime Excitement

Would YOU be excited to eat kibble for every meal? Since dogs were designed to eat raw meat, they naturally get more excited for the scent and taste of We Feed Raw than they would at the sound of hard brown pebbles clunking into a bowl.

Stronger Immune System

When your dogs body doesnt have to work as hard to digest their food and extract nutrients from it or fight off inflammation caused by species-inappropriate ingredients, the immune system can better do what its meant to do: fight off illnesses and keep your dog healthy.

Reduced Allergies

Commercial pet foods typically contain a huge variety of ingredients that dogs werent designed to digest, which can trigger allergic reactions. Since We Feed Raw uses only species-appropriate animal meat, organs, and bones, its less likely to trigger allergies, making for happier, healthier dogs.

Potential Concerns About a Raw Diet for Dogs

Pet food companies want people to be afraid of a raw meat-based diet for dogs, so theres a lot of misinformation out there about raw feeding. Lets talk about some of the potential concerns you may have about feeding a raw diet for dogs.

Safety

Raw dog food could make your pup or your family sick! Youve likely heard a friend, family member, or even your veterinarian warn you that raw meat could make your dog or even your human children sick.

Since raw and undercooked meat can make humans sick, its natural to worry. However, with some basic food safety precautions and We Feed Raws high-pressure processing (HPP), you and your entire family can stay safe while your pup enjoys the diet they were built to eat.

High-Pressure Processing (HPP)

Also used to ensure the safety of food intended for human consumption, high-pressure processing (HPP) is a food preservation method that uses cold water and high pressure to inactivate potentially harmful pathogens without affecting the integrity of the food itself.

Some foods you may already buy for your family that are often sanitized using HPP include juice, guacamole, seafood, salsas, baby food, fruit purees, dairy products, and many more.

High-Quality Ingredients

We Feed Raw uses USDA-certified human-grade meats with strict compliance requirements of BRC-safe quality food manufacturing, so you can be sure your pup isnt eating diseased animals that could make them sick.

Raw Dog Food Safe Handling Tips

You likely wash your hands and disinfect surfaces after handling raw meat when you do your own cooking, correct? Taking these same precautions after handling raw meat-based diets is simply the final step in ensuring your entire family stays safe.

Cost

Theres no getting around the fact that raw dog food is more expensive than kibble because it isnt filled with cheap ingredients that bulk it up without adding any nutritional value. However, you may save money in the long run by having fewer vet bills thanks to having a healthier pup. Also, you dont need to commit to feeding your dog a fully raw diet to reap its benefits.

Save Money in the Long Run

If your dog suffers from allergies, dry skin, obesity, or another malady that may be caused by their diet, switching them to raw food may actually save you money in the long run by improving their health and reducing their health-related expenses.

Mixing Raw Dog Food With Kibble

Cant afford to feed a strictly raw diet? No problem! Its totally safe to mix raw dog food and kibble. Your pup will still get some of the benefits of a raw diet even if its not the only thing they eat.

Time

Trying to create a perfectly balanced raw diet yourself can be extremely time-consuming. From measuring the ingredients to ensure your dog gets the right proportions of everything they need to sourcing things like organs and bones, raw diets can be a time suckbut they dont have to be.

We Feed Raw Is Easy

Made from approximately 80% meaty meat (muscle meat and associated connective tissue and fat), 10% organs, and 10% finely ground bones, We Feed Raws patties provide complete and balanced nutrition. All you need to do is thaw, portion, and serve, making our raw food nearly as easy to feed as kibble.

Disapproving Vet

Unfortunately, most vets are given little education about pet nutrition in vet school, aside from what they learn from kibble-funded studies. Most veterinarians only spent a few hours learning biased information about the best food for dogs or cats.

How to Talk to Your Vet About Raw Dog Food

You should reassure your vet that all We Feed Raw meals have been formulated by a PhD animal nutritionist with 30 years of experience. All of our recipes are complete and balanced and comply with AAFCO recommendations for dogs of all life stages. Finally, inform your vet that We Feed Raw uses high-pressure processing (HPP), a USDA-approved pathogen-reduction step that is effective at neutralizing Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria.

Choosing the Best Raw Dog Food Diet for Your Dog

How do you pick the best raw food for your dog? There are many factors to consider. Do you have the time and expertise to do it yourself? Are you looking for a commercial diet?

A few things you should keep in mind when selecting raw dog foods include:

• Make sure the diet is complete and balanced

• What steps does the company take to protect the food?

• Do you need to add anything extra to make sure your dog gets the proper nutrients?

• Do they deliver directly to your door?

• Where do they source their meats?

If you still have questions about We Feed Raw, check out our FAQ page.

Which Is the Best Raw Meat for Dogs?

Some dogs have allergies to specific meats (most commonly beef or chicken), and theres no one best raw meat thats perfect for all dogs. Each protein source has its own pros and cons. We recommend rotating between at least 3 different meats so your dog gets the most well-rounded diet they wont get tired of.

How Much Raw Dog Food to Feed Your Dog

A wide variety of factors go into determining how much raw food to feed your dog, but a general rule of thumb is to feed 2-3% of their body weight each day. What does that look like?

• 100-lb dog = 2-3 pounds of food per day

• 50-lb dog = 1-1.5 pounds of food per day

• 25-lb dog = 0.5-0.75 pounds of food per day

Its sometimes easier (especially with smaller dogs) to convert their weight to ounces. Simply multiply your dogs weight by 16 to get their weight in ounces; then use that number to find out how many ounces of raw food they should get per day. For example:

• A 25-lb dog weighs 400 oz and should get 8-12 ounces of food per day

• A 15-lb dog weighs 240 oz and should get 4.8-7.2 ounces of food per day

• An 8-lb dog weighs 128 oz and should get 2.56-3.84 ounces of food per day

Keep in mind that dogs who are younger, more active, or need to gain some weight may need more than 3% of their weight in raw food per day, while senior, inactive, or obese dogs may need less than 2% of their weight in raw food per day.

We Feed Raw makes it easy. When you take our quiz and tell us about your pup, we tell you exactly how many ounces of We Feed Raw you should feed your pup each day. You decide how many meals to split that amount into.

Can Puppies Eat Raw Dog Food?

Yes! Puppies can begin eating raw food as soon as they start weaning off their mothers milk. We Feed Raw is an excellent choice for puppies because all our food goes through high-pressure processing to neutralize pathogens, making it a safe, natural choice.

Can Dogs Eat Raw Eggs?

Yes! Dogs can absolutely eat raw eggs. In fact, eggs are full of nutrients, like folate, riboflavin, iron, fatty acids, and more. We recommend only including a raw egg in your dogs diet a few times a week, however, since too much egg white can cause a biotin deficiency.

How to Transition Your Dog to Raw Food

Many dogs are prone to stomach problems when switched to any new diet suddenly, so its best to transition your pup to raw food gradually. We recommend adding 25% raw food to 75% of your dogs current food for 3 days, then feeding a 50/50 mix for 3 days, then feeding 75% raw and 25% of their old diet for a further 3 days before transitioning fully to We Feed Raw on Day 10.

Get Started With We Feed Raw Today

Hopefully, weve managed to answer all your questions about raw feeding. Take our quiz now to find out how much We Feed Raw your pup will need each day and make the switch to our balanced and complete, easy-to-feed patties today.

FAQs

What is raw meat for dogs?

Raw meat for dogs is an uncooked diet that consists of a mixture of raw meat (including connective tissue and fat), organs, and bones. It is based on the natural diet of their wild wolf ancestors and provides the necessary nutrients for optimal health.

Is feeding dogs raw meat safe?

Yes, feeding raw meat to dogs is safe when it is nutritionally balanced and handled with proper food safety precautions. Dogs have strong stomach acid and digestive enzymes designed to kill pathogens and break down raw meat, unlike humans.

What is raw dog food?

Raw dog food is a diet consisting of uncooked animal parts, such as meat, organs, and bones, which is designed to mimic the natural diet of dogs' wild ancestors. Some people also choose to add fruits and vegetables to their dog's raw food diet, although these are not typically necessary.

What is a raw dog food diet?

A raw dog food diet is an uncooked, species-appropriate diet for dogs that features a mixture of raw meat, organs, and bones. This type of diet is based on the natural feeding habits of wild canines and is believed to provide numerous health benefits for domesticated dogs.

What is feeding raw meat to dogs?

Feeding raw meat to dogs involves providing them with a diet of uncooked animal parts, such as meat, organs, and bones. This type of diet is designed to closely mimic the natural feeding habits of wild canines and offers numerous health benefits for dogs.

Should dogs eat raw meat?

Yes, dogs should eat raw meat as long as it is part of a nutritionally balanced diet. Raw meat is the natural and species-appropriate diet for dogs, providing them with the necessary nutrients for optimal health.

What is feeding dog raw meat?

Feeding dog raw meat involves providing a diet consisting of uncooked animal parts, such as meat, organs, and bones. This type of diet is designed to closely mimic the natural feeding habits of wild canines and offers numerous health benefits for dogs.

What is raw feeding for beginners?

Raw feeding for beginners is a guide for those who are new to the concept of providing their dogs with a raw food diet. It covers essential information, such as the benefits of a raw diet, potential concerns, how to choose the best raw dog food, and how to transition your dog to a raw food diet.