How do you feed raw dog food?
As a passionate green supplier, that’s a question I’m often asked and I’m happy to answer!
It is also important because there are many different ways to feed raw dog food to dogs.
The beauty is that none of them are wrong and they all have their upsides and downsides.
So today, I’m going to cover different feeding models and share how I feed raw dog food.
Spoiler alert: I quickly switched from one model to another!
How to Feed a Raw Dog Diet: BARF Diet vs PMR
In raw feeding, you can feed what is known as a BARF diet or PMR, and the main difference is the addition/absence of plants.
The BARF Diet
Let’s look at the BARF diet first.
BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food.
It includes a combination of raw meats, bones, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and grains of your choice.
These foods involve grinding or mixing ingredients together into a mixture or preparing them as whole foods.
Buying pre-made BARF
If you decide you want to feed your dog BARF food, the easiest way to feed it is to buy it in advance from a company that ships it to your door.
For example, from Darwin’s Natural Pet, sponsor of ThatMutt!
They are located in Tukwila, WA on the West Coast and ship their raw grain free dog food within the continental US.
Fun fact: I started my raw food journey with them in 2015.
At that time, I switched my Boxer mixes Missy & Buzz from kibble to raw dog food and wondered, how to feed raw dog food?
Thankfully, another raw feed recommended the brand and they are truly amazing.
The way it works is you place your order online, they ship it to your home in 8 oz frozen bags, and all you have to do is thaw and serve.
Tip: Find out 10 pounds of food for only $14.95. That’s up to 75% off. No code is required.
Since the first order includes a thawing tub, you don’t even need to use your tupperware to thaw the meat.
That said, Darwin has three different lines of raw BARF dog food:
- Natural Selection: This is a free range meat mixed with organic vegetables.
- Biologics: That’s their regular meat and vegetable line.
- Intelligence: That is the doctor’s line for dogs diagnosed with cancer, kidney, liver and joint diseases.
I have fed them all three and my chicks love every single line.
Note: The Intelligence Line is only available with a prescription, so your vet will need to call you. Back when Missy was diagnosed with cancer, her vet Dr. Charles Loops cut it for him.
@Colby: Post a picture of Darwin’s cancer doctor’s raw dog food (I’ve shared it before with ThatMutt)
Here’s what’s in it:
Whitefish (Pollock), Turkey Necks, Turkey Gizzards, Broccoli, Beef Liver, Turkey, Beef Kidney Fat, Whole Dried Eggs, Mushrooms (Maitake, Shitake), Berries, Blueberries, Parsley, Raspberries, Tomato Powder, Fish Oil (Source of DHA), Cod Liver Oil, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Oil Powder, Green Tea, Vitamin E, Zinc Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Black Pepper, Manganese Proteinate, Iodine (EDDI)
Now, while ordering raw dog food is the easiest and fastest way to feed a raw dog, it is also the most expensive option.
Feeding Home BARF
The cost of feeding my 50 lb & 75 lb dogs made raw dog food from Darwin specifically was not sustainable for me personally.
That’s why I’m looking into making my own raw dog food.
There is a learning curve as you research the different components of raw dog food:
- 70% Muscle meat
- 10% Secret organs
- 10% Bones with raw meat
- 10% plants (vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds)
My most memorable AHA moment was when I learned that organs like the heart and lungs are not fed as organs but as muscle meat!
Mine is raw dog food
All in all, it took me about 5 months to feel comfortable going raw.
The way I read it was:
- Reading raw dog food books
- Joining raw dog food Facebook groups
- Watching YouTube videos by pro raw vets
- Read articles on raw dog food in Dogs Naturally Magazine
Years later, I took a raw dog food class and became certified as a raw dog food expert, again by Dogs Naturally Magazine.
Prey Model Raw (PMR) food.
Now that we have looked at the BARF model of raw food, let’s look at the PMR alternative.
Prey Model Raw includes whole cuts of meat, bones, and organs, but no vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
That said, here’s what PMR contains:
- 80% Muscle meat
- 10% Secret organs
- 10% Bones with raw meat
Keeping that in mind, there are two ways to feed PMR:
- Feed the whole game, which means whole animals. For example, whole goats, rabbits, chickens, quail and ducks.
- Following the Frankenprey method that tries to replicate the whole animal by using different parts of different animals. For example, rabbit head, turkey neck, duck frame, turkey hearts, chicken feet, etc.
As for buying whole animals, there are online raw dog dealers that sell whole animals like chickens, ducks, quail, rabbits and fish.
For example, Hare Today and Raw Feeding Miami.
To get your hands on whole big game like deer, sheep and goats, you can make friends with wildlife processors and hunters, or buy them directly from a local farmer or butcher.
Some online raw dog food retailers also carry whole venison, as simple as pre-ordering BARF food from Darwin.
For example, My Pet Carnivore and Raw Feeding Miami.
You can also buy these and modify the BARF diet by adding your own vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Or you can mix them with a base-mix of raw dog food such as:
How to Feed Raw Dog Food for Puppies
If you’ve raised a puppy, you know that growing puppies need more nutrients, ie more food, than older dogs.
That is true whether you are feeding kibble, wet dog food, cooked dog food or raw dog food.
Similar to buying a bag of kibble, pre-made raw dog food like the brand from Darwin comes with feeding suggestions on the packaging.
They also offer free menu consultations over the phone.
I had one of those when I started feeding green and recommend it to them!
Now, if you feed your puppy raw dog food, you will need to do the math to find out the amount of raw dog food he needs to eat per day.
Another option is to feed your puppy 2-3% of his OLD target body weight per day.
So for example, if you know that your female Labrador puppy will weigh 60 lbs when she is an adult, you can do the feeding calculations using 2.5%:
Divide 2.5% by 100, then multiply by 60. The result is your puppy’s daily serving of raw dog food:
2.5% / 100 x 60 = 1.5 lb = 24 oz
This puppy will need about 24 oz of raw dog food per day.
Now, obviously you can only weigh your older puppy, even if you check in with your breeder and/or vet.
This is why this is not my favorite way to do the calculations for feeding raw puppies.
In my opinion, the best way to calculate a dog’s daily raw food allowance is to use their current body weight.
This means you should weigh your puppy weekly, and the best way to do that at home is with a digital puppy scale.
Are you interested?
Click here to learn more about how to feed puppies raw dog food, including formulas.
How to Feed Raw Dog Food to Senior Dogs
Also, if you are feeding a pre-made raw dog food from a brand, you will find feeding guidelines for older dogs on the packaging or on their website.
But if you’re making your own BARF or PMR dog food, you’ll be doing the math with a specific formula.
For moderately active adult dogs, feed 2.5% of target body weight per day.
This means you divide their target body weight by 100, and multiply the result by 2.5% to get their daily allowance of raw dog food.
If they are more potatoes, they will need less food and you will be doing the math by 1.5% – 2%.
Similarly, working dogs or pregnant dogs need more food, so you’ll be calculating up to 4% of their target body weight.
I know this can be confusing, so here is an example of the math you would be doing for an active older dog that weighs 40 pounds and is not overweight (40 lbs is the target body weight):
40/100 = 0.4 x 2.5 = 1 lb = 16 oz
So this dog will need to eat 16 oz of raw dog food per day.
Here’s another math example for a 55 lb overweight dog that doesn’t get much exercise and needs to lose 5 lbs.
Since their target body weight is 50 lbs, you divide 50 by 100, and multiply the result by 2%:
50/100 = 0.5 x 2 = 1 lb = 16 oz
This dog will also need to eat 16 oz of raw dog food per day.
How to Feed a Dog Raw Food – My Way
I have already shared a few pieces of information about how to feed raw dog food.
Long story short, I started my raw food journey with Darwin’s pre-made BARF dog food.
Once I learned how to make homemade raw dog food, I added Darwin’s raw food to my raw dog food.
These days, I feed my Feist mix Wally following the same method.
He gets about 75% of my raw dog food homemade, and 25% processed food that follows the BARF model.
After moving overseas, it’s obvious that I can no longer shop at Darwin but have to shop locally here in Germany.
The Bottom Line
That should answer the question “how do you feed green dogs”!
It’s always much easier to buy pre-made raw dog food from a brand like Darwin’s.
Especially if you are new to raw food and want to make sure you are feeding a balanced raw dog food.
However, this convenience comes at a premium, so another way to make it more affordable is to add your own food.
ThatMutt founder Lindsay follows a similar path and wrote an ebook on how to feed raw dog food, including 10 recipe ideas for small, medium and large dogs!
If you don’t want to feed vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, you will be feeding your dog a PMR diet.
Remember, this does not include plant material and although most predator models eat whole animals, you can also follow the Frankenprey method.
Similar to Darwin’s green dog products, there are brands that sell low PMR for convenience.
Now’s your turn: Let us know how you feed raw dog food in the comments section below!