Feeding Raw but cant keep weight on

[Jess04]

I have a 22 month old German Shepherd Male and ever since I put him on a Raw diet i have the hardest time keeping his weight up. He is a very active boy and my friend says he has a fast metabilism to boot.
Im new at this and been having a hard time finding anything that i can regularly feed to him without dropping weight.
He should weigh between 70-75 and he weighs about 63-65 pds.

Thanks in advance.

[Jax08]

How much are you feeding him? I feed Jax about 2% of her ideal weight per day which equals 1.25 lbs or 10oz per meal plus eggs, pumpkin, liver, yogurt, tripe.

And what are you feeding him? How much fat is in his diet? My vet told me that dogs do not need alot of fat so you don't want to overdo it but he should have some.

[Lauri & The Gang]

If he should weigh between 70 - 75 pounds you should be feeding him about 30 ounces per day.

If you ARE feeding him that much and he's still losing weight, you need to increase his amounts.

Not all dogs are the same. My boy Remi ate almost twice what Riggs did and still maintained his weight!

Wish I had that type of metabolism!

[Jess04]

Breakfast hes getting a cup of oats soaked in water, with 1TB Honey, 1/2 fruitsand and 1 1/2 cup of muscle meat or chicken leg quarter.
snack - kong with natuarl peanut butter
Dinner is a leg quarter with veggies and everynow and then a little bit of cottage cheese. or 1 1/2 cup hamburger with veggies.
(the leg quarters i buy are a pretty good size)
When i first started him he was a hamburger mixer (eggs, pumpkin, garlic, veggies, fruits, instant potatoes) he got a little more than a 1/2 pd of that for breakfast and dinner.

[Freestep]

I had to switch one of my dogs from raw to kibble because I couldn't keep weight on her with raw. It happens sometimes. Try googling "Satin Balls", and you will find a recipe that is supposed to work great for weight gain in dogs.

[Josie/Zeus]

If I were you, I'd feed high quality kibble in the morning and raw at night until he gains weight.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by Jess04

When i first started him he was a hamburger mixer (eggs, pumpkin, garlic, veggies, fruits, instant potatoes) he got a little more than a 1/2 pd of that for breakfast and dinner.

That is NOT a balanced raw diet. Where is the calcium? Why are you adding starch? And unless he was a small puppy when you started that is nowhere NEAR enough food for a 70 pound dog (and would be why he's losing weight).

Also, you cannot calculate the amount to feed based on the number of things – it must be based on the WEIGHT of what is being fed.

I can get a chicken leg quarter from one local store that weighs about 14 ounces. Another store just down the street – their leg quarters only go about 8 ounces. That is a BIG difference!

For a 70 pounds dog of average activity level you should be feeding the following:

28 Total Ounces of Food each day broken down by the following:

14 ounces of Muscle Meat (any meat without bones)
13 ounces of Raw Meaty Bones (like the chicken leg quarters)
1 ounce of Organ Meat

No veggies, no fruits, no starch, no sugars. Just meat, meat with bone and organs.

Buy yourself a scale that measures in ounces and a good pair of kitchen shears (for cutting through the bones) because you’ll most likely need to cut up the leg quarters to get the right WEIGHT.

[Jess04]

wow!! Thanks Lauri that really helps me alot. I dont feel so frustrated anymore.

The way i am feeding now and then were recipes from people i know and I still dont know alot of raw feeding.

I am still new to this and learning and this will put me in the right direction. and you are right about the leg quarters i have noticed that as well.
I will be buying a scale and getting myself on the right track.

but would 28oz be enough? Should I go ahead and see how it works out for him and then add accordingly? Hes a busy body at home, he doesnt really have a walking speed lol.
Just curious whats your opinion on not adding veggies and fruits?

[Jax08]

btw..Lauri has a great spreadsheet to help calculate weight of food based on weight of dog!!

[Draugr]

It doesn't sound like you're feeding him enough, and what you are feeding him has a LOT of indigestible content - fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. Even pureed they are really used for little more than fiber content. They can get a little more nutrients out of them than if you fed them whole but not a lot - they're carnivores, it's not the kind of stuff they are designed to digest.

If you are not comfortable feeding bones, I would leave SOME fiber content from fruits/veggies in so that he can still pass stools comfortably, but I'd up the weight of what you are feeding him, and up the ratio of digestible nutrients you are giving him.