Puppy 2% of body weight or 10%

[Glamdring]

I've been doing some research on feeding my 11 week pup the raw diet. I've read a bunch of threads and I am unsure about how much to feed. The raw calculator says 2% of body weight, but under that it states puppies may need upto 10% of their weight. So what to do? 2, 10 or someplace in between.

I'm trying to gauge how much this will cost, and if the hassle is worth it for the amount of time I have to spend (Working, Full time student, 3 kids and a new puppy doesn't leave much free time to find sources)

Maybe I missed it, but I couldn't find the quantity to feed pups. Mine is 11 weeks old and about 20 pounds. (female)

Thanks

[Gilly1331]

Im trying to figure out the same thing. Vet said Kimber (5 months) is def under weight she weighed in at 33lbs a few days after we got her. I picked her up and weighed her with me and shes only gained 2.5 lbs in almost 3 weeks. She def looks smallish we feed her raw 3x a day but she seems to not be gaining weight and def looks to be to need more but I am not sure. Should we up her food too?

[sable123]

Originally Posted by Gilly1331

Im trying to figure out the same thing. Vet said Kimber (5 months) is def under weight she weighed in at 33lbs a few days after we got her. I picked her up and weighed her with me and shes only gained 2.5 lbs in almost 3 weeks. She def looks smallish we feed her raw 3x a day but she seems to not be gaining weight and def looks to be to need more but I am not sure. Should we up her food too?

You really should use a good kibble as a base and stop playing nutritionist.

[sable123]

Originally Posted by Glamdring

I've been doing some research on feeding my 11 week pup the raw diet. I've read a bunch of threads and I am unsure about how much to feed. The raw calculator says 2% of body weight, but under that it states puppies may need upto 10% of their weight. So what to do? 2, 10 or someplace in between.

I'm trying to gauge how much this will cost, and if the hassle is worth it for the amount of time I have to spend (Working, Full time student, 3 kids and a new puppy doesn't leave much free time to find sources)

Maybe I missed it, but I couldn't find the quantity to feed pups. Mine is 11 weeks old and about 20 pounds. (female)

Thanks

It is not worth it. Buy a good kibble and let the pup eat as much as it wants until just full 3 times a day.

[Gilly1331]

Originally Posted by sable123

You really should use a good kibble as a base and stop playing nutritionist.

Sable we dont feed any kibble. Had nothing but problems with at least 10 different kibbles for all of our dogs. We started raw with our older dogs so it was easy to fig out the proper amount. For a growing pup its not so easy.

Thanks for your suggestion but we wont be buying any kibble.

[onyx'girl]

when reading threads on the internet, do so with care....
And be certain you are feeding a nutritious diet, regardless of it being raw or kibble.

I fed my pups the same daily amount I would for an adult, just about 2# per day(split between 3 meals) for a GSD that would be about 80# as an adult. At 16 weeks, I put pups on 2 meals a day, but they still got the same amount. Easier to feed 1# meals than the smaller ones!
I also used chicken necks, and the disjointed wings(less skin) for the RMB's until my pup could do the thigh/legs.
Green tripe was(is) a daily staple along with rotating ground beef, turkey, chicken~ pork was added after a few weeks. My pup was weaned onto raw, so he had already been given different proteins.
The breeder also fed kibble(1 meal per day) so any owners that wanted to stay on a kibble diet, the pups were acclimated to it.
Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch has a good puppy page, check it out for further information.
Gilly, I would also give some natural probiotics/digestive enzymes(green tripe has this). Your pup may be digesting quickly and need a bump up during growth spurts. You'll know if you are overfeeding, runny pudding poops are a sign. Or too much organ meat will cause runny poop.

[Glamdring]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

when reading threads on the internet, do so with care....
And be certain you are feeding a nutritious diet, regardless of it being raw or kibble.

I fed my pups the same daily amount I would for an adult, just about 2# per day(split between 3 meals) for a GSD that would be about 80# as an adult. At 16 weeks, I put pups on 2 meals a day, but they still got the same amount. Easier to feed 1# meals than the smaller ones!
I also used chicken necks, and the disjointed wings(less skin) for the RMB's until my pup could do the thigh/legs.
Green tripe was(is) a daily staple along with rotating ground beef, turkey, chicken~ pork was added after a few weeks. My pup was weaned onto raw, so he had already been given different proteins.
The breeder also fed kibble(1 meal per day) so any owners that wanted to stay on a kibble diet, the pups were acclimated to it.
Welcome to the Raw Dog Ranch has a good puppy page, check it out for further information.
Gilly, I would also give some natural probiotics/digestive enzymes(green tripe has this). Your pup may be digesting quickly and need a bump up during growth spurts. You'll know if you are overfeeding, runny pudding poops are a sign. Or too much organ meat will cause runny poop.

Thanks for the response. I've read the Raw Dog Ranch several times, and this is part of where my confusion comes from. The "How much to feed" for puppies is not there, just a generic under construction type message. Under Construction

I've read a number of threads on the site, and the Raw Food calculator someone posted on another thread. On the calculator it states that puppies may need upto 10% of their body weight, but they do not give any information on how to determine that.

The threads here I have read, I may have missed it, but they don't state how much should be fed.

I am not 100% sure that I am understanding you properly, but I read it as I should base the weight calculation on 80 pounds (full size GSD) even though my pup weighs 20 pounds currently. So I would use the calculator and feed 2% of 80 pounds 3 times a day for a pup. Am I reading you correctly?

[Glamdring]

Originally Posted by sable123

It is not worth it. Buy a good kibble and let the pup eat as much as it wants until just full 3 times a day.

I appreciate the opinion Sable. I may decide that it is not worth it. But I don't want to make that decision until I have all the information I need. It would be easier if it was an adult dog. BTW my GSD is a sable and is super cute if I say so

I am leery of switching to another kibble. The stuff she is on now is crap, but I don't deal with soupy poopy either. So I am leery of just changing the kibble, as I don't want to deal with messy poops as she is not fully house broken yet.

When I had my rottie, ( it was 15 years ago, I wasn't on the net and it wasn't easy to find good info) I switched to Iam's and Eucknuba (I know i butchered the spelling). Anyway I took 2-3 weeks to gradually switch them out and it was nothing but soupy poopy until I switched out for the cheap stuff. (I also know now that those brands are pretty much crap too).

I just don't want to go through the hassle of trying multiple kibbles. Petsmart and Petco are both pretty expensive and the nearest tractor supply is a hike, so I don't want to swap out looking for the magic kibble that I can afford and that doesn't make my life miserable.

Most of the draw of the raw diet to me is the stool. I hate cleaning the yard and I hate the smell. I know that may be a selfish reason but that is my main reason for considering the raw diet.

[Glamdring]

Originally Posted by Gilly1331

Im trying to figure out the same thing. Vet said Kimber (5 months) is def under weight she weighed in at 33lbs a few days after we got her. I picked her up and weighed her with me and shes only gained 2.5 lbs in almost 3 weeks. She def looks smallish we feed her raw 3x a day but she seems to not be gaining weight and def looks to be to need more but I am not sure. Should we up her food too?

Its a little off topic but I saw your user name. My favorite aunt was my aunt Gilly. She was great and from Scotland so had a fun accent. I'd come home sounding like her after spending an afternoon with her. I can still do a respectable Scottish and Irish accent because of her. I was sort of named for her. My first name is Scott because my folks loved her and she was a 'Scot'

Also my rottie (rip ) was named Lexi. Sometimes I mistake my new pups name and call her Lexi.

[onyx'girl]

I am not 100% sure that I am understanding you properly, but I read it as I should base the weight calculation on 80 pounds (full size GSD) even though my pup weighs 20 pounds currently. So I would use the calculator and feed 2% of 80 pounds 3 times a day for a pup. Am I reading you correctly?

I would feed 2# per day total, adjust accordingly to your pups metabolism/growth spurts. It was too difficult for me to make daily adjustments for a pups weight, when my pup was gaining 3# per week. So 2#(estimated, not exactly) per day worked for us. He was always larger than the littermates and turned out to be 90# and 27", long in body. Not due to what/how I was feeding but just his genetics. At his age now(2.5) he still gets about 2# per day and is very lean. My female Onyx is the same size as him, but I don't feed her as much, she is spayed and not as active as Karlo. Kacie, my other female gets about 1.5# per day(two meals) as she is prone to weight gain at 6 yrs old.