How Much Food Does My Dog Need
Generally speaking a healthy dog needs to eat about 2-3% of his total body weight in ounces. A growing puppy needs 6% and high performance athlete would need more!
For the average dog 50% that’s about 2 cups total food a day. You may have to adjust based on activity level, metabolism, health goals, age, lifestyle, and how many calories are in the dog food, etc.
With the Volhard Food now, Poppy eats 1/2 cup Mix and 1/2 cup meat twice per day — she’s about 48 pounds. When she more active playing with other dogs, I may increase that. But she’s lean and muscular. She also gets a few treats each day.
It’s been said that leaner dogs live longer. With that in mind, feed your dog for the ideal weight, not what they weigh today.
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Then the question becomes what needs to be in the bowl and how much to get a balanced diet overall
A couple of things here — your bowl is going to be balanced over time, not necessarily every single meal, unless you’re using something like the Volhard Diet I use.
So the basic guidelines are:
Prey Model (Meats, Bone, Organ Only)
80% Muscle Meat
10% Edible Bone
Liver 5%
Other Organ 5%
Feeding Homemade Dog Food
Will Range from 70-80% meat and 20-30% seasonal veggies. A good starting point is 75-25 for 2-3 weeks and see how your dog is responding. Evaluate and tweak as needed.
Don’t forget though, we have to make sure we’re getting pre & pro biotics, digestive enzymes, calcium (from bone or supplement), Omegas, Fatty Acids (ie fats like Coconut oil), and any other vitamins and minerals should deficiencies exist because of diet or wellness.
Your dog needs animal fats! Not just skinless chicken. If fact, unless you’re feeding organic chicken — there are so many allergens associated with chicken — you might choose other meats. I choose 80/20 hamburger as the main meat. (We’ll talk other proteins later — based on the dog’s wellness & behavior needs). Occasionally , I’ll even mix in 70/30 to add some higher fat foro the senior weenie dogs.
Stay tuned for a discussion on raw meat vs cooked meat coming soon.
Remember too — think fresh leafy greens, squashes, cruciferous veggies, to be added to the bowl — and you need to steam them lightly and chop them heavily for the dog to be able to use the vitamins and minerals within.
Depending on health of animal we might choose to have some grains — don’t be shocked. Some grains like millet or oats are good for your dog. In special medical conditions we might lean toward more of a keto-based diet.
We’ll talk more about that later and explore more on the taurine deficiencies that have been associated with Dilated CardioMyopathy in Goldens — and likely other breeds with strict grain free diets. .
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I’m a lazy grocery shopper and prefer to trust the balance of nutrients and convenience of prep to Volhard Dog Nutrition — and I just add fresh meat! But if you enjoy cooking — you can easily prep meals once every 1-2 weeks and have great home prepped meals!
Leaner dogs live longer! So if your dog is overweight, start thinking about a volume reduction.
If you are considering a home-prepared menu or adding ingredients to your dog’s kibble diet on a regular basis, be sure to ask me about my Home Prepared Nutrition Guide.