Raw Dog Food Calculator

Many dog owners advocate raw feeding as a natural way to avoid all the added sugars, carbohydrates, and preservatives in commercial kibble. But whether you’re new to the world of raw feeding, or have been rustling up raw meals for years, sooner or later you’ll need to grab a calculator.

All raw feeding guidance is based on bodyweight. As a general rule, sustaining an adult dog’s ideal bodyweight will require around 2-3% of their ideal bodyweight in raw food per day. This number will need to be adjusted based on your dog’s age, activity level, metabolism, and other factors.

Dog owners preparing raw food from scratch face even more questions. What feeding model best meets your canine’s nutritional requirements? What type of raw meaty bone (RMB) is safe and appropriate for your dog? How will you factor the meat content of your chosen bone into your muscle meat portion? Our calculator will help you out with these questions!

How much raw food should I feed my dog?

Raw food portions are calculated as a percentage of your dog’s bodyweight. The general advice is to feed adult dogs between 2.5% and 3% of their healthy weight, but remember that an adult dog’s calorie requirements are affected by a number of factors:

• 🏃 Your dog’s activity level: Working dogs such as sheepdogs will burn considerably more calories than a household pet, perhaps over 3%. Senior dogs or those with joint problems will need less, perhaps closer to 2%. If you prefer to work in calories, our dog calorie calculator can help you determine a dog’s requirements based on their activity level.
• ♂ Whether your dog’s been neutered: Dogs that have been neutered or spayed have a reduced basal metabolic rate, and failing to account for this can lead to weight gain or obesity.
• 🐕 Your dog’s breed: Some breeds are simply more energetic, while others are genetically predisposed towards obesity, making portion control particularly important.

When it comes to puppies, you’ll need to take into account their exact age. Puppies are growing quickly and have much higher energy requirements than adult dogs. With our calculator, you can use these figures as a starting point:

What’s the difference between BARF and PMR models?

If you opt for a DIY approach to raw feeding, you’ll soon encounter the various popular diet ratios. Two of the most well known are BARF and PMR:

• 🥩🦴 Prey Model Raw (PMR): This model is based on the fact that dogs are ultimately domesticated wolves, and so the ratio reflects the approximate percentages of a whole prey animal: 80% meat, 10% bone, and 10% secreting organs (typically half liver).
• 🥩🦴 Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF): An unfortunate acronym, but a popular ratio! This is an omnivorous diet that is similar to PMR and traditionally includes 10% fruit and vegetables, which has been shown to be beneficial to some dogs. These days, some dog owners also opt to include nuts, seeds, and dairy products.

Each of these models has an extremely vocal and enthusiastic following, and an equally vocal group of detractors! There are also variations of the models, each attempting to provide a more nutrious, wholesome, or natural ratio for dogs. Some owners eschew ratios completely and instead prefer to feed whole prey (or an assembled ‘frankenprey’!), insisting that this is the most natural and nutritionally-appropriate meal. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide what’s best for your dog based on the advice of your vet and nutritionist.

Whatever you choose, we’ve tried to cater for as many owners as possible by letting you modify the percentages in the ratio fields above.

What are raw meaty bones (RMBs)?

Bones are absolutely essential in any raw diet. They not only provide the necessary calcium and nutrients for your dog’s wellbeing, but are important in helping your dog to pass firm stools. They also give your dog something to chew, thereby helping to maintain dental and gum health.

Raw meaty bones - commonly shortened to RMBs - are edible bones covered in raw muscle meat and other connective tissue. You’ll need to choose a bone which is suitable for your dog’s size and age. For help with this, check out the resources listed at the end of this page. Popular options include wings, necks, feet, and ribcages from small birds like chickens and ducks.

Remember that different RMBs contain different percentages of bone - chicken wings are only around 40-50% bone, whereas a chicken head will be closer to 75%. You need to account for this when you create your dog’s meal. If your dog needs 3 ounces of pure bone, and your chosen RMB is only 50% bone, then you’ll need to double the weight and give them 6 ounces of your chosen RMB to meet their intake requirements. You’ll also need to subtract the muscle meat contained in your RMB from their meat portion! It can get quite complicated, but our calculator does this math for you! Simply enter your RMB percentage and the daily serving will adjust everything accordingly.

Finally, as with all areas of raw feeding, safety is paramount. Always avoid:

• ❌ Cooked Bones: Any bone that has been cooked - whether boiled, roasted, braised, or cooked in any other way - will be dry and brittle. The lack of moisture will cause them to splinter when they break, and this can cause serious injury. Never feed cooked bones.
• ❌ Machine-cut bones: Machine cut bones are found in many human-grade foods, and can have sharp edges - these can cause injury to your dog.
• ❌ Weight-bearing bones: Bones from large grazing animals such as cows can be very dense, which can cause tooth fractures.
• ❌ Bones likely to splinter: This includes bones like turkey drumsticks (legs).

How safe is a raw diet for dogs?

The CDC does not recommend feeding raw food to dogs and cats because raw meat can carry bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria. Kibble, canned, and fresh dog food is typically cooked to a sufficient temperature to kill these pathogens before being sealed.

While commercially prepared raw diets undergo checks to ensure they’re free of germs, any meat purchased from the store as part of a DIY raw diet can carry dangerous bacteria. This is because it’s assumed it will be cooked before being eaten, since it’s intended for human consumption. For this reason, it’s essential that you source a quality butcher who’ll be able to tell you where the meat is from and how it’s been handled.

Good sanitation is also important, especially if anyone in your household has a compromised immune system. To keep you and your family members safe, thoroughly wash your hands and all surfaces and utensils after touching any raw food. Follow all necessary precautions when storing your dog’s raw food (or any ingredients intended for their meals).

Where can I learn more?

• RMB Directory (Perfectly Rawsome website)
• Raw feeding advice and support (Facebook group)