Hayley22

I read somewhere that RMBs should constitute 70% of a raw diet? I have been feeding Delphi pre-packaged raw, which is ground up meat/bone. I wanted to start slowly, but now I know I HAVE to add RMBs because her breath is starting to smell quite bad! So I'm going to buy tomorrow. Want to get an idea of how much to buy for the month, so tell me, how many times a week do you feed them?

Thanks!

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CharismaticMillie

Bone should equal approximately 10 percent of the diet. RMBs have varying amounts of meat and bone, so the percentage of the diet might vary. I want to say that RMBs should never be 70 percent of the diet though!!! You can calculate the approximate bone amount of each particular raw meaty bone at one USDA website. For some reason...I cannot remember the website, though! It's been forever since I've calculated everything out...

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Happy tailwags from Peckerwood's Thoroughly Modern Millie, CGC and Ch. Safari's Specter, CGC!

CharismaticMillie

Show Foods

Found it. Looks like they changed it. Will take some getting used to. So, for example, if you click the above link you can see that a chicken leg is 27% bone. The 80/10/10 (meat/bone/organ) balance is *over time*, so you adjust the amount of boneless muscle meat you feed to the amount of bone you feed in order to reach that ratio.

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Happy tailwags from Peckerwood's Thoroughly Modern Millie, CGC and Ch. Safari's Specter, CGC!

fjm

I feed RMB about every third meal. One meal is cooked assorted mince (10% bone) and offal (Sophy is not keen on it raw), one meal green tripe. If they are a bit bunged up I might make it one RMB in 4 meals, if squidgy add in another bone heavy meal. Poppy needs a looser diet than Sophy - if you understand what I mean!

They also get bones with a higher proportion of bone to meat as recreational chewing bones - one might last several days, and replace a meal depending on how much meat there is on it. I picked up a pack of 5 scapulas and shoulder joints from boned out shoulders of lamb - just the right size for small dogs, and enough to keep us going for a month or two.

Chicken wings are not very bone heavy, so would make a good starting point if she can eat chicken. Half a chicken wing is half a day's food for Poppy.

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera

CharismaticMillie

https://files.me.com/covertune/z5knww

This might be helpful, too! It's a rawfeeding guide.

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Happy tailwags from Peckerwood's Thoroughly Modern Millie, CGC and Ch. Safari's Specter, CGC!

Hayley22

Thanks, CM! Those are both great resources and I will definitely use them!

FJM, I let Delphi chew on a small lamb shoulder bone this evening... It didn't have very much meat on it. So is this more of a 'chewing' bone, as opposed to a bone that would constitute a meal? One chicken wing sounds like such a small amount! I am clearly not used to the feeding amounts for little doggies I think I might be feeding Delphi too much of the ground meat per meal. I kind of just estimate what looks 'right' in her bowl, and she gobbles it up. Not a very scientific method

Can I give her lamb necks, or are those too big for her? I can also get chicken wings and necks and lamb/beef riblets...

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CharismaticMillie

If her stools are solid and you are eyeballing a ratio, over time, you're probably doing it right, IMO. Stools usually tell if you haven't fed enough bone!

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Happy tailwags from Peckerwood's Thoroughly Modern Millie, CGC and Ch. Safari's Specter, CGC!

Hayley22

So feeding bone makes the stool more solid? Hers are quite solid; every now and then there's a 'squishy' one. Poop talk.

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CharismaticMillie

OH yes. Basic raw 101: Too much bone = fossil poop. Too little bone = soft poop. Just right bone = firm but not hard stool.

Also, organ meat will loosen stool so you may want to feed organ meats with bone (when you get to that stage of introducing organ meats). I've been feeding raw for a little over a year and I just expect soft, dark stool when I feed organs and I expect firmer, lighter stool when I feed bone. Basically, what you feed is directly correlated to what comes out.

If stool is regularly too soft, add bone. If stool is regularly too hard, add more muscle meat.

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Happy tailwags from Peckerwood's Thoroughly Modern Millie, CGC and Ch. Safari's Specter, CGC!

fjm

I reckon a recreational bone is any bone where most of it is still there at the end of the day! What lasts mine a week would be a small snack when munched up by a bigger dog. The pieces of neck of lamb we get here are rather large - I don't know how big yours are, but you could always cut some of the meat off for one meal, and give her the meaty bone for another.

I do watch the quantities I give mine now that they are adults and no longer growing - they can put on weight so easily, especially in winter when we tend to walk rather less. If you weigh Delphi regularly, and check how her ribs feel, you will soon know if she is getting a bit solid, and cut back accordingly. Mine are fed twice a day - Sophy should get around 80g divided into two meals, Poppy a little more - that allows for treats and chews during the day. It is a very small amount if you are used to big dogs - more like a small cat meal!

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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,
where doing nothing was not boring- it was peace.

~ Milan Kundera