I'm sorry but I am still confused. How much meat should be added to bones. If I was to buy a turkey is the leg to much meat in comparison to the bone? Should some bone be added. Also if feeding chicken leg quarters as they are cheap right now are they good enough or do they need to be supplemented with more bone also. I have been reading about pork, I thought the opinion of Ed was never to feed your dog pork or did I take this out of context, I can't remember where I read it.

RE: pork.
Pork can carry trichonella. Freezing pork for two+ weeks can mitigate that risk, and many people (including board members) feed pork to their dogs with no ill effects. Bear meat, as an aside, can also carry trichonella, and should be handled the same way.
(My dog does not tolerate pork well- makes for runny poos and a gassy, smelly dog.)

RE: Meat/Bone ratio.
The ideal meat/bone ratio* for a healthy dog (of any age) should be 1:1. However, one should strive for balance over a period of days, rather than trying to achieve it in each meal.

Poop is always a good measuring stick of how close you are to the 1:1 ratio.

If I was to feed turkey legs, I'd toss in a couple of chicken necks, just to balance out the meat/bone.

*This was meant to say 1 to 1 in the RMB, not in the diet.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

The ideal meat/bone ratio for a healthy dog (of any age) should be 1:1.

Wow. If I fed that much bone, mine would have some constipation issues. For the last seven years, I have fed closer to 85% meat 15% bone and 10% organ. Here is a discussion on another forum that discusses proportions and I know that we have had MANY here, and I think that what I feed is close to “industry standards.”

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

However, one should strive for balance over a period of days, rather than trying to achieve it in each meal.

I also make sure to not worry about how much is in one meal if over time I can level it out. For example, I bought a turkey recently. Today he gets a back; not a lot of meat there, but yesterday he got a breast and tomorrow he will get the other and the rest of the bird this week as well. It all balances out.


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 Quote: ronald friesen

I'm sorry but I am still confused. How much meat should be added to bones. If I was to buy a turkey is the leg to much meat in comparison to the bone? Should some bone be added. Also if feeding chicken leg quarters as they are cheap right now are they good enough or do they need to be supplemented with more bone also. I have been reading about pork, I thought the opinion of Ed was never to feed your dog pork or did I take this out of context, I can't remember where I read it.

I would forget about percents.

You want the dog's meals to replicate the digestible bones to meat of the entire bird.

Chicken quarters quarters are fine.

If you fed backs, for example (cheap and soft - excellent RMB) you would add a little muscle meat because the backs are not as meaty as the whole bird would be.

Just think "entire prey" and try to replicate it.

 Quote: jessicakromer

For the last seven years, I have fed closer to 85% meat 15% bone and 10% organ.

That's a good ratio.

There is sometimes confusion in the difference between “bone” and “RMBs", I think. RMBs are, by definition, at least half meat, and so half or less bone. If you feed a diet that is, say, 50 percent RMBs, the bone in the whole diet will be 30 percent or less, depending on the ratio in your RMBs.

Dogs need about 15 percent bone, so if you feed 50% RMBs, you should try to use parts that are more than half meat. There is no need to feed an exact percentage of bone on a daily basis, though bones are one ingredient that might be best to feed similar amounts daily, because of the effect n poops already mentioned.

Again, aiming for a visual replica of the whole prey (meaning a whole edible prey, as opposed to a whole moose) is a good guide for the 15% digestible bone you want.

I don't worry about percentages either. (although I do weigh meals to the ounce to know exactly how much I'm feeding.)

The best way to know if you've got the right bone-to-meat ratio is to look at the dog's poop. Too hard (dog strains to poop) means too much bone.

But this is an inexact science. You learn by doing. Every dog is different.

At my house, I sort the foodstuffs into 3 categories:

1. RMB = raw meaty bones--any meat with bones in it, like chicken parts or turkey parts

2. MM = Muscle meat--any meat with no bones in it.

3. OM = Organ meat - liver or kidney. Heart and gizzards are considered MM.

Then I make up meals that are approximately half RMB, half MM, and a teeny bite of OM.

But that's not half bone, half meat....remember the RMB can be mostly meat (if it's something like a chicken thigh)...or it can be quite bony (if it's something like a chicken back, or pork neckbone.) If you're using particularly bony RMBs, then toss in a bit more MM.

The "whole prey" idea is a good rule of thumb (although the ratio of bone-to-meat varies a lot from one beast to another. But it's the right idea.) The notion is that if you feed your dog an entire rabbit--all the meat, bones, organs (and fur!) you'd end up with a properly balanced meal. (BTW, that fur is good roughage)

So, for those who don't actually feed an entire carcass (I don't) you put together a "franken-prey" diet---part bone from one animal, part meat from another, part organs from another.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

1. RMB = raw meaty bones--any meat with bones in it, like chicken parts or turkey parts

2. MM = Muscle meat--any meat with no bones in it.

3. OM = Organ meat - liver or kidney. Heart and gizzards are considered MM.

Then I make up meals that are approximately half RMB, half MM, and a teeny bite of OM.

Another easily usable method!

To the O.P., you want about 5 to 10% organ (eventually; I don't start with organ meat in the first raw meal).

 Quote: JessicaKromer

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

The ideal meat/bone ratio for a healthy dog (of any age) should be 1:1.

Wow. If I fed that much bone, mine would have some constipation issues.

Yes. That has been corrected.

To clarify (I sometimes smoke crack in the mornings),
1:1 is the ideal ratio for RMBs, not the overall bone to meat in the diet.

If a food, like a turkey thigh is more meat than bone, then it becomes less RMB and more muscle meat. Striving for a balance in RMB to muscle, it may be necssary to toss in a neck to get the RMB ratio back up.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

But that's not half bone, half meat....remember the RMB can be mostly meat (if it's something like a chicken thigh)...or it can be quite bony (if it's something like a chicken back, or pork neckbone.) If you're using particularly bony RMBs, then toss in a bit more MM.

Tracy said it better than I did. And if you're using particularly meaty RMBs, especially over time, you can toss in a a bit more RMB.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

To clarify (I sometimes smoke crack in the mornings)

Nasty habit that!



I figured that you were doing fine, as you seem to bas as avid a poop watcher as the best of us, I just didn’t want anyone to go overboard with bone. I think that the bottom line ends up being, A) watch the poop and aim for a nice firm, but moist dropping, and B) aim for balance over time and keep a (small) prey animals edible body structure in mind when feeding.