Robet, my male just turned 3 this past month & has finally filled out to what he should look like as an adult. He has always looked a bit thin. He is not a big dog. His weight is 75 lbs. (he is a working line GSD) He still burns off alot of the food that he gets & needs a bit higher amount of food to maintain his weight. I run & work my dogs at the field a couple of times a day & do other OB etc in my yard. My dogs also spend a fair amount of time outside in my fenced yard. (only when I am home to monitor) So they are very active. My male never sits still except in the house & even there he can be restless sometimes.

BTW, there is nothing wrong with a dog a little on the thin side rather than on the heaver side, especially for a young dog. Peopole that don't know what a dog should look like(cause they are all used to seeing FAT dogs & equate fat with health) will look at your dog & make comments...just ignore them. I do think that raw fed dogs tend to keep a better weight more easily. I suspect that is because they are not getting grains & other ingredients in their diet that add weight & not neccesarily health. JMO

 Quote: robert kirkwood

as for the amount of meat i've been feeding its been about just over 1bs or 17-18oz of chicken backs per meal twice a day, so 36oz total per day. the honest kitchen box told me to feed 2 cups of meat and one cup of preference and i seemed to be going way beyond that.

thanks again for everyone's help and advice.

Rob Kirkwood

We need to know his weight for these amounts to be considered as too much, too little, etc. Also, is the one cup of Preference a per-day total?

I'm curious about why you chose Preference rather than Embark or Force?

Preference is a no-meat add-your-own version really meant for dogs with allergies to certain protein sources, so that a novel source can be added to this no-meat "base."

Embark would be a good choice for a young dog still growing (or, in fact, any active dog). It would be my choice.

You can read about each one here:
http://leerburg.com/honestkitchen.htm

You add meat to any of them. All but Preference are balanced diets as is, but are also ideal for adding fresh meat or RMBs to.

I forgot & should have added that...I often give my dogs about a 1/4 cup of Embark with their am meal. I have occasionally used it as a meal base that I add RMBs to if I have forgotten to take muscle meat out of the freezer for them. I basically use it as a veggie substitute on occasions too. I use it because it is turkey based with no grains & of course dehydrated RAW.