Boy, I must of lucked out with my other GSD. She would never, ever eat dry food or dog treats...she hated it. This was years before the raw food was popular, so I would cook her steaks, hamburger, pork chops, stews, chicken, turkey etc. That is all she ate for 15 years. She went to a Vet three times in that 15 years, once when she got a pricker in her ear drum, once to get spayed and once at the end when she was passing away.

Is the cooked meat different or was I exteremly lucky?

Yes, she ate cooked bone (beef mostly, sometimes pork).

How much do I feed daily?

Billinghurst recommends 60% RMBs and 40% veggies, etc... however; 60% to 75% CAN BE RMBs and the rest should be a combination of veggies, organs (also known as offal, to include liver, heart, kidney, green tripe, etc...), ground meat (e.g. lean beef, chicken or turkey), eggs and supplements. If you are just starting BARF, remember to start slow by adding new food items every few days or even weeks, until your dog gets used to the new food (especially the richer foods like liver). This is only a guide to help get you started. If your dog is on the skinnier side, up the food (RMBs) and reduce the veggies....if your dog is on the heavier side, reduce the RMBs and up the veggies. To know if your dog is 'just right,' rub the back of your hand.....his/her ribs should feel the same. If you can't feel his/her ribs, then reduce the daily food intake.

Multiply your dogs weight by 16 to get the number of ounces he weighs.
Multiply that by .02, which gives you 2 % of his body weight.
Multiply that by .6 to give you the weight of RMB you should feed. That is chicken necks, wings, backs etc.
Go back to the 2% of his body weight again and multiply that number by .4 to get the weight in ounces of vegetable patty mix you should feed.

For example: One of my Boxers weighs 70 Lbs. Here's the formula I used to calculate the daily food intake when I started:

70Lbs x 16 = 1120 ounces
1120 x .02 = 22.4 ounces of food per day
22.4 x .6 = 13.44 ounces of RMB -----60% RMB
22.4 x .4 = 8.96 ounces of Veg. Patty mix.-----40% Veg. Patty mix.

Remember this is only a place to start - adjust everything up or down, depending on your dogs condition.

Ok, now what?....I know she really doesn't like the kibble by itself...she likes the meat, eggs (with shell) and yogurt..so can I give her a calcium supplement with ground meat or do they sell bones by themselves? I really don't want to cut up chicken parts and I don't think she is up to chewing large pieces of chicken with bones...her gums are pretty swollen.

How much calcium does she need...the ratio or percent? Is there a site you can forward me to?

Tnanks Connie!



Another words, any alternatives?