skip the math entirely and just look at your dog. if you can see the first two ribs, but not the hip bones or spine, you are doing fine. if you can't see the first two ribs, feed less. if you can see the hipbones and/or spine, feed more.

keep it simple.

Thank you all for your advise and the math! I did the math on your examples and carried it over to my 3 dogs. My dogs look great. Our 136 pound shepherd could barely walk when we started this less than three weeks ago. (we didn't overfeed him or gave him treats or table food, he just kept on gaining on the kibble) I went to the vet to weight him and he was 139 actually. Three days later he was at 136 pounds and has stayed exactly on that- 136. He has not lost anything in weight but on body fat.
I was away with the military for a few days and saw an immediate result although I have been monitoring him before. He is more agile now, can walk just fine, yesterday he even ran to the mail box across the street with me. He used to sleep a lot, now he wants to play with my other two or us.
I just absolutely love the results and am astonished on the effects of it. My female shepherd comes in at around 85 pounds, I can easily feel her ribs but only see them when the sun hits her fur a certain way. My 136 pound guy still feels a little thick on the ribs but I want to not focus on weight as much anymore but how he is exchanging muscle for fat. He could barely climb into the backseat of my car two weeks ago, now he hopps in and out.

We thank you all for your adivse and contineous support. Although we took great care and pride into our three dogs, I think we were unknowingly killing them. My 136-pound guy is eight years old and I thought I am not going to get him through the winter but with his energy having changed so drastically, I know we will have him for a few more years.
Thank you very very much
from the bottom of our hearts
Bill and Ines Ventura

 Quote:

........We thank you all for your adivse and contineous support. Although we took great care and pride into our three dogs, I think we were unknowingly killing them. My 136-pound guy is eight years old and I thought I am not going to get him through the winter but with his energy having changed so drastically, I know we will have him for a few more years.......

Isn't it a joy? I find myself sounding like an advertisement for fresh raw food! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Even though we may be finding our way and getting new info all the time, and maybe tweaking the supplements, the basic return to real fresh food the way the animal would eat on his own just has such huge returns.

My vet is not fond of raw; after all, she was educated (largely) by the companies that fill the waiting room with bags of dry stuff. But even she says (reluctantly) "I cannot argue with these results."

I know it's off-putting to be insistent about trying it, and I try not to push. It's hard, isn't it, when we see the results?

I find myself getting angry when I watch the ads on TV with "different stages" and other catch-phrases for grain-heavy kibble. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />