OK, so you want to feed your pets a raw diet, but where and how do you start? Well, the short answer is "Just Do It!" It truly is not rocket science, if you can feed yourself and your family, trust me, you can feed your dog (or cat, or ferret)! Just open the refrigerator, pull out an animal part, hand it to your pet and watch the tail-wagging begin!

The biggest thing to remember is balance over time. Your dog does not need to eat exactly the same amount or type of food at each meal. As a matter of fact, when it comes to feeding, she's better off with variety in everything from what she eats, to how much she eats, to when she gets fed. Remember, a wolf never knows what it's next meal will be, how much it will eat, or when that meal will come along. Our pets are descended from opportunists who ate whatever was available, whenever it showed up! Their systems are designed to adapt to the situation.

Now, once you've accepted the fact that you can do this, there are a couple of ways to go about it, depending on your own style. Some folks like to have everything figured out to the last detail. It is certainly possible to find the nutritional values for every food you plan to feed and then follow the recommended daily requirement guidelines for each to construct a "perfect" diet. People do it. It involves lots of spreadsheets, research, and hair-pulling, but if that is your style, by all means, do it!

Most people (even those who start out with spreadsheets) do just fine striving for variety and balance over time. The goal is to duplicate the diet of our pets' wild ancestors as closely as is reasonably possible. Wild dogs and cats catch live prey and then eat pretty much the entire animal. That is what you need to keep in your mind. That entire prey animal will be comprised of mostly muscle meat, followed by bone, followed by organ meat. In addition, the digestive tract will likely contain relatively small amounts of partially-digested plant material that may also be consumed by the predator. This entire prey animal is what you are trying to duplicate.

There are three basic options for raw feeding: (1) all do-it-yourself, (2) all pre-packaged diets, or (3) a combination of the two. DIY will be the least expensive (can be under $1/lb) but the most labor-intensive, and pre-packaged will be just the opposite (as much as $3-4/lb). But either way, you will be saving money at the vet's office and saving time cleaning your yard!

"How much do I feed?" is probably the most common question. Most average adult dogs will need between 1% and 3% of their optimum body weight in food per day (depending on activity level) to maintain that weight. If you notice the dog putting on weight, feed less. If the dog is thin, feed more! Extremely active and/or working dogs may need more than 3%. Growing puppies should get about 10% of their current weight each day until they are 4 to 6 months old. The total daily portion should be divided and fed over 2 or 3 (or more) feedings per day. Pay attention and feed what your dog needs! Start low since it's a whole lot easier to put weight on than to take it off!

Pre-packaged foods usually come in 2 oz, 8 oz, 1 lb, 3 lb, or 5 lb packages or patties. Some are complete meals containing muscle and organ meat, bone, veggies and fruits, eggs, and assorted supplements all finely ground together, and others are components such as just meat (or meat and bones) or just veggies. You can have the best of both worlds (price and convenience) by combining some pre-packaged foods with some DIY "parts" such as chicken wings or backs.

The following shows the mount of raw food needed daily to maintain optimum weight in an adult dog.