Raw Dog Food Calculator: how much raw food to feed your dog

Free raw feeding calculator for dogs and puppies. Daily amount, 80/10/5/5 or BARF split in ounces and grams, meals a day and weekly cost.

How much raw food to feed a dog

Adult dogs eat 2 to 3% of their ideal body weight a day: about 2% for couch dogs and seniors, 2.5% for most dogs, 3 to 3.5% for active and working dogs. A 50 lb dog at 2.5% eats about 1 lb 4 oz a day.

How much raw food for a puppy

About 3% of expected adult weight a day over 3 meals, no more than 10% of current weight.

The 80/10/5/5 split

Prey model: 80% muscle meat, 10% raw edible bone, 5% liver, 5% other secreting organ. BARF: 70% muscle, 10% bone, 5% liver, 5% organ, 7% vegetables, 2% seeds, 1% fruit.

Worked examples

• A 20 lb dog at 2.5% eats 8 oz (227 g) a day.
• A 50 lb dog at 2.5% eats 20 oz (567 g) a day, about 1 lb 4 oz.
• A 70 lb dog at 3% eats 33.6 oz (953 g) a day, just over 2 lb.
• A 15 lb senior dog at 2% eats 4.8 oz (136 g) a day.
• A 90 lb working dog at 3.5% eats 50.4 oz (1,429 g) a day, about 3 lb 2 oz.

Adjusting the percentage

Body condition matters more than the formula. Feed at 2% for a dog that needs to lose weight or is very sedentary, 2.5% to hold weight, and 3 to 3.5% for a dog that is losing condition or working hard. Weigh the dog monthly at the same time of day and adjust by 10% at a time. Puppies are the exception: they eat a higher percentage of their expected adult weight and need three meals a day until about six months.

What a daily portion looks like

At the 80/10/5/5 split, a 50 lb dog eating 20 oz a day gets 16 oz muscle meat, 2 oz raw edible bone, 1 oz liver and 1 oz other secreting organ. At the BARF split the same dog gets 14 oz muscle meat, 2 oz bone, 1 oz liver, 1 oz organ, 1.4 oz vegetables, 0.4 oz seeds and 0.2 oz fruit.

Weekly and monthly quantities

Multiply the daily figure by 7 for the week and by 30 for the month. A 50 lb dog at 20 oz a day needs about 8.75 lb a week and 37.5 lb a month. Buying in bulk at that volume is where the cost difference between suppliers shows up, and it is the reason to compare local butchers against delivered complete raw food.

Is raw feeding cheaper than kibble?

It depends on the protein, the supplier and whether you build the mix yourself. Homemade raw from a butcher is often close to premium kibble; complete commercial raw is usually the most expensive option per pound. Compare the price per pound on the supplier pages before deciding.

Next steps

Find raw dog food suppliers near you, or read the raw feeding guides. Terms such as BARF, PMR and green tripe are defined in the glossary.