Why can't my dogs eat higher protein amounts??

10% protein in wet form isn't low, though, is it? if it's 80% water, that means it would be 50% protein if dry.

 
[X(]...why is that when I read something like this my mind goes blank?  I have such a mental block about math stuff (unless it's finances, which I love).  I know my dogs would be in deep doo-doo if I even tried to homecook for them without a recipe [].

...why is that when I read something like this my mind goes blank? I have such a mental block about math stuff (unless it's finances, which I love). I know my dogs would be in deep doo-doo if I even tried to homecook for them without a recipe .

I'd never homecook for Jessie without a balanced recipe too; but the formula for figuring how much protein is in wet food isn't too complicated; it's called dry matter basis;  [linkhttp://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/dm.html]http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/dm.html[/link] :
[align=left]"The formula for calculating the DM percentages of nutrients in pet foods is determined by... Nutrient percent divided by Reciprocal of the Moisture percent"[align=left] [align=left]   [size=3]Sunny Bunz Canned Food[font=arial] 
Guaranteed Analysis:
Protein 9%
Fat 6%
Fiber 1.5%
Moisture 80 %
[align=center][align=center]TO calculate the amount of Protein on a DM basis ...  
9 (the percent of the product as fed) divided by 20 (the reciprocal of the moisture percent) = 45 percent.  
So on a DM basis the amount of protein in Sunny Bunz Canned Food is 45 percent [/size][/font] 
 

10% protein in wet form isn't low, though, is it? if it's 80% water, that means it would be 50% protein if dry.

Their food is about 30% protein, dry matter. I figured it all out, one day (yeah, it took all day, I did the spreadsheet and everything, then Emma ate it. It was great). It's around 25-30% meat, the rest is veggies. It is considered 'low' among raw feeders and a lot of home cookers[]

It's around 25-30% meat, the rest is veggies. It is considered 'low' among raw feeders and a lot of home cookers

 
This is what I don't get. Veggies have very few calories, so even if their diet is 75% veggies, probably only 20% or less of their calories come from the veggies. Are you feeding much less meat at 25% of the diet then you would be if meat was 75% of the diet? Doubtful. So basically you're just bulking up their food and adding vitamins by using so many veggies. It's not like you're feeding mostly grains.
 
I got a "slap on the paw", if you will, one time for admitting that when I made Glenda's homecooked recipe, I ended up using about 10-12 pounds of veggies for 5-6 pounds of meat. I was told I was not feeding a meat-based diet, and therefore it wasn't balanced nor appropriate for a dog. But I figured it out, and like 80% of the calories in my pot of food were coming from meat. That's a meat-based diet, IMO.

Oh, gosh, Chelsea,
 
I just started another thread about figuring out percentages, and you post this.  It takes a while to get my mind wrapped around all these aspects.  No wonder so many people feed kibble.  "They" say it's easy to homecook, but if you really want to know what you're doing, and understand it all, it does take some amount of mental exercise!
 
What you said makes sense.  I always seem to read things like "give small amounts of veggies, such as 10%".   I don't know why you are supposed to give small amounts except for 1) it does add in a lot of extra fiber,   and 2) alot of people who maybe not end up feeding enough meat?  They would "look" at the amount in the bowl, and not give enough protein/  I dunno.  That last one is just a wild guess.
 
Oh, I think I know.  Alot of people go by a percentage, say 5% daily of their body weight.  If you did this, and did add in all those extra veggies, then the dog really wouldn't be getting enough meat.   Do you think?
 
I know when I used her receipe, I went by the percentage of body weight. 
 
How in the world you could figure out calories is beyound me.  Someone else today mentioned calories.  I don't understand how you work that up.  Percentage of body weight in ounces I understand.  Doing the week's worth of math to figure up how many calories came from meat, is well, daunting.
 
Why was I the best math person in school (so many years ago), and this is way too confusing.    Oh, I know,
 
A train leaves Chicago at 5:32 pm going south by southwest at 12 mph for the first hour, then 28 mpr for the next 3 1/2 hours.  Where is the train at 10:02 pm?

A train leaves Chicago at 5:32 pm going south by southwest at 12 mph for the first hour, then 28 mpr for the next 3 1/2 hours. Where is the train at 10:02 pm?

 
LOL! See, and that kind of thing doesn't come easy for me at all. Although I think it has more to do with whether or not I give a rat's behind. This dog food math I care about, so I can figure it out, but give me textbook problems, and you'll get a super frustrated, head scratching Chelsea.
 

If you did this, and did add in all those extra veggies, then the dog really wouldn't be getting enough meat.   Do you think?

 
Yeah, that makes sense. I figured out how many days the pot should last depending on how much meat I put it, and separated it accordingly. But yeah, if I was just weighing or measuring whatever I had there, I'd probably have underfed Cherokee.
 

"They" say it's easy to homecook, but if you really want to know what you're doing, and understand it all, it does take some amount of mental exercise.

 
Totally true. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent reading this and calculating that, and I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. *sigh*

This is what I don't get. Veggies have very few calories, so even if their diet is 75% veggies, probably only 20% or less of their calories come from the veggies. Are you feeding much less meat at 25% of the diet then you would be if meat was 75% of the diet? Doubtful. So basically you're just bulking up their food and adding vitamins by using so many veggies. It's not like you're feeding mostly grains.

I got a "slap on the paw", if you will, one time for admitting that when I made Glenda's homecooked recipe, I ended up using about 10-12 pounds of veggies for 5-6 pounds of meat. I was told I was not feeding a meat-based diet, and therefore it wasn't balanced nor appropriate for a dog. But I figured it out, and like 80% of the calories in my pot of food were coming from meat. That's a meat-based diet, IMO.

Now, see, I never thought of that!  I see it, on the screen, and it makes lots of sense.

yeah, I don't consider "veggies" to be food for dogs and don't even think about them when calculating diets-- they just add bulk.
 
I think this calculating diets by %s is weird. In human nutrition you think about how many grams of protein per kg of human the human needs to consume daily. Someone should work out these numbers for dogs so we don't have to go through these weirdo "%" calculations.

And this is why I feed kibble... lol

I commend you all for going to such great lengths to make sure your pups have the best diet possible. It takes a better man than me to go through all that work...