How much to feed? Raw vs. cooked vs. kibble

 

misstrouble

*How much kibble does he need? I personaly find those charts on the bag to vauge, and not even worth reading, and I understand that I'll need to figure out what works best. But, generally, for a 53lbs dog, that *will* be getting walked 2.5 miles a day.

 

You'll have to read the bag at least to get a general idea.  It really depends on a lot of factors.  Namely how many Kcals are in a cup of the food you feed.  What kind of kibble do you feed?  How many other things do you substitute?  How much exercise does your dog get in that 2.5 mile walk?  Is he running?  Walking?  Ambling along sniffing flowers?  Is he in a strict heal position?  All of that factors in.  Plus do you play in the yard with him?  Does he play with other dogs?  Yup, lots of factors. 

misstrouble

*I like feeding my dogs egg, they love it, and it's healthy. Should I feed it raw? Scrambled? With shell? Without? If with the shell, how?

 

I feed my dogs raw egg with the shell.  Sometimes I freeze them for a different experience.  You could lightly poach the egg by sliding it into an inch of boiling water until the white turns opaque, then let it cool and pour the whole thing over his kibble.  One a day is plenty, but more won't hurt, less is fine too.  Again depends on how much you want to substitute in.

misstrouble

*Best plan for feeding? 2 meals a day? 1..? Larger meals in the mourning or at night? Or the same both times?

 

I'd say twice.  I feed the bigger meal in the morning, but then again, if I feed only raw, I feed only one meal.  So it really just depends on your dog.

misstrouble

*Do you know of anything to help with shedding?

 

Brushing.  Honestly, a good high quality diet will help with excessive shedding, but right now, your dog is likely blowing summer coat in order to start growing winter coat.  Normal, and the only thing that will help is good regular brushing.  Check out the grooming section to find out what tools to use.  The right tools make all the difference.

misstrouble

*Anything I might want to add to his food?

Wow, this is vague.  Lets see.  Fish oil, Fish like sardines or salmon or jack mackeral, Cottage Cheese, Yogurt, Eggs(you already know about this), Lean Ground Beef or any meat, RMB's (chicken is generally the cheapest, but mine do great with beef ribs, pork ribs, necks, pork hocks, turkey necks, ox tail etc) Recreational bones(ones that cannot be completely consumed in a single meal) like beef marrow bones, veggies like green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots.  Scraps of your food that does not contain onion or chocolate or too much salt.  Yup I could go on and on.  Basically anything that is healthy for you, is ok for your dog, barring any of your dogs personal allergies and intolerances and the short list of things toxic to dogs. 

if you have absolutely no idea how many kcal's he's eating now, and the dog is at a good fit weight, weigh the dog, write down how much the dog weighs and the date, then look at the bag and feed exactly half of what it suggests for a week. Re-weigh dog. If he's lost or gained weight, feed 10% more or less for the next week. Re-weigh dog. This method also automatically takes into account the extras you're adding to the diet. Eggs, fish, meats, liver, all good things to add.

huskymom

RMB's (chicken is generally the cheapest, but mine do great with beef ribs, pork ribs

 

Candace your dogs eat ribs in entirety?  I always get real nervous with ribs - dummy tends to splinter them or take the whole thing in his mouth?  more info please

pork ribs are really soft and easily consumed.

We do lamb, pork, and lamb ribs.  My guys can eat about a third of a beef rib by gnawing - but I don't count these in their diet, these are rec bones.

Your question is a bit like asking "how long is a string?"  The reason there are so many different commercial diets now is that dogs have very different needs.  And one of the main points of home-prepared diets is even further customization - in fact, you tailor your dog's diet to his needs and his needs only, rather than having to find something "close enough" among the choices that business owners have decided will sell well.

So your first question should be What does my dog need?. I also have an idea of what type of diets my guys need - whether grain free, or high protein, or energy dense, or geared for a sensitive tummy.  Then because I do a home prepared diet, I further take measures to calculate their nutritional requirements.  Finally, we come to the question of how much.  I answer that by observing their caloric intake as mudpuppy noted. 
 

 Karen, I think I might have messed up.  I feed pork ribs and hold off on beef ribs.  I'm not sure what I was thinking.  You're right, the one time I gave the moose a beef rib he cracked it horribly and it freaked me out.  It might be ok as a rec bone for a smaller dog?  Not our powerhouses.