# Feeding a Great Dane Puppy Raw



## Deco (Jan 3, 2012)

Hi I am new to the forum and have a Great Dane puppy who is 5 1/2 months and 42kg. 

I want to switch him over to raw next month and I am looking for some help. He gets fed raw sometimes at the moment and I am fine with the actual content of a raw diet. But I am just a bit confused as to how much I should be feeding? I have seen amounts varying between 5-10% for a puppy.

I know a lot of people just feed and regulate based on the look of the dog but I just want a bit of a starting point so I can start ordering and buying to stock the freezer.

I would be grateful if someone who has knowledge of giant breeds and experience of raw feeding could just give me a few examples of a days meals and rough weights for a Dane pup. Once I get going I am sure we will be fine :redface:

Many Thanks for any help provided.

Baz


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Welcome to the form, lucky for you we have a lot of Dane owners here that feed raw.  i am sure they will chime in soon. as far as how much to feed him, you should start with 2% of his projected adult weight. Then take that amount and split it into two feedings. 

Have you seen Dedicated to proper carnivore nutrition - Prey Model Raw Feeding for Dogs & Cats It has a step-by-step guide on how to start feeding your dog PMR, what meats to start with, etc.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Deco said:


> Hi I am new to the forum and have a Great Dane puppy who is 5 1/2 months and 42kg.
> 
> I want to switch him over to raw next month and I am looking for some help. He gets fed raw sometimes at the moment and I am fine with the actual content of a raw diet. But I am just a bit confused as to how much I should be feeding? I have seen amounts varying between 5-10% for a puppy.
> 
> ...


By the age of your pup you will be looking at the 2 % mark of ideal weight.

The other percentages for puppies are for younger pups ie. My pup is 7 w/o, if I fed him 2 % of ideal weight that would be 2lbs which is quite a lot for a 15 lb pup. So I use a percentage of his current weight (currently 10%) to keep him looking trim.

I have probably put it a bit wordy to say my first sentence and to reiterate to read danemams website


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## Deco (Jan 3, 2012)

Thank you both for the responses, advice and the link. 

He has had a variety of raw since 14 weeks as I always knew I would move onto raw once he went to 2 meals. So I am not too worried about switching completely and he has been through a variety of meats mostly minced pre packed and some fish, but not a lot of bone apart from 1/2 chickens and carcasses.

I will go off and read now.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I would start him out with one chicken leg quarter for breakfast and dinner for the first few days. If he handles that well, add in another leg quarter either as a third meal or a second leg quarter to breakfast or dinner. After a few days of handling that well, add in another quarter. Gradually increase his ration until he's at a good maintenance level of food. 

The best advice is to take things slowly as too much raw food all at once will cause digestive upset (vomiting and/or diarrhea).


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## minnieme (Jul 6, 2011)

Not meaning to piggyback this thread, but I think this could be relevant to the OP as well as satisfy my own curiosity. So Natalie (or anyone else) -- if that plan was followed (2 leg quarters/day), what if the pup got hunger pukes? Could you add in a third meal during the day and what would it be? Just curious because when we bring our new girl home, she will be going straight to raw but she is currently used to three meals a day. I'd like to do more frequent and much smaller portions at first since I think it's easier to tolerate -- also, I live less than 5 minutes from work so it's not an issue at all. Anyway - how could you do three meals a day with a dane pup (she is a year old but roughly the same size as Deco - HA!) meal-wise? What chicken cuts would you suggest offering? (I'm guessing 3 quarters a day at first would be too much)


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

minnieme said:


> Not meaning to piggyback this thread, but I think this could be relevant to the OP as well as satisfy my own curiosity. So Natalie (or anyone else) -- if that plan was followed (2 leg quarters/day), what if the pup got hunger pukes? Could you add in a third meal during the day and what would it be? Just curious because when we bring our new girl home, she will be going straight to raw but she is currently used to three meals a day. I'd like to do more frequent and much smaller portions at first since I think it's easier to tolerate -- also, I live less than 5 minutes from work so it's not an issue at all. Anyway - how could you do three meals a day with a dane pup (she is a year old but roughly the same size as Deco - HA!) meal-wise? What chicken cuts would you suggest offering? (I'm guessing 3 quarters a day at first would be too much)


Any puppy under 4 months or so should have 3 meals per day regardless. Any older than 4 months you can go to 2 meals per day. 

Hunger pukes aren't the end of the world, since they don't cause harm or indicate illness. Its just the body's way of getting rid of the excess bile in a stomach that is used to having food in it 24/7 (which is the case with kibble). We feed once every 24 hours, but it took a while for our girls to get used to it. It may take some time but considering she's so young I don't think you should have too much to worry about. There's a good chance that your new girl wont even get hunger pukes.

You can feed 3 meals per day and gradually phase out the third meal. I would personally make her evening meal larger than the morning since overnight is typically a longer time for them to go without food in their bellies than during the day. The problem with doing three small meals per day with a 90 pound dog is that your RMB selection is slim since three Dane-sized RMBs would probably equal more than what she needs per day (at least in the beginning). 

I would HIGHLY recommend just going with 2 meals per day from the get go. While your idea of smaller meals more frequent is a good thought, with a Dane it just doesn't work out that well. Start out with a leg quarter twice per day and go from there.


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## Deco (Jan 3, 2012)

DaneMama said:


> I would start him out with one chicken leg quarter for breakfast and dinner for the first few days. If he handles that well, add in another leg quarter either as a third meal or a second leg quarter to breakfast or dinner. After a few days of handling that well, add in another quarter. Gradually increase his ration until he's at a good maintenance level of food.
> 
> The best advice is to take things slowly as too much raw food all at once will cause digestive upset (vomiting and/or diarrhea).


Thanks you for your advice. I have no problem with him taking the raw and digesting it well. He ate half a 3lb raw chicken yesterday and the other half the day before. I was clearing out the freezer and it had been in there a long time. I have been feeding kibble for other meals which I know isn't ideal to mix the 2 but full raw just wasn't possible until I switched to 2 meals as he comes to work with me.

Minnieme Piggyback away. Girls and american danes tend to be smaller than their european counterparts. There are some photos on the pictures board if you want to see.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Deco said:


> Thanks you for your advice. I have no problem with him taking the raw and digesting it well. He ate half a 3lb raw chicken yesterday and the other half the day before. I was clearing out the freezer and it had been in there a long time. I have been feeding kibble for other meals which I know isn't ideal to mix the 2 but full raw just wasn't possible until I switched to 2 meals as he comes to work with me.
> 
> Minnieme Piggyback away. Girls and american danes tend to be smaller than their european counterparts. There are some photos on the pictures board if you want to see.


Deco is definitely old enough to handle 2 meals per day now, and if he can handle a half chicken as of now without issue, I've got a feeling he will adjust to full raw without issue. When my girls were puppies they'd come to work with me as well. I just had to pack them a raw lunch to take with me! I'd pack it frozen and just keep it in a bag...by noon time it would thaw out no problem. Just a thought for the future...as I'm sure you know that Danes are like potato chips and you can't have just one LOL :wink: 

My girls are petite and I like them that way...Bailey is the largest at 120 pounds, Akasha is 95, and Zuri is 90. Wouldn't have them any other way! Although, our next addition will probably be a 50/50 mix of American/Euro lines. Unless I'm lucky enough to win the lottery in which case I'd get a female harlequin puppy from Del Castello Delle Rocche 

Alani - Great Danes - DEL CASTELLO DELLE ROCCHE - Home Page


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## Deco (Jan 3, 2012)

Your danes look beautiful.

You are obviously much more organised than me, I have lost count of the times I have had to turn the van (am. truck) around to go get his mid day meal. Ended up buying a 6lb dog food container and keeping it in the van alongside, toys, dog bed etc etc. 

We walk him with another couple who have 2 danes and one is the biggest Harli you have ever seen and I am really hoping he wont get that big.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Where did you get Deco from? 

Its hard to tell how big Danes will get when they're puppies. He might stop growing once he hits 14 months....I know Bailey was HUGE puppy for a female and was up to 110 at 9 months. Now at 5 years old she is 120 LOL....which I think is the ideal weight for a female, 140 for a male.


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## Deco (Jan 3, 2012)

He is from a UK breeder, Lebenkadane his line was mostly german on the moms side until 2-3 generations ago. His dad is 165lbs but his Grandma is even bigger than that. 

We look for different characteristics in the UK, much broader chests & far more muscle mass. I guess there is much more Mastiff in them. There are a few american lines here but they look so different they are instantly recognizable.


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