Raw Feeding Ratio Guide

What the 80-10-10 numbers mean, which components count where, and how to turn the ratio into actual daily gram amounts for your dog.

Once you know the ratio, use the raw food calculator to get your dog's total daily gram amount with the component breakdown already applied.

The Two Ratio Models

Prey Model Raw (PMR)

80 / 10 / 10

80%

Muscle meat (incl. heart)

Chicken thigh, beef, turkey, heart

10%

Edible raw bone

Chicken necks, wings, backs

Liver

Chicken, beef, or lamb liver

Secreting organ

Kidney, spleen, pancreas

BARF

70 / 10 / 10 / 10

70%

Muscle meat (incl. heart)

Chicken, beef, turkey, heart

10%

Edible raw bone

Chicken necks, wings, backs

Liver

Chicken, beef, or lamb liver

Secreting organ

Kidney, spleen, pancreas

10%

Plant matter

Blended leafy greens, carrot, fruit

The Ratio Is a Weekly Average, Not a Daily Rule

The most common mistake in raw feeding is trying to hit 80/10/10 at every single meal. The ratio is a weekly average — something you balance across five to seven days, not a formula you weigh out each morning. Monday might be pure muscle meat. Tuesday a chicken neck goes in. Wednesday you add a small amount of liver. By the end of the week, the breakdown should roughly match the target.

This matters in practice. Trying to include all four components in every meal, especially early on, almost always causes loose stools or vomiting. Start with a single protein and muscle meat only. Add raw bone after a week. Introduce organ in small amounts over the following two to three weeks.

Applying the Ratio: Example Calculations

The ratio applies to your dog's total daily food amount. Most adult dogs at maintenance need 2–2.5% of their ideal body weight per day. Working or very active dogs may need 3%; sedentary or senior dogs often do fine at 1.5–2%.

Component	PMR % → Grams	BARF % → Grams
Muscle meat	80% → 400g	70% → 350g
Edible bone	10% → 50g	10% → 50g
Liver	5% → 25g	5% → 25g
Secreting organ	5% → 25g	5% → 25g
Plant matter	— (none)	10% → 50g
Total	500g	500g

20 kg adult dog at moderate activity (2.5% BW = 500 g/day). Use the raw food calculator for your dog's exact numbers.

Here is a quick reference for common dog weights at three feeding percentages:

Dog weight	2% / day	2.5% / day	3% / day
5 kg (11 lb)	100g	125g	150g
10 kg (22 lb)	200g	250g	300g
15 kg (33 lb)	300g	375g	450g
20 kg (44 lb)	400g	500g	600g
30 kg (66 lb)	600g	750g	900g
40 kg (88 lb)	800g	1,000g	1,200g
50 kg (110 lb)	1,000g	1,250g	1,500g

Apply the 80/10/10 percentages to your dog's daily total from this table. Start at 2% for less active or overweight dogs, 2.5% for maintenance, and 3% for working dogs or dogs that need to gain weight.

Understanding Each Component

Muscle meat — the foundation (70–80%)

Muscle meat is the protein and fat base of the diet. It should rotate across multiple species over time: chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, rabbit, pork, venison. Heart — despite looking like organ meat — is a working muscle and counts here. Lung also counts as muscle meat. Feeding a single protein long-term risks trace mineral gaps; variety is the fix.

Edible raw bone — the calcium source (10%)

Raw bone supplies calcium and phosphorus in a ratio dogs use well. The bone must be raw — cooked bone splinters and is dangerous. Good edible bones: chicken necks, wings, backs, and frames; duck necks; rabbit carcass; lamb ribs. Beef marrow bones and knuckles are too dense for most dogs and carry tooth-fracture risk — use these as recreational chews only, not as part of the dietary allocation.

Liver — the multivitamin (5%)

Liver is the most nutrient-dense food in the diet: high in vitamin A, D, B12, folate, iron, copper, and zinc. Those same nutrients are why the 5% cap is firm. Too much liver over weeks or months causes vitamin A toxicity (hypervitaminosis A) — lethargy, bone pain, liver damage. Introduce it slowly: start at 1–2 g per day and build up over two to three weeks. Chicken liver is the mildest starting point.

Secreting organs — the micronutrient boost (5%)

Secreting organs — kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, thymus, testicles — supply micronutrients that muscle meat under-provides. Kidney is the most widely available and the easiest for most dogs to tolerate. Spleen is iron-rich. Pancreas provides digestive enzymes and is sometimes sold as sweetbread. These are more nutrient-dense than muscle meat but less intense than liver; still introduce them gradually, especially kidney.

Plant matter — BARF only (10%)

BARF adds plant matter for phytonutrients, fibre, and antioxidants. Dogs have no amylase in saliva, so raw plant cell walls pass mostly undigested — blend, puree, or lightly steam vegetables to improve what the dog actually absorbs. Suitable options: leafy greens (kale, spinach, broccoli), carrots, courgette, apple (seeds removed), blueberries, pumpkin. Avoid: grapes, raisins, onions, garlic, macadamia nuts, avocado.

Which Bones Count Toward the 10%?

The 10% bone allocation means edible raw bone — bone the dog fully consumes, which delivers calcium and phosphorus to the diet. Recreational bones are chewed for enrichment but not fully eaten, so they do not count toward the ratio.

Edible bones — count toward 10%

Chicken necks, wings, backs, frames
Duck necks
Rabbit carcass or ribs
Lamb ribs (small dogs should have assistance)
Turkey necks (for larger dogs)

Recreational bones — do not count

Beef marrow bones (too dense, tooth fracture risk)
Beef femur or knuckle (weight-bearing, not consumed)
Pork leg bones
Any cooked bone (cooked bones splinter — never feed)

One thing catches people off guard: a chicken wing is roughly 50% meat and 50% bone by weight. Feeding a wing does not deliver 10% bone to the diet — it delivers about 5% bone and 5% muscle meat. This is a common reason people end up under-delivering on calcium. Commercial 80/10/10 blends use ground bone with a pre-measured ratio, which removes this uncertainty.

Six Mistakes People Make Applying the Ratio

Treating it as a daily requirement

The ratio is a weekly average. Trying to hit all four components every meal — especially at the start — causes digestive upset and makes the whole process harder than it needs to be.

Counting a whole raw meaty bone as 10% bone

Chicken wings and necks are part meat, part bone. Feeding a wing delivers roughly 5% bone and 5% muscle meat, not 10% bone. Adjust your amounts accordingly, or use a commercial blend with ground bone at a measured ratio.

Using only liver for the full organ allocation

Liver covers 5% of the diet. The other 5% needs to come from different secreting organs — kidney, spleen, pancreas. Feeding 10% liver pushes vitamin A to toxic levels over time.

Applying adult percentages to puppies

Puppies are not smaller adults. They need 5–8% of body weight per day and have tighter calcium-to-phosphorus requirements. Giant breed puppies are particularly vulnerable to calcium imbalance during growth.

Confusing weight ratio with calorie ratio

Fat content varies a lot between proteins — duck is far richer than rabbit or venison. A diet that is 80% duck thigh has very different caloric density than 80% lean mince. If weight is changing unexpectedly, adjust the total daily amount, not just the ratio.

Never adjusting the baseline percentage

2–2.5% is where most dogs start, not where they stay permanently. Working dogs, nursing females, and underweight dogs often need 3% or more. Older or sedentary dogs frequently do better at 1.5–2%. Watch body condition and adjust accordingly.

What 80/10/10 Doesn't Cover

The 80/10/10 ratio is a useful structure, but it is not a nutritionally complete formula on its own. Muscle meat, bone, and primary organs leave several nutrients consistently short. These are the gaps that come up most often:

Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA)

Farmed land animal muscle meat is low in omega-3. Feed oily fish two to three times per week — sardines in water are the simplest option. Salmon needs to be previously frozen for at least 14 days before feeding to eliminate the risk of salmon poisoning disease (Nanophyetus salmincola).

Vitamin E

High-fat diets increase the demand for vitamin E. A quarter teaspoon of wheat germ oil two to three times per week, or a mixed tocopherol supplement, covers this for most dogs.

Iodine

Land animal tissue is low in iodine. A small amount of kelp or seaweed powder addresses this without excessive heavy metal risk. Do not substitute iodised table salt.

Manganese

Needed for joint cartilage and bone development. Green-lipped mussel powder or one to two cooked mussels two to three times per week is a practical source.

Vitamin D

Dogs make some vitamin D3 through sun exposure, but indoor dogs may be short. Oily fish and egg yolks provide some dietary vitamin D. If your dog spends most of its time indoors, discuss supplementation with your vet.

Puppy Ratio Adjustments

Puppies need far more food relative to body weight than adults — typically 5–8% of current body weight per day for young puppies, dropping gradually as they approach adult size. The 10% bone guideline may also be too low during active growth; many practitioners recommend 12–15% edible bone for puppies under 6 months. Calcium-to-phosphorus balance matters more in puppies than adults, and errors in either direction cause skeletal problems that are hard to correct later.

Giant breed puppies — those expected to exceed 25 kg at adult weight — are the highest-risk group. Their bones develop more slowly and over a longer window than small breeds, and both calcium deficiency and excess cause growth deformities. If you are raising a giant breed puppy on raw, get advice from a board-certified veterinary nutritionist before starting. See the raw puppy feeding guide for age-specific portion recommendations.

When to Contact a Vet

Most healthy adult dogs transition without problems, but these signs should prompt a vet call rather than continued troubleshooting:

Vomiting more than twice in 24 hours
Diarrhea lasting more than 48–72 hours
White, chalky stools that persist after cutting bone back
Refusing food for more than 24 hours
Abdominal bloating, straining, or visible pain

Dogs with existing health conditions — kidney disease, pancreatitis, a history of digestive surgery, or immune-mediated disease — need direct vet involvement before any diet switch. Households with young children, pregnant women, or immunocompromised people should also factor in the bacterial load of raw meat when deciding whether raw feeding is appropriate.

Frequently Asked Questions

The 80-10-10 ratio describes the composition of a Prey Model Raw (PMR) diet: 80% muscle meat (including heart), 10% edible raw bone, and 10% organ meat (5% liver and 5% secreting organs such as kidney or spleen). The BARF model adjusts this to 70-10-10-10 — 70% muscle meat, 10% bone, 10% organ, and 10% plant matter. The main difference between the two is whether plant-based ingredients are included.

Liver should stay at 5% of the total daily amount — no more. For a 10 kg dog eating 250 g per day, that works out to 12.5 g of liver daily. Liver is high in vitamins A, D, B12, iron, and copper, which is why the cap matters. Feeding more than 5% consistently risks vitamin A toxicity (hypervitaminosis A), which causes bone pain, lethargy, and liver damage. Start at 1–2 g per day and build up slowly over two to three weeks.

In raw feeding, organ meat means secreting organs specifically — not all internal organs. Liver and secreting organs (kidney, spleen, pancreas, brain, thymus, testes) count toward the 10% organ allocation. Heart does not count as organ meat — it is a working muscle and goes in with the muscle meat allocation. Lung is also muscle meat by most raw feeding frameworks.

Yes. Too much bone causes constipation and white, chalky stools. Diets with more than 15% bone can produce hard, painful stools and in severe cases impaction. The 10% edible bone guideline is calibrated for most adult dogs. Beef femurs and knuckle bones should be used as recreational chews, not counted as the bone allocation — they are too dense to be fully consumed and can crack teeth.

PMR: 80% muscle meat / 10% bone / 5% liver / 5% secreting organ / 0% plant matter. BARF: 70% muscle meat / 10% bone / 5% liver / 5% secreting organ / 10% plant matter. The difference is whether plant matter is included. BARF adds it for phytonutrients and fibre, based on the idea that wild canids eat the stomach contents of prey. PMR excludes it, on the basis that dogs get all required nutrients from animal sources. Neither model has been shown in controlled trials to produce better long-term health outcomes.

Fish is not part of the base ratio but it is worth adding for omega-3 content. Feeding oily fish two to three times per week as a rotation protein covers the EPA/DHA gap that land animal muscle meat does not. Salmon needs to be frozen for at least two weeks before feeding to eliminate the fluke parasite responsible for salmon poisoning disease. Sardines packed in water are the most convenient option for most owners.

No. The ratio came from the raw feeding community as an approximation of whole-prey composition, not from a clinical study. Analysis of actual whole prey animals puts the ratio closer to 40% muscle meat, 25% offal, and 12% bone, with blood, skin, and other tissue making up the rest. The 80/10/10 framework is a practical starting point, not a precise replication of prey composition, and it has not been validated as nutritionally complete in peer-reviewed research.

For most dogs, yes — omega-3 fatty acids at minimum. Farmed land animal muscle meat is low in EPA and DHA, and feeding oily fish two to three times per week is the most practical fix. Other nutrients commonly short in a basic 80/10/10 diet include vitamin E (wheat germ oil helps), iodine (a small amount of kelp powder), and manganese (green-lipped mussel powder or whole mussels). How much supplementation is needed depends on protein variety — a diet rotating across multiple species including fish will need less top-up than one based on a single meat source.

About This Guide

Ratio guidelines are based on the Prey Model Raw community standard and the BARF framework (Billinghurst, 1993). Nutritional completeness analysis references NRC 2006 (Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats) and Weeth (2013, JAVMA). Whole prey composition data draws on comparative anatomy studies of small-to-medium prey species. Vitamin A toxicity thresholds referenced from NRC 2006. Omega-3 guidance references Bauer (2011), Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice. Salmon poisoning disease risk sourced from Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Raw diet programs should be reviewed by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (DACVN) before implementation. This guide is for general informational purposes and does not constitute veterinary advice.