I was talking to Josie, wondering why she has to live allll the way in friggin Texas, when she reminded me to share my BARF spreadsheet with all you nice people. So here it is!
I made this in MS Excel a few weeks ago — it’s a handy way to see how much of each BARF group (Raw Meaty Bones, Muscle Meat, Organ Meat, Vegetables) you need to feed your dog per day, based on the ratios found in Dr. Becker’s recipe book (I chose 4 different recipes).
All you have to do is insert your dog’s ideal weight (in lbs). The figures will automatically update based on that number.
There’s a table directly under the BARF ratio table where you can insert the prices for each BARF ingredient per pound, and that will show you how much you can expect to spend on a day/wk/mo of feeding that recipe. For example, if there’s a sale on lean ground beef, you can insert the $/lb for that in the Muscle Meat section of the beef recipe, and compare it to how much the chicken or turkey recipes would cost.
FINALLY, I made a second tab that shows the ideal micro-nutritional breakdown for your dog based on the calories he consumes per day. The cups per day is pulled off the BARF spreadsheet you just did (I just converted lbs to cups using the formula: 1 pound = 2 cups). All you have to do is insert the calories per cup of whatever you’re feeding, and the number of meals you feed per day. Then you can see how much of each nutrient your dog SHOULD be getting at each meal (AAFCO standards, again, from Dr. B’s book).
If you have the actual nutritional info for your dog’s food, you can insert those values in the second column, and the third column will tell you how much per serving your dog needs to make up the deficit between actual and ideal.
Let me know if it works for you. Would love feedback, especially from our food guru, Karen!
Click to download:
BARFplan_W_NutrientsInfoTab
You know, if I had just one dog I MAY be inclined to try raw, but with multiple dogs and a pattern of being extremely late for work every morning as it is, it just seems so much easier to scoop up cups of Fromm Gold with nice canned meat and run out of the houses, plus with multiple dogs I fear I would have to start shooting wildlife to keep up! 🙂
I do treat with raw meat bones and chicken thighs on occasion.
You could also try (instead of the canned meat) fresh ground meat, 1/4th cup to 1/2 cup mixed with a little water and then mix in the kibble! It’s a great easy way to add some raw! 😉
Sorry about the double post, on the train and it’s bumpy!
That’s ok, I cleaned it up for you, Lorie!
This is just an optional tool for you, in case you ever decide to go raw.
Also, I just really love doing math and making spreadsheets! It gives me so much joy to see all the numbers add up just the way they should.
I could probably use a hobby. Good thing I’m getting a dog!
Good grief—-a digit head! 😉
Guru Karen will LOVE you!
Am the ONLY Asian in the world who hates math?
The short answer to that is: yes. Also, you have not been taking enough pictures. No math, no camera, what kind of Asian are you?! Please tell me that you at least play violin or the piano!
I am officially UnAsian as of today. I did take pictures of the kiddos last night, does that count?
LOLOLOL
Maybe I am Asian? I have almond shaped eyes, I like math, take lots of pictures, play the piano, and I had my daughter take Suzuki piano lessons.
For those of us that do not have Dr. Becker’s book what do these stand for:
RMB – Raw meaty bones
MM – Muscle Meat
OM – organ meat
V – vegetables
Could you give a explanation of Muscle Meat? How is that different from raw meaty bones?
It would be interesting to add in options for kibble or other prepared foods so you could compare to the raw diets.
I plan to customize mine so I can do a blend of Honest Kitchen + RMBs. I will let you know if it works!
I think Karen can give you the best answer on the differences between groups.
Here is a “for instance” taken from one Dr. B’s recipe:
RMB-Raw Meaty Bones: you would use skinless chicken or turkey necks.
MM-Muscle Meat: you would use ground or chunks of beef (for example) that is 90%-93% lean & 7% fat such as round steak or rump roast. Plain “hamburger” has a high fat content. (Becker) “1 pound (equals 2 cups) of 80% lean beef = 1129 calories & 1 pound (equals 2 cups) of 95% lean beef=579 calories. If your dog eats 2 cups of food, this difference could add up to 400 calories a day or over 3800 calories a week, possibly adding almost 1 pound to your dog in I week!”
OM-Organ Meat: this would be liver, hearts, and gizzards.
V-Vegetables/Fruit: higher % of vegetables than fruit or starchy vegs. The more color the better. Orange, dark green, red….more color….more nutrients! Red (regular) peppers, dark green kale, blueberries etc.
“Holy BATMAN” Girly! (tee-hee-hee) THAT is an INCREDIBLE spread sheet!
When I see Dr. Becker next week, I’m gonna tell her she should hire you! 🙂
Oh sigh……..now you’ve gone ahead and made me find out EXACTLY how much I’m spending a month since I only use ground meats in my recipes!!! Ouch!!!!! Oh well…..I’m ok with that! But I think I’m going to ask Tom for one of those great BIG grinders for Christmas, then I can grind up whole skinless-bone-in chickens or pot roast and it will be cheaper! I have to hide this spreadsheet from Tom!!! He has no idea what we spend! 😉
It is called a raw-diet shredder….just put the spreadsheet through the grinder and count it as a vegetable.
U R too FUNNY! 🙂
LOL!