50/50 feeding is a method where dry food and meat are mixed. The ratios can be half of each or something entirely different. The name doesn’t mean that the foods must absolutely be half and half, but it’s just a descriptive name that means one thing: most often, dry food and meat are mixed together.
The idea is to get vitamins, minerals, and fiber from the dry food, while the meat provides proteins, fat, and water.
50/50 feeding can and should be calculated like all other feedings, but its simplicity is that it doesn’t have to be. At least, you don’t have to calculate much. 50/50 feeding can be summarized with a few general rules of thumb.
Amount of Food
Food is always given so that the dog neither loses nor gains weight. Most often, it’s known how much the dog has previously eaten only dry food, so give
- half of the previous amount of dry food
- twice as much meat
- dry food should still be at least 1/3 of the bag’s recommendation
When talking about amounts of dry food, it always refers to unsoaked amounts.
So if the dog has previously eaten about 200 grams of dry food (about 4 dl), then give
- 100 grams of dry food (approx. 2 dl)
- 200 grams of meat
If you want to think in deciliters, you usually end up with the same when the food consists of
- 1/3 dry food
- 2/3 meat
Note: For spayed females, those prone to gaining weight, or those dieting, the amount of meat often needs to be lower.
Food Supplements
The idea of 50/50 feeding is to make it as easy as possible. Therefore, it’s not absolutely necessary to give any supplements. However, it would still be good to give at least half of the amount of zinc and vitamin D that raw feeders give:
- zinc 1 mg/kg
- vitamin D 0.4 µg/kg
It’s almost impossible to follow the amounts exactly because the strengths sold rarely match the dog’s weight. Then you have to round. Most often, you can round down a bit, or up – as needed.
A 10 kg dog would then need
- zinc 1 mg x 10 kg = 10 mg per day, but such a size is not available for sale. Instead, 15 mg is available, so give one of those per day
- vitamin D 0.4 µg x 10 kg = 4 µg per day, which is unreasonable to buy, so give once a week 7 days x 4 µg = 28 µg. Such a strength is not available, so give 25 µg, which can be found (almost) in every store. Another option is to give 50 µg on the 1st and 15th of each month, or 2 x 50 µg once a month – but those are difficult to remember.
Miniature dogs are a bit of a challenge, so for them, either halve the pills, give them once a month, or buy powders, usually as biotin supplements.
A very meticulous person also calculates the amount of calcium, but most rely on getting enough from the dry food.
Feeding Times
For most healthy dogs, feeding once a day would be the best way in many ways, but feeding twice a day is not such a big issue. If you want to give food twice a day, it doesn’t matter whether you mix the dry food and meat or give them at separate meals.
Many give meat before leaving for work because the dog often eats the meat faster – this really only matters with generally slow eaters. If the dog has house-training issues, it might be worth giving the dry food in a little water before the dog is left alone.
For sick or otherwise feeding-problematic dogs, food is given in a way that causes the least issues – no rules of thumb apply then.
If you’ve encountered the claim that dry food and meat should not be mixed, it’s completely unfounded. Moreover, dry food itself already has meat mixed in (at least a little…)
Weight Control
If the dog GAINS weight, usually
- reduce the meat first or switch to leaner meat
If the dog LOSES weight, usually
- give more meat or switch to fattier meat
Never rely on online portion calculators. They are just percentage calculators and have nothing to do with dog feeding and food.
Does it still feel difficult?
We have a forum for questions and discussion. You are very welcome to Poochie Talk.
