Hi All,

I am having a slight problem with Orion and raw feeding which I am hoping someone can help with. He has gotten and is staying fat.
He was always on partial raw as a pup - morning Acana kibble, night raw.Then about 6 months ago I switched him to full raw, starting on 3% thinking to maintain his body weight. I noticed after a month or two he had developed a slight jiggle over his back so I cut him down to 2.5%. After a month there was definitely no improvement, in fact he gained a little more. Down to 2% and still gaining, down to 1.5% and he is now maintaining but not losing. It seems like such a small amount I am reluctant to do any less, what would you all do?

Here's the run down;

His ideal weight is about 25kg, at the moment is sitting at 28kg   
He is currently getting 10-12km walking a day (1 hour morning and night) + 4km bike ride before bed.
His diet at the moment includes; Turkey neck, Chicken frames & necks, Heart, Kidney, Spleen, Tongue, Liver (all a mix of cow and pig) Chicken breast & Thigh, Beef chuck, Venison, Salmon, Rabbit (joints or whole carcass) and wallaby.
All fat is trimmed and he is getting exactly 375gm a day.
He is supplemented with cold pressed flax seed oil and flax flake.

Is there anything that I am doing profoundly wrong? any advice greatly appreciated I really am stumped on this!

I would try cutting back to an amount that helps him drop weight until his ideal weight is achieved. Once you have him down to his ideal weight then being him back up to a maintenance amount which it sounds like will be 1.5%. Some dogs just don't need much food. My dog is a perfect example, he eats much less than most other dogs, huskies included, his size.

You can always give him some boiled/steamed carrots or green beans as a filler. They'll help him feel satisfied without packing on the pounds.

Thanks Val, I was hoping you would chime in, you always have such good advice
Is there anything in his diet that you can see that I should perhaps cut out or keep to less of? The proteins I keep rotating so he gets them all in roughly the same quantities, is perhaps one better than the others?
The green beans are a great idea thank you. It just seems like so little to feed him especially in the middle of winter when he is so active

I suppose I am just used to having gun dog breeds that eat and eat and eat lol

Looks like you're doing well, nice variety so I'd keep at it if it works.

How old is he?

He is 18 months old. Does that make a difference in how much or what to feed? Or is there perhaps something additional I should be supplementing with at this age?

I only asked because weight gain can be a sign of hypothyroidism. If you can, I would get him in to check. Just to be safe!

Thanks Megan, I didn't even think of that! I will get him checked out, always better safe than sorry

It's not super common in males, but it can't hurt to check!

Maybe if everything checks out medically, I would take a look at the proteins and take out the naturally fattier proteins. Even if you measure the amount of fat, I know chicken generally has more fat than rabbits... it would also depend on how the meat was raised to figure out the fat to protein ratio... I had to do the opposite for Stark once since I had to put a little weight on after he got sick. Hope this helps!

Thanks, I will have a look and swap him onto some leaner proteins to help him along
His bloods came back fine - my vet thinks I am a hypochondriac for asking for him to be tested and she also thinks he is ideal for weight. I took him to visit his breeder and she agrees with me - he is definitely over his ideal although she doesn't think he needs to loose quite as much as I thought, I trust her judgement so I will continue to pop over to see her as he looses and get him to her ideal.
I have decreased his food and have added a backpack to his daily walks to make him work a bit harder plus have decreased his evening walk but increased his late night bike ride so he is running further. It is early days but I am hopeful I will be able to get him in good shape before the hot weather kicks in