A typical adult Labrador of 30 kg eats about 600 to 900 g of raw food a day, depending on how active they are. For a moderately active Lab that’s around 750 g, or roughly two 10 kg cartons of mince a month plus some raw bones.
Labradors take to raw food the way they take to most food: enthusiastically. The main job for a Lab owner is getting the amount right, because a Lab will rarely tell you they’ve had enough.
How much to feed a Labrador
Most adult Labradors weigh somewhere between about 25 and 36 kg, with males at the heavier end. Use your dog’s ideal weight, not their current weight, if they need to lose a kilo or two.
| Lab’s weight | Quieter (2%) | Moderate (2.5%) | Working or very active (3%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 kg | 500 g | 625 g | 750 g |
| 30 kg | 600 g | 750 g | 900 g |
| 35 kg | 700 g | 875 g | 1,050 g |
A family Lab who gets a walk or two a day usually sits in the moderate column. A Lab that works in the field or runs with you most days may need the higher amount. Many owners split it into two meals.
Keeping a Lab in shape
Labs are famous for their appetite, and that makes it easy to overfeed by accident. A few habits help:
- Weigh each meal for the first few weeks rather than guessing.
- Count training treats and scraps as part of the daily amount.
- Check their shape every couple of weeks. You should be able to feel their ribs easily under a thin layer of fat.
- If they’re gaining, trim about 10% off the daily amount and check again in two weeks.
What to feed
Labs aren’t fussy, so the choice is mostly about your dog’s activity and any proteins they need to avoid.
- For a working or very active Lab, Active Dog Mix is beef, horse, offal and green tripe, made with busy dogs in mind.
- For a family Lab, Chicken Mince mixed with Balance Mix, one part Balance Mix to two parts mince, adds bone and organ to the muscle meat in one step.
- For bones, match the bone to the food. Beef Brisket Bones go with Active Dog Mix, which is beef-based. Chicken Mince already has bone through it, so extra bones are optional.
How long a carton lasts
Our calculator plans about 90% of the food as mince or blend and 10% as raw bones. For a 30 kg Lab eating 750 g a day, that’s about 675 g of mince a day, so a 10 kg carton lasts roughly two weeks. A 10 kg carton of bones lasts around four months. Our raw dog food calculator works it out for your dog, and our raw versus kibble cost guide has the cost per day by weight.
Switching a Lab to raw
Your Lab may well eat raw happily from the first bowl, but it’s still worth switching over a week or two so their stomach can adjust. Our guide to switching to raw has a day-by-day plan.
More guides
Raw dog food vs kibble in NZ: the cost per day
Cost per day for the same 20 kg dog, from budget kibble to small-pack raw, and how to keep raw feeding affordable.
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How to switch your dog to raw food
A one-to-two week plan for moving your dog onto raw food, starting with a single protein.
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Novel proteins for dogs: goat, horse, venison and alpaca
What counts as a novel protein, which ones we sell, and how to build a diet without beef or chicken.
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