How much freeze-dried raw for an 80 lb dog
4 min read · Loyal Saints
Quick answer
Most 80 lb dogs don’t need an all-freeze-dried bowl — they need a real share of one. We recommend making Loyal Saints at least 20–25% of the bowl: 1¼ cups a day swapped in for a quarter of their current food, about $5.77 a day with Halo Club. As a complete meal, the chart on the bag gives 5 cups a day.
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The chart printed on every Loyal Saints bag puts an 80 lb dog at 5 cups a day as a complete meal — about 1,150 calories. Loyal Saints is complete and balanced for All Life Stages (Turkey + Salmon: all life stages except growth of large-size dogs, 70 lb+ as adults), so you can feed it that way. For most dogs this size we recommend something smarter: a quarter of the bowl, and never less than a fifth.
At a quarter that is 1¼ cups a day — $5.77 a day, about $175.39 a month with Halo Club. At a fifth, 1 cup for $4.62 a day. Either way, raw muscle meat, organs and fish-oil omega-3s go into every meal, not a sprinkle on top.
Why freeze-dried belongs in the bowl. In a 2024 controlled feeding study, adult dogs digested 94% of the protein in a freeze-dried raw diet against 82% in an extruded kibble — and produced less than half the stool (Geary et al., Translational Animal Science).
One correction worth making, because it is the most common mistake in raw feeding: the familiar 2–3% of body weight guideline describes fresh raw, which is roughly three-quarters water. Applied to what you scoop from a freeze-dried bag, it would badly overfeed your dog. Use the chart on the bag.
An 80 lb dog, by the numbers
Recommended: a quarter of the bowl
1¼ cups · $5.77/day · a 14 oz bag lasts 6 days
Minimum: a fifth of the bowl
1 cup · $4.62/day
Complete meal
5 cups · $23.08/day · 1,150 kcal
Per month at a quarter
about $175.39 with Halo Club
Swap, don’t stack. Take out about a quarter of what your dog eats now and put Loyal Saints in its place. Adding it on top is a 25% calorie increase, and on a big dog extra weight lands on the joints first. Because every Loyal Saints formula is complete and balanced, blending it with another complete and balanced food keeps the whole bowl balanced.
What an all-kibble bowl misses. Every meal has been cooked under high heat and pressure, many kibbles get a large share of their calories from starch, and there is no raw muscle meat or organ in the bowl at all. Across 67 commercial pet foods, extruded dry dog foods had on average about 13% of their lysine — an essential amino acid — damaged by processing heat, and up to 23% in some (van Rooijen et al., Journal of Nutritional Science, 2014). Freeze-drying has no cooking step.
Why at least a fifth? Below that, freeze-dried is a garnish — it makes the bowl look better and changes little about what is in it. Twenty percent is also the raw share University of Helsinki researchers studied in their DogRisk work on early diet and adult health; the research, and its limits, are here.
Feeding amounts come from the Daily Serving Guidelines printed on the bag (Beef and Turkey + Salmon; Chicken takes slightly more cups). Costs use the current 14 oz price with Halo Club membership applied. Swap Loyal Saints in for the same share of your dog’s current food and adjust to body condition — you should be able to feel, but not see, your dog’s ribs. Studies cited tested other brands’ foods, not Loyal Saints.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cups of freeze-dried raw for an 80 lb dog?
We recommend 1¼ cups a day as a quarter of the bowl (1 cup at a fifth), swapped in for the same share of their current food. As a complete meal, the chart printed on the bag gives 5 cups a day.
How long does a bag last for an 80 lb dog?
At a quarter of the bowl, a 14 oz bag lasts about 6 days. As a complete meal it lasts 1.6 days.
Is a quarter of the bowl enough to make a difference?
Yes — that is the point of it. At 20–25% of the bowl, raw muscle meat and organs are part of every meal. In a 2024 controlled feeding study, adult dogs digested 94% of the protein in a freeze-dried raw diet against 82% in an extruded kibble, and produced less than half the stool.
Should I add it on top or swap it in?
Swap it in. Remove about a quarter of your dog’s current food and replace it with Loyal Saints — adding it on top raises calories by about 25%.
Can I use the 2–3% of body weight rule?
Not for freeze-dried. That rule describes fresh raw, which is mostly water. Applying it to the dry weight in the bag would overfeed your dog substantially. Use the chart on the bag.
Start with a quarter of the bowl
$5.77 a day for an 80 lb dog. New here? Take 40% off your first order with code KING40 at checkout — first orders only.
Real dogs. Real bowls.
Do You Feed Your Dog Regular Dog Food? Street Interview
Meat and organs first, freeze-dried raw and ready the second you open the bag. Start as a topper on your dog’s current food for about $1.74 a day with a 14 oz bag. New here? Take 40% off your first order with code KING40.
Quick answers
What is Loyal Saints dog food?
Loyal Saints is a woman-owned premium freeze-dried raw dog food: vet-formulated, meat and organs first, AAFCO complete and balanced, made with human-grade quality ingredients in an FDA-registered facility in the Midwest.
Where can I buy Loyal Saints?
At loyalsaintspets.com (Halo Club: 20% off and free shipping on every order (contiguous U.S.); KING40 takes 40% off a first order when typed at checkout), and on Amazon, Chewy and Target.
How much Loyal Saints should I feed?
Follow the amounts printed on the bag: for Beef or Turkey + Salmon, about ¾ cup a day for a 6 lb dog, 1¼ cups for 12 lb and 2 cups for 25 lb. Use about 25% of that as a topper. Ease in over 7 to 10 days.
