Barf Diet

[Jillb]

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I would be really interested to hear from others that feed the BARF diet to their dogs about what and how much they feed them.

I've been feeding Merlin and Willow on raw food for a few months now and have gone through the trials of what they will and won't eat i.e. they won't eat raw fish, certain vegetables and I can't get them to eat carbs/veg without meat.

A typical days diet would consist of chicken wings for breakfast, and for dinner raw mince (turkey, chicken, beef or lamb) with mashed vegetables.

I also give them tinned fish like mackrel about once or twice a week and eggs once or twice a week plus offal once a week on average. Occasionally i'll give them lamb chop bones too. A couple of times a week I include some rice or pasta in their food and a few leftover potato's here and there. Not a great deal of carbs all in all. I also give them semi-skimmed goats milk several times a week.

How does that sound, do you think their diet is balanced enough? How many chicken wings a day would you feed your dogs?

Thank you in advance.

Jill

 

[alfyn]

Sounds pretty good to me :thumbsup:

You could perhaps give them the odd egg now & then & some natural yoghurt & honey.And i would supplement their diet with wheatgerm oil & seaweed powder or Keepers mix from Dorwest

My lot have one wing a day,but it's up to you,& as for the amount they have,i always go by if they're putting on weight,cut back & likewise up their food if they're getting too skinny :thumbsup:

 

[Eceni]

Sounds pretty good to me :thumbsup: You could perhaps give them the odd egg now & then & some natural yoghurt & honey.And i would supplement their diet with wheatgerm oil & seaweed powder or Keepers mix from Dorwest

My lot have one wing a day,but it's up to you,& as for the amount they have,i always go by if they're putting on weight,cut back & likewise up their food if they're getting too skinny  :thumbsup:

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You could try joining 'Britbarf' list on Yahoo - the list owner is one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever heard discussing barf/rmb diets and there's a wealth of experience on the list.

I gave up on the veggies with my lurcher after reading Tom Lonsdale's book about raw meaty bones - she wasn't eating them anyway, and he gave a pretty sane outline of why there weren't necessary. Can't remember what the book was called, but if you search Amazon under his name, you'll find it pretty fast, I think.

good luck

m (edited for typos)

 

[masta]

i would cut the veg out, dogs have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. This means food passes through quickly. Vegetable and plant matter, however, needs time to sit and ferment. This equates to longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This explains why plant matter comes out the same way it came in; there was no time for it to be broken down and i would also feed full fat goats milk

 

[Seraphina]

i would cut the veg out, dogs have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. This means food passes through quickly. Vegetable and plant matter, however, needs time to sit and ferment. This equates to longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This explains why plant matter comes out the same way it came in; there was no time for it to be broken down  and i would also feed full fat goats milk

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Just because something does not get fully digested that does not mean it is not useful. Canines in wild do nibble on all sorts of vegetable matter. You can also give slightly cooked/steamed veggies, which will be easier to digest. However no adult animal in the wild would drink milk.

 

[alfyn]

Imo,i don't think a bit of veg does any harm,& my dogs love it anyway,but i do agree with Seraphina on the milk & can't understand why anyone would give milk to dogs.....especially manufactured chocolate flavoured specifically for dogs :wacko:

 

[k4tie-d]

sorry to jump the post, but i just wanted to ask, how do you give them the egg? raw, or cooked?

 

[tracy]

sorry to jump the post, but i just wanted to ask, how do you give them the egg?  raw, or cooked?

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all my dogs except bean (egg seems to make her sick) will eat an egg however it is cooked - they love it most boiled - they have great fun with it before eating

make sure to do this outside as the mess made is horrific (w00t)

i have not given this to Miss Mabel yet - not sure if her tummy will take a whole egg until she is a bit older?????

 

[~Sarah~]

I think it unlikely that I will ever feed Barf, but I would like to give them bones to clean their teeth. They have hide chews and those Pedigree Dentastix that are supposed to clean teeth :- " but I don't think they are very effective.

I am really paranoid about bones from working at a vet surgery years ago and also my brother and family lost a gorgeous Westie a few years ago when a piece bone got stuck and it wasn't diagnosed by the vet. I think it was one of those reconstitiuted type bones which maybe aren't very safe.

I know everyone recommends chicken wings, but I can't bring myself to give those, so what would be the next best thing?

 

[Schmick]

I think it unlikely that I will ever feed Barf, but I would like to give them bones to clean their teeth. They have hide chews and those Pedigree Dentastix that are supposed to clean teeth :- "  but I don't think they are very effective.
I know everyone recommends chicken wings, but I can't bring myself to give those, so what would be the next best thing?

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I like to give Nockie chicken necks chopped up into bite size pieces if I give them to her whole she scoffs them down and throws them back up latter. I do give her chicken legs and wings as well.

I find the Denta Stixs to be working well and they are one of her few treats, She just loves them.

 

[rls22]

Mine get big meaty rib bones a couple of times a week.

They substitute for a meal - and they absolutely love them :thumbsup:

 

[Rae]

we feed the meat/veg mix from Landywoods - I cant bring myself to give them chicken wings anymore after being made so aware of the conditions that the poor chickens are kept in - they get lamb ribs every week instead.

I do give mine tripesticks and the dentalicious chews - which they love although it seems crazy - spend a fortune on a lovely natural diet and then give them crap as a treat.....

 

[masta]

i would cut the veg out, dogs have a relatively short foregut and a short, smooth, unsacculated colon. This means food passes through quickly. Vegetable and plant matter, however, needs time to sit and ferment. This equates to longer, sacculated colons, larger and longer small intestines, and occasionally the presence of a caecum. Dogs have none of these, but have the shorter foregut and hindgut consistent with carnivorous animals. This explains why plant matter comes out the same way it came in; there was no time for it to be broken down  and i would also feed full fat goats milk

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Just because something does not get fully digested that does not mean it is not useful. Canines in wild do nibble on all sorts of vegetable matter. You can also give slightly cooked/steamed veggies, which will be easier to digest. However no adult animal in the wild would drink milk.

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carnt comment on if undigested vegetable matter is useful?? i have not seen any clinical proof to say it is but i do know a canine is not anotomicially equipped to assimilate ( without pulverising) vegetable matter, yes a canine will eat some root (starch) veg in the wild mainly because they have not killed and are are starving, as far as milk i never advocated feeding it but if i was i would be feeding full fat

:thumbsup:

 

[meddling]

Mine get big meaty rib bones a couple of times a week.  They substitute for a meal - and they absolutely love them  :thumbsup:

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From what animal /rachel?

 

[Eceni]

I think it unlikely that I will ever feed Barf, but I would like to give them bones to clean their teeth. They have hide chews and those Pedigree Dentastix that are supposed to clean teeth :- "  but I don't think they are very effective.
I am really paranoid about bones from working at a vet surgery years ago and also my brother and family lost a gorgeous Westie a few years ago when a piece bone got stuck and it wasn't diagnosed by the vet.  I think it was one of those reconstitiuted type bones which maybe aren't very safe.

I know everyone recommends chicken wings, but I can't bring myself to give those, so what would be the next best thing?

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I'd be very, very surprised if it wasn't a cooked bone (cooked = brittle and so sharp-edged, uncooked = softer) that lodged in the Westie - tho' because of their anatomy (and ability to ingest food by magnetic suction from a wide radius, and their rows upon rows of backwards pointing sharky terrier teeth. ) they're particularly prone to oesophageal foreign bodies.

If your dog were to catch and eat a rabbit, it'd be the same, more or less, as eating chicken, at least from the bone point of view, and there isn't a whippet in the world that can't eat a raw rabbit if they're given the chance - unless they've been heavily conditioned not to.

I'm afraid chicken wings are the next best thing to rabbit, and generally more plastic - most chicken in this country is killed at less than 10 weeks old and the bones are barely formed, tho' if most of the diet isn't RMB, I think you lose the teeth cleaning effect - it's the constant work that achieves the cleanliness.

It IS scary though... I still watch Inca eating bones and calculate how far to the surgery for a laparotomy. The Whippet Forum has quite a good barf-raw feeding section, might be worth a look? And Nick Thompson, the homoeopathic vet wrote a piece in this month's Dogs Today explaining why he thinks it's a good idea

good luck

ms

 

[Seraphina]

I give my dogs the biggest beef marrow bone I can get (bigger they are less likely they are to appear in my bed ). If I leave it around for long enough the dogs gnaw away the gristle from the joints and then they eat the bone. It does not splinter, it crumbles. If i could find somewhere a bone meal I would put it in their food, but this is the same, except I have to put up with my garden littered with bones. I give my dogs chicken necks which have nothing sharp, my dogs crunch then up and clean their teeth in the process. If you dog swallows them too fast teach him to chew on them by holding one end and let him chew on it.