Changing to BARF - few questions

Hey.

Changing to BARF, how do you do this with your dogs?

Do you feed pure BARF or do you add some kibble?

Is it like mon, weds, fri meat on bones, then the rest meat with veg?

What kind of veg can I use?

Where do you get your meat from and what do you get?

And what is your rule e.g. 100g per 10kg ?

Thanks xx

 

Mine have raw mince and kibble. They have kibble in the mornings and a mix at night.

Button - greyhound has 400g of mince chicken in the morning and 400g at night with a small amount of kibble.

The whippets all have kibble in the morning and 100g of chicken and some kibble at night.

Zoe just has kibble as she is a fat lump.

They all have raw bones at the weekend the bigger dogs get beef knuckle bones and the smaller ones get lamb bones.

I get my chicken mince from a local pet shop that sells frozen mince in 400g blocks.

I don't have a rule for feeding raw weights if the dogs look good and I can just see their ribs then they are fine.If I think one is a bit skinny or fat I adjust their meals accordingly.

 

I wouldn't recommend the BARF diet dogs don't need vegetables.

Buster gets pure raw and he's never been better. The basic idea is to feed 80% muscle meat, 10% bones and 10% organs. He gets chicken, turkey, beef and pork with hearts, liver and kidneys. Basically you should feed 2-3% of their body weight or adult weight if it's a puppy.

Introduce it slowly some chicken quarters maybe and then introduce other meats slowly. Not too much bone as it gives them constipation. Not too much organ at first dogs can react badly sometimes

 

If you email me at joanne@tarimoorart.co.uk I'll send you the guide I use for feeding my Labradors.

I do feed blended veggies, some don't, but they have a good range of nutritional value, vitamins and minerals. I also use some nuts and a few other additives, just through research and finding what helps promote healthy joints, coat etc. The role of blended veggies mimics what predators do naturally in the wild, in that they will eat the half digested contents of the prey, because it does contain good nutritional value, you only have to see the amount of posts abouot dogs that eat horse/sheep/cow poo to realise that.

I always advise trying chicken wings first, a couple of times a week. Get suppliers sorted whether they're local or national, local suppliers you don't need as much freezer space as you can get supplies weekly rather than monthly.

I'm busy tonight so it's a bit of a rushed response, I've helped quite a few people swap over as well as swapping over a couple of oldies myself, and am happy to help with advice.

 

Whether you barf or use a prey approach is a very personal choice imo.

I come from a family of barfers where dogs have always been fed blended vegetables and fruit (with the odd fasting day) and they have thrived (as a family we have been feeding our animals raw food for as long as i remember).

We tended to see whether our dogs would be ok with raw vegetables but some of our dogs did better on boiled blended veg. Even my cats get the occasional helping of raw carrot or courgette or sesame seeds.

Overall, and I hope no one is going to get this the wrong way, but I generally feel that barfers are more open-minded and respectful of prey feeders than they are of barfers. Or perhaps I only have the knack of encountering the more militant prey feeders.

 

Dont feed raw and dry at the same meal, by all means feed kibble as a seperate meal but not together, the raw digests in around 6 hours, the dry takes up to 24 hours

 

I feed raw meat and veg also.I know lots don't bother with the veg but it does contain lots of vitamins.The main reason i feed veg is simply because my dogs love fruit and veg

I would take Sleeping lion up on her offer of her guide as i have just read it and it's got some good information in it.:thumbup:

Jules