Which chemicals and what are the safe limits?  I don't seem to share your fear of "chemicals" Rose but then I understand that the world is made up of chemicals, some harmful (at certain levels) some benign and some possitively helpful, without "chemicals" my dog's heart would not beat and her little brain would not spark :)

Hi Rose
I thought new regulations came out about 4-6 months ago about testing raw meats intended for the animal feed market, I`m sure it was in the dog papers.Owners were concerned because of the expense of the testing that the price would rise dramatically...........or was I dreaming!
Tiggey

For Isabel & Rose
do you two know each other? Cos if you don't I'd hate to see you meet face to face :D

Cos if you don't I'd hate to see you meet face to face :-D

Anndee,LOL i would love to meet Isabel(in a dark alley) em i mean to have a real life discussion :D

Alot of folk are much more gutsier when behind the computer screen ;)

The scary thing is we are both as passionate as each other on this subject :)

Just to cover my butt,the above is to be taken lightly,dont want to offend any sensitive souls :)

haven't you ever watched grime files?  chicken for human consumption was stacked up into piles and left to rot, the chicken had tumours and stunk to high heavens then it was bleached and sold to supermarkets like sainsburys, asda and tescos dont fool your self!

I can understand you being nervous.

I started on the BARF diet because I had an elderly retriever who had always been a picky eater - and she had cancer, we needed to make sure she ate and kept her strength up as we were not going to try any surgical or chemo route.  Our vet said he wasn't a fan of the idea but we had nothing to lose.  She turned from a picky eater to one who loved her food after one meal of chicken wings - and yes, i pretty much stayed awake all night thinking she was going to die of something rupturing inside!.  She lived a good 6 months after that and was very happy - I honestly wished I'd done it years ago.  We have one dog left who is now 8 and he has now been on raw for 3 years.  No way would I go back to commercial food.  he has a varied diet, chicken wings as basic, with other raw meats and offals.  He gets our left overs - which I never gave him before when he had the complete "balanced" commercial foods - and gets most of his veggies via that route.

I can honestly say we have had less visits to the vet, his weight has dropped (he tended towards podgy with very lettle of the commercial diet) and he really enjoys his food.  I no longer worry about the chicken wings - Ive poop -a -scooped barf fed dogs for 3 years and have never found bones - the big advantage (from a garden POV) is that the faeces is firmer and not smelly.

Think about it - would you feed a child, or yourself, a diet of processed pellets to ensure you got the right balance of nutrients?  once I got into the Barf diet I really began to treat it the same way I treat feeding my children and myself - I found out what the basic needs were and tried to meet them with real food, not processed, occassional treats, and very few supplements.  I'be found it very easy. I keep a good supply of frozen chicken wings (local butcher) and frozen blocks of AMP mince (pet shop), also cans of pichards for when I forget to thaw the chicken wings <g>.  He sometimes gets raw eggs (a favourite) and is particularly fond of chinese take-away (as are the children!).

I am not missionary about it, today he had cooked chicken (no bones) because it was left over from a party - but having had dogs for 17 years and only BARF fed for 3 - I *really* do wish I had discovered it earlier.

Diane