Im gonna go BARF!! Really need as much info/advice as I can. What meat, fruit, veg? Quantities? Rice, nuts, pulses? Do you have to supplement (vits, minerals, oils etc)? Any advice gratefully received.

Julia

Did you PM me?
Archer

Archer, I did do a long post that I submitted but it disappeared, so perhaps by mistake?

Would be V. grateful for your input anyway.

Hello.
Welcome to BARF!

I feed chicken, beef, Lamb, veggies including carrots, peas, broccoli, swede, sprouts, fruit including bananas, apples, pears.  I also give Pilchards in tomato sauce on occasions.

I have one dog that won't eat raw chicken wings, he does eat meaty beef and lamb bones, you can give ribs and breast of lamb.  Chicken carcasses are very cheap and are excellent for barf, some people feed tripe too!

There isn't any restrictions really, many people blend the veggies, mine eat them in chunks.  I have fed raw Salmon and pilchards and sardines, but only 2 of mine will eat them, don't know how other peoples dogs go on with raw fish?
DAwn.

Theres no set rules with raw...we all do it 'our way'.Some feed veg whole ,some feed it in a pulp(thats me) and some don't feed it at all.
I feed about 30-40% raw meaty bones and the rest muscle meat.I feed any meat I can get hold of. I also feed tinned fish cos mine won't eat raw and eggs occasionally.I feed offal in small amounts.
The main thing is that you don't need to feed a balanced diet daily...you should aim at getting a balance over 2-3 weeks
You can suppliment if you chose...I don't.....some do.IMO if you feed a varied diet you shouldn't need suppliments.
Archer

Barney does eat raw chicken wings and will eat raw fish. Actually he will eat anything! I would rather not feed offal (liver and kidney are not too bad) as I am a veggie and heart, lung etc.. is a bit to much for me to get my head round (I dont eat anything that ever had legs!!!!!!!). Is there any veg/fruit/meat that you shouldnt feed (I know about onion, pork and grapes/raisins)?

Julia

Pork is FINE!!! I feed it quite often and mine love it...it doesn't cause worms if thats what you've been told....its an old wives tail.
You must feed SOME offal....liver and kidney are fine.Heart is classed as a muscle meat...
Apart from the veg you mention I can't think of any you can't feed.I would suggest with fruit and veg everything in moderation....ie not lots of the same thing.
Archer

Yes Pork is fine.  (Dawn agreeing with Archer..... miracles and all!:D)  I buy those "spare ribs" very meaty and the dogs love them.  Even my Papillon with about 4 teeth all told, will munch away on one for hours!
Dawn.

Ahhhhcome one Dawn...we agree on more than that...for example raw feeding :d

You can buy liver and heart chunks from AMP ready chopped so all you need to do is chuck it in the bowl, im a veggie too and it doesnt gross me out - but then not much does :p

Archer - I got some strips for pork crackling yesterday for the dogs but how do you feed it ?? I tried cutting them into small pieces but even my stongest knife wont go through it, shall I just give them big pieces of it whole ?  would this be classed as recreation ?

If you've got some very sharp heavy duty scissors they often cut tough meat better than knives.Otherwise...yes just give it whole and let the dogs exercise their teeth!...
Archer

hmm, I tried scissors but mine obviously werent sharp enough :p

I will give it to them whole tonight, it might keep them occupied for a while :D :D

I agree with Archer, if you feed a balanced diet you shouldn't need supplements.

When I feed eggs I also let them have the shell as it has calcium in it. Also, are you giving him a daily dose Vit C tablet? I only ask as that is what some breeders recommended for the first year, as being very large dogs, their bones grow very quickly. That was the only supplement that I used to give and it certainly didn't do him any harm. Mine love raw fish so I give them mackeral, salmon, sardines etc. The only problem with that is the fishy smell that seems to linger on his beard :D Good job we don't have cats or he would have one permanently attached to his face :D And nothingseems to get rid of the aroma.

hairypooch, you made me laugh (the bit about the cats and the face/beard)! I know what you mean. Barney had pilchards (in tomato sauce from a can) at the weekend and the kids followed him round for hours calling "here fishy, fishy, fishy!". On a more srious note, I dont give him Vit C. How much would you advise? Barney is about 27kg.

Hi Julie,

From memory, he was on 1000 mg daily. It's not dependent on weight. I did this until he was a year old. I used to buy them from the supermarket as they worked out cheaper.

How are you getting on with the grooming? nightmare at that age isn't it ;)

Hairypooch,

Yes the grooming is a bit of a nightmare. Knots in armpits on front legs. I have solid wood floors and despite hoovering every day I keep finding fur bunnies everywhere! He just looks like an scruffy furball at the moment with all his baby fluff. Have you every experienced a white patch on the chest not going, and a v. grey patch at the top of the tail? He's had the white patch since birth, but the grey patch at the top of his tail has appeared recently. Did you find that Murfee was a problem (behaviour wise) at about 6 months? If so, how did you deal with it? I do have another topic under behaviour (painful puppy).

Julia

Feeding raw is an intersting process. As no one person agrees on what/how much to feed, it really comes down to using your judgement and watching your dog and doing whatever works best for you and your dog. I started out with a chart saying what I was going to feed and when, but didn't stick to it very long! One suggestion i would give tho is to blitz the veggies if possible. Dogs can't break down the cellulose in them, so they come out pretty much the same way they went in. By breaking them down mechanically first your dog is likely to get more nutrition out of them. Having said that, many don't feed veg at all and their dogs are fine. Mine still get 'recreational carrots' to chew on which have no nutritional value, but a much healthier alternative to pet shop treats!

It's sad to say, but i find it a lot of fun preparing my pup's food, and thinking about what to give her. She definitely looks a hundred percent better, and she often eats better than I do :-)  Good luck with it, it will seem daunting at first, but once you learn to relax and trust what you're doing, it'll come naturally!

Agree 100%.....its not an exact science!
I put vegs in a food processor and blitz them with offal then freeze in portion size bags.
Archer

would tripe be classed as offal ?  and what about the frozen amp blocks of meat ? what would they be classed as?

no tripe is meat...offal is liver,and kidney .I class heart as muscle meat
Archer

oooh.. i thought tripe was offal! Have to admit I don't like feeding it anyway as it smells really rank :-(  It also didn't occur to me that heart was muscle instead of offal, although I really should have realised! Thanks for that Archer  :-)

I'm fairly relaxed about what mine get :) I try to not give offal too much, nor too much tripe. However, some people's dogs seem to live on tripe, so they must find it OK. I blitz the veg too, but don't give it every day, although most days. I use the AMP meat quite a bit, as I can't find willing butchers round here to give regular supplies of bones. I buy chicken wings from the supermarket and whatever reduced meat there is going - sometimes rump steak :) I also give pilchards in tomato sauce (I think that mine would live just on that :) ), raw eggs and fruit. Mine also get either a holistic mixer or rice with every meal. They don't have a problem with it and neither do I :) My older dog has been having this for nearly 5 years now, the younger one since she was just a couple of months old and both are healthy and look fantastic. I don't think that there is any great secret to feeding raw :)

Daisy

see mine will only eat liver and kidney if it is cooked :rolleyes:  Which I end up doing for them :p  Otherwise they have all the different stuff from AMP plus bits I pick up from the butcher and the supermarket.  They definitely have a varied diet although I dont feed fruit and veg as this is another thing they wont touch.

Have you tried blending the liver/kidney ? My older dog just rolls on the liver if I give it to him just cut up :D However if it's blended he eats it without problem. Have you tried mixing blended veggies in with the AMP meat ? Have you tried mashed banana (just a small amount) ? Some people don't do any veggies - so it probably doesn't matter :)

Daisy

Mine won't eat veges or offal 'fresh' and whole but if its all blended together into a mush and mixed with some minced tripe etc they will.They also love it mixed with tinned fish
Archer

Lovely :D :D

Daisy

They think so....not sure I'd want it for dinner though! :d

Hairypooch,

Yes the grooming is a bit of a nightmare. Knots in armpits on front legs. I have solid wood floors and despite hoovering every day I keep finding fur bunnies everywhere! He just looks like an scruffy furball at the moment with all his baby fluff. Have you every experienced a white patch on the chest not going, and a v. grey patch at the top of the tail? He's had the white patch since birth, but the grey patch at the top of his tail has appeared recently. Did you find that Murfee was a problem (behaviour wise) at about 6 months? If so, how did you deal with it? I do have another topic under behaviour (painful puppy).

Julia

The best thing I ever did for my Afghan Hound (try grooming that during a puppy coat change :D :D) was convert to BARF!  She has never looked better or enjoyed food so much.  Her teeth are fabulous, so to is her coat and there are less poo's as well as less offensive!  Back in the day I used to worry about what I was feeding and getting it all right especially with so much advice as well as variation as to how this diet is fed.  As has already been stated, I dont worry about feeding 'balanced' meals every day and aim to balance over about 10 days (ish.)  I feed about 40 - 50% raw meaty bones (RMB's) consisting mainly of chicken wings or thighs (moved onto thighs once my hound was used to her new diet, as I starting with wings, thighs can be more work being stronger, weight bearing bones) but also whole poussin (often reduced in Tesco or Sainsbury's,) ribs (be careful if your dog is greedy, these have a higher bone to meat ratio as well as being an awkward shape if your dog tried to swallow them whole!!! ) lamb shanks, rabbit (fed whole with organs an all) etc etc.  I feed offal once a week consisting of kidneys and liver (alternating species) I also feed muscle meat, steak, chicken breast, heart etc.  Then I add little extras :) Yoghurt, cottage cheese, whole eggs, raw salmon, pilchards in tomato sauce etc  My hound doesn't do veggies but sometimes I am able to sneak the odd fruit and veg mush (teaspoon full :rolleyes:) into her food, she also gets leftovers from dinner that include cooked veg in gravy which she enjoy's!  Phew - she eats better than me!!  I get great satisfaction seeing her so enthusiastic about food.  Crunching those bones and working her teeth and jaw.  Very pleased with the results ;)
Hope this helps in some way
Sarah :)
PS  I feel it is good animal management to feed a species appropriate diet despite personal beliefs about eating meat ;)

Thanks for your advice, although the talk of rabbit and everything inside makes me feel quite sick (despite being veggie) I also have 2 ginuea pigs and a rabbit who lick Banney's nose :-o Should I be concerned that Barney did the off with a whole chicken wing in less than 1 minute? :-o

Julia

Less than a minute....he'll do it a lot faster than that in the end :d
Archer

:D Shame on me - poor bunnies, they are Lana's favourite food though, she really loves 'em.  Bones, muscle, offal and a bit of fur all in one handy meal ;)

Mine absolutely love fruit! Open a packet of crisps.. no response. Peel an orange/banana etc and they come flying out of the woodwork!
:-)

I have fed BARF for three yrs now so am still a beginner, but all my current dogs have been on it from the age of 8 weeks, and are doing great :D

We rarely feed offal as the bulk of my dogs' diet is chicken carcass. If you feed these, then there is usually enough offal remains inside the carcasses for the dogs to eat. We give liver or heart now and again or in treats such as liver cake.

Pork is fine - mine particularly love pig trotters :)

We feed fresh fish too - whole ones from the supermarket, usually herring. Though mine are partial to pilchards in tomato sauce :D

Vegetables should be blended as this simulates the digested contents in the stomachs of the prey that the dogs would eat in the wild. Dogs cannot break down whole or cut up vegetables. I was told once to use one green veg, one other veg and one type of fruit in my blended mix. I use spring greens, carrots and apples (sooo cheap at Lidl! :D) I add to this eggs, a spoon or two of runny honey, garlic and either natural yoghurt or cottage cheese. I freeze then in monthly batches ;)

If the BARF diet is fed properly, there should be no need to supplement, but I do like to give kelp or alfalfa (health food shop) and garlic.

I've had mine on raw meat, veg and bones for just over a week now and I am very impressed by it. Julia, I'm so glad you started the topic as I have got so much info from it,its great ;-). My dogs are doing so well on it, even Safi with her problematic digestion. One thing that I have noticed is, she is doing lovely firm motions now but she seems to go little and often, could someone say whether this is ok. Not that I'm bothered, seeing as they are firm!! Which is great !!!
I love the way they crunch into the chicken wings and rib bones, now I've got used to it. You really feel they are working for their food.
Where do you get the probiotics from? and what are they?
Anndee

am struggling to get hold of trotters, have tried all the butchers nearby and landywoods, anyone have any other suggestions   thanks x  oh yes and what does AMP stand for ?  andee ive noticed the firm but little and often poos aswell ???

The dogs passing smaller motions is one of the benefits of Barf ...its because they are digesting more of whats going the front end LOL
Trotters are not easy to get hold of...it really is a case of phoning round all the butchers you can and visiting meat markets and asking them to get you some....if you can put in a regular order say...10 per month to be collected on the first saturday of the month for example somebody should be able to oblige
Archer 

Well just out of interestI tried my lot on pieces of raw chcicken tonight, cut into very small bitesize chunks.

Guess what I've found something that only 2 out of my 11 will eat!!!!

They all played with it for a while and then spat it out and left it. :-(

So much for Borders eating anything!!!

Mine did that to chicken first LD.  Try a chicken wing whole and expose the flesh.  Mine had some Pheasant tonight, one guarded it and wouldn't eat it, one of the Cats appeared, the "mad" one, and swiped it from under his nose, then legged it back outside and ran off with it!
DAwn.

It can take a while to get used to what its for! As suggested try a wing.Once they get the idea of what they're suposed to do theres no stopping them!
Archer

I've started to eat more healthily the last few weeks and my dogs love the fruit !  So when I prepare my smoothies, I cut up my fruits and my dogs are there to have a few bits and pieces.

I think that I'm now reverting my mum to do this side of things also as she's had problems with her dogs coming into season.  The girls at my house are coming in regularly, but my mum lives down the road and they're not.  It does make me wonder what are in these dry foods more and more.  She's starting a partly BARF diet with two girls that haven't been in season yet and are getting on in age (not old but should have been in by now), it will be interesting to see what happens.