i have been feeding the barf diet now for almost a week. benji loves it and is lookign well on it with a lot more energy. his poo is a lot harder and there is less of it.

i understand that you have to feed 40% bones.

but how can you make your dog eat them 40% bones?

i have offerd benji a wide range of raw bones including beef marrow bone, pork bones, lamb bones, beef, chicken and turkey.

he really lieks them but to be honest after the initial chew he just leaves them. i have him on 3 meals a day. today for examle he had raw chicken and raw egg for morning, chopped liver and pork for afternoon and for tea he had liver, chicken pork and some grated banna and apple.

it sounds a lot but the portions are not big. he  has access to his bones all day. most days he dosnt want his middle feed.

i had no luck with compleate feed tinend or dried. thats why i switched to barf.

Hiya

Hrm, the 40% bone refers to bones taht are totally consumed, i think you have just been giving 'fun' bones for chewing on. These are important, especially for a puppy who needs to chew.

Feed chicken wings, backs, necks,  or whole carcasses (with most of the meat removed ).

The diet sounds a little rich at the moment, id just go for one type of meat each meal, but vary it every few days, rather than lots of different types in one meal.

If he isnt wanting one feed, dont give it for a couple of days, he will make it clear if he does want more (offer it after a few days and see if he wants it).

Em

aha he does get.

chicken wings and things liek lamb chops as well as turkey wings and legs.
i understand what is ment by it now.
thankyou.

Hi Benjismum :)  The most important bone is the Raw Meaty Bone, the bone that is totally consumed as opposed to recreational bones such as beef ribs marrow bones etc.  RMB's that I feed include chicken wings, poussin (whole,) rabbit (whole,) lamb ribs (racks of) to name a few ;)  These are more important to the diet than just muscle meat on its own (which is difficient without the bone and marrow)
My two only get one meal a day and they are fine on that, the other day they had three chicken wings each.  Today they are getting a bunny each.  Tomorrow they may get lamb ribs but not many as they bunny is quite a big meal :D  All in all mine probably get about 60% RMB's these days - but it works for them.  You will come across various references I'm sure that will state anything between 40 - 60% RMB's!
Sarah

thanks for the reply i understand the amounts a lot clearly now.

looks liek i was overfeeding on the meat aspect and so he was too stuffed to eat the bones. also i suppose why eat the bones when you have the meat lol.

thanks again.

Hi, I was interested to read what you say (Rozzer) about the 3 wings a day. Does your dog have anything else as well? The reason I ask is because, my dog (37lb weight) has a pound in weight of wings which is roughly 5 large wings, plus a tin of tuna for brekky, he looks absolutely fine on it and super fit, am I overfeeding him? He is 10 months by the way. If not wings then a pound of other fresh meat.

Thanks

I guess it would depend on whether you feed the 2 or 3 jointed wings, it also depends on the metabolism of the individual dog :) My boy weighs 39Kg at 15 months and if I feed him wings he gets approx 500 - 600g per meal (so approx 1.2lbs) He is fed twice a day :)

Hi Scully :)  If what you are feeding is working then you are doing it right ;)  I personally dont weigh anything and I'm no slave to my dogs diet :D  What and how much you feed is largely dictated by numerous factors such as age, weight, activity, sex etc etc etc.  My Afghan hound bitch weighs 26.5 kgs and is IMO slightly overweight ;)  This morning she had tripe for breakkie and tonight she had 3 chick wings (as ice cosmos mentioned they do vary in size) and the boy had 4 wings.  if they look like they are putting on weight I cut it down and vice versa if they are losing - but I think I got it now ;)
Sarah
PS What I would say is perhaps vary the Raw Meaty Bone type now and then, so instead of chick wings maybe feed bunny, poussin, lamb ribs, duck?