Hi All

Still trying to get this BARF thing right. Can you experienced barfers give me a list of the range of fruit and veg you pulp for your dogs please. My dogs prefer the veg lightly cooked rather than pulped, is that an acceptable alternative? What proportion of veg should they have?

Right now, their diet consists of:
Raw herring, heart, liver, kidney, minced lamb, tripe, beef, white fish, eggs with shell on, yoghurt, pilchards. Obviously all raw. A tiny bit of the new Burns mixer, and a herbal supplement, occasionally they have some naturediet if I haven't defrosted the meat. Some breast of lamb and chicken wings and chicken backs for the raw meaty bone bit. I still haven't had the nerve to give them the lamb necks i'm afraid.  Talking of which I would like to feed beef ribs, are they called brisket bones? as I would feel quite comfortable as they are quite crunchable, but I am having trouble getting any. 

Would this be considered a good barf diet? I must say they look fantastic on it, and of course they love every bit of it

I am however a little concerned that I am not getting something quite right, and it's probably the ratio of bone to meat, simply because I don't feel too comfortable with what bones I can get to give them.

I have looked at the UK Barf club site, but as someone said, unless you have a degree in anatomy it can be difficult to know what bones are, and whether they are safe to feed. I would really welcome your advice. I must say I feel so happy not to be feeding any "complete" food now.

Thanks for your help

Kat

Kat

I don't feed any veg to my dog unless it is on one of the rare occasions that there is some left from our own meals. He does get a recreational carrot to chew on from time to time as he loves them.

It sounds as though you are off to a good start with your raw feeding and the diet you are feeding seems to be quite varied. The main bones you want to avoid are the weight bearing bones of large animals which are usually too strong to be consumed as a RMB but make good recreational bones for chewing on. The exception to this - for my dog - is pigs trotters which my dog loves and he eats every last bit.

The raw meaty bones should be just that - meaty - and are included in the total weight that you feed whereas recreational bones are extras as they are not meant to be consumed in their entirity and would not have enough meat left on them to be a part of the staple diet.

A really good group to belong to is BritBarf where you will find a huge group of friendly and approachable people who are more than willing to share their knowledge and experience with you - google will find them for you :)

I don't feed any veg either. I did try to initially but he doesn't like it, even a small amount seems to give him the squits(!) and I haven't read anything saying that they definitely need it.

I don't feed any beef bones. They are generally too dense and may cause teeth to break. If you want to feed ribs I'm be more inclined to feed lamb ribs or pork ribs (I get both from Tescos). How about turkey rmbs if you're ok with chicken..?

How did yours get on with the Burns mixer btw?

Thanks all
I will have a look at britbarf. I'm quite encouraged about the veggies, I imagine that if we eat them cooked that would be OK for the dogs too. I know some nutritional value will be lost, but some must be getting through, and they thoroughly enjoy their cooked veg - even sprouts . I have to admit I love shopping for the dogs food (saddo) I come home with a lovely variety for them, but can I think of what to have for our dinner ? :rolleyes:

I FINALLY got the mixer, after a wait of 3 weeks! I am only using a very small amount, but they are fine with it. I was a bit discouraged to see that the production process was the same as for complete (kind of 'puffed' if you know what I mean). I was hoping it would be like the rough plain mixer you can buy. I prefer that as it doesn't swell. Still, as I am now using such a small amount I'm not too bothered.

Thanks for your help
Kat

Well if they enjoy the veg then why not :D Just been looking through some notes I made when researching raw feeding and I wrote to add veg to 2 or 3 meals a week (didn't write amounts though :rolleyes: and I suspect it differs wildly depending on what you read. I think Billinghurst recommends 40% veg). Vegetables that grow above ground are meant to loosen poos and veg that grows below ground should firm them. Any veg (except onions) is ok - carrots, turnips, parsnips, green beans, squash, kale, spinach, peas etc, but it's wise to avoid overfeeding cruciferous veggies (e.g cabbage, sprouts, cauliflower, kale, swedes, turnips, brocoli) as they can inhibit thyroid function. Some people whose dogs have arthritis also avoid veggies from the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines) as they can exuberate symptoms.

Hope that helps. Plenty of info here on CDs if you do a search :)

Glad to hear you got no explosive results with the Burns mixer! :P

I feed approx 30% raw pulped veg/fruit.  I used everything except, grapes, onions and leeks.  Whatever is in season.
I feed BARF according to Ian Billinghurst, which suits my dogs really well.  I know a lot of people feed BARF and don't do the veg/fruit.  I mix into it, raw eggs, yoghurt, flaxseed oil, vit e, vit c, brewers yeast, kelp and garlic.

When we leave the house without the dogs, if the fruitbowl is in reach we can alomost guarantee is has been raided by the time we get back :rolleyes:

Mine get raw, pulped veggies most days and fruit (usually bits of what we are eating :D ). They do get cooked veggie leftovers too, if I have any. I'm a bit relaxed about percentages of things - mine just get a good mixture of everything - minced meat, meaty bones, offal (not too much), eggs, fish, yoghurt etc etc etc. They seem to have survived pretty well on my haphazard method - Bramble has been on it for nearly 8 years, Tara for 5 :D :D

Daisy

They seem to have survived pretty well on my haphazard method

Haphazard is good :D :D It is very easy to get hung up on ratios - especially at the beginning :)

haphazard is definitely good - ratios are great to help in the beginning though :)

Feed any vegetable and fruit bar grapes and onions.  I do not feed potatoes myself.

Feed what the dogs like or alternatively puree it into the meat etc.

I only give small amounts, I am not anal about it.  The thing they love MOST is a fruit smoothie ie live yoghurt, banana (and/or other fruit), raw egg and manuka honey.  A lovely meal.

I feed raw, BARF is too closely associated with IB with whom I do not agree on everything.

As has been said lots of dogs never even smell a veggie and do ok, mine like most of them.

I read recently that Brocolli (sp) and tomatoes are bad for dogs recently, is this true?

I think tomatoes can be if the dog suffers with arthritis, but I haven't heard that about broccoli !

Anything can be "bad" for any animal if given in excess.

There are groups of vegetables which, if given in excess, can be a problem in some predisposed dogs.

The nightshade group of veggies ie potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes may aggravate dogs with arthtritis.
Cruciferous vegetables are goitrogens and can inhibit thyroid activity in susceptible animals in excess (broccoli is one)
other veggies eg spinach can be high in oxalic acid which can be harmful.

A little of all these should be fine in most dogs