To all the people who feed their dogs a 100% barf/raw diet.

I would like to know what meat,bones,veg,fruit you give your dogs on a daily basis over a week from mon-sun
and how do you prepare it and give it to them,is the food given whole,minced,cooked,boiled,raw,grated,pulp etc

Also where do you buy your meat,bones from butchers,petshop,wholesaler,can pm me details if you wish.

How many times a day do you feed your dogs and is the food mixed together or given seperate.

Do you give any supplements.

Hi
my two gsd's are fed barf. They have everything raw. I feed them twice a day, am (each) is usually chicken wings 6 each or a lamb bone which I am lucky to get from a friend who has a deal with an organic farm.  pm (each) they have 1.5 llbs of mince, either chicken, best mince, lamb or green tripe (bought from TPMS) they have veggie glop daily which I blend to smoothy consistency which includes, green leafy veg, apples, banana, garlic, carrott, celery etc, they have a large dollop with their mince.  Twice a week they have an egg, cottage cheese and natural yoghurt, pilchards (tinned if no fresh reduced at the supermarket!) they both have a omega oil supplement each day and they look FAB on it.  Any other questions please ask me, I love to see people make the change to this 100% natural diet.
x

you're an inspiration--I would like to make the change, he gets about half and half raw food at the moment, but would love to know more about veg/fruit complements to a meat diet. I don't have anything to puree the veg/fruit with, is this a problem?

I tried chicken wings but he seemed a bit dubious--loves rabbit and tripe though. Is it ok to cook his dinner--I feed him lamb mince with egg, or ox liver or beef skirt once a week  but always cook these.

I wrote this a couple of years ago for someone else.. it might give you a reasonable guideline :-)

Quantities - as a guideline feed 2 - 3% of your present dog's bodyweight per day. Calculate this by multiplying 2/3 by your dog's weight and dividing it by 100.

Eg 2 x 30/100 = 600g, 3 x 30/100 = 900g.

However be guided by your hand and eye; if the dog is looking a little too ribby up the amount and reduce if the dog is looking a little too well padded! Dogs will vary depending on age, sex, activity level, temperament and time of year.

For a puppy either 2/3% of the projected adult weight or 10% of its current weight.

A three joint chicken wing weighs approximately 100g (as opposed to some of the two joint chicken wings you get in supermarkets) so work out the quantities from this.  

Meats - lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, pork, venison, duck, ALL on the bone ie: lamb rib, beef rib, whole rabbit etc

Hearts, lungs, kidneys, tripe the list is endless.

Fish - oily fish is good, pilchards, mackerel, sardines, trout fresh or tinned.

If you can invest in a freezer specifically for the dog, then bulk buying can save quite a bit of money.... look in your free ads for freezer... or even a kitchen specialist... I got 2 of my freezers free, kitchen renovations included new freezers etc... so I asked for the freezers before they ended up in the dump  (dont be shy)  A good butchery (not usually a high st butcher) supermarket reduced price meat, offers etc... poultry processing plants, are good if you can bulk buy...Farm shops are good for trays of eggs, and cheaper than the local supermarket And my favourite.... the local gamekeeper 

Veggies - All except onions; they can cause haemolytic anaemia in dogs because they contain chemicals that oxidise the animal's red blood cells.

Oxalic acid can interfere with calcium absorption; so don't feed too much of Spinach, Chard or Beetroot Leaves.

Care should be taken not to overfeed cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, swedes, turnips, cassava, and broccoli to dogs as this may inhibit thyroid function.

Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergines all belong to the nightshade family of plants. Dogs who have arthritis may be sensitive to these foods;

Fruit - all except Grapes and raisins which can cause kidney failure.

Dairy - IMHO nothing except live yoghurt. (I do feed milk to my lot, they can tolerate it, but dogs on the whole are lactose intollerant) This is purely down to your preference

Eggs - raw with shell

Grains/cereals - none; dogs are not built to digest them (says me who feeds Ambrosia rice pudding )  well... they are entitled to little treats 

Vitamins/Supplements - Again that is down to the individual; my dogs get:

a fresh minced clove of garlic every day,
1000mg FBO (Fish Body Oil),
400 iu Natural Vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol),
1000mg of Ester C with bio-flavonoids
and Keepers Mix (alfalfa/kelp)

Books - The simplest one is Switching to Raw by Sue Johnson but that is not easily available in the UK. The next best one IMHO is Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schulze, very accessible, easy to read, has diet plans. Some extraneous stuff you don't need ie reader testimonials and I personally don't agree with fasting.

Ian Billingshurst has written several books; The Barf Diet is probably the easiest, Give your Dog a Bone is very comprehensive but very badly written, Grow your pups with bones is more for the stud dog/brood bitch puppy owner. Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones is less useful for the beginner IMHO.

Frequency of feeding - twice a day, remember though, puppies still need fed 4 times per day until 12 weeks and then 3 times until around 6months or whenever they themselves decide to miss out lunch 

Suggested menu -guide only

Monday am: RMBs eg chicken wings, drumsticks, thighs, carcases etc, ribs, trotters, rabbit, oxtail
Monday pm: Tripe

Tuesday am: RMBs
Tuesday pm: liver and veggies

Wednesday am: RMBs
Wednesday pm: Meat, raw egg, veggies

Thursday am: RMBs
Thursday pm: Kidneys and veggies

Friday am: RMBs
Friday pm: Hearts and veggies

Saturday am: RMBs
Saturday pm: Tinned or fresh fish

Sunday am: RMBs
Sunday pm: Live yoghurt, raw egg, banana etc. ( mixed together in a blender, makes a wonderful smoothie)  

I feed around 60%  RMB, some dogs do better on 40%.... It is trial and error at this stage.... oh, and good luck

I Dont always feed Veg with every meal.. sometimes they get it seperately as treats unmushed.. its not as digestable , but they like it ;-)

Also have a look at the raw meaty bones website. Book to read The dogs dinner by Anne Ridyard  probably avauilable form amazon.I  feed both my GSD and Pom/chi raw and they are doing great and love it. Once you bite the bullet so to speak you wont regret it I am sure , and
everything raw no cooking and include bones -raw
I get some of my meat from supermarket and some delivered by a pet food supplier. Some excellent info from people here

good luck

Thankyou for your replies so far they are great and i will look in to it more about feeding 100% raw before i decide if i do to switch over 100% to raw,i have always fed my dogs meat(from tpms) and kibble daily but i am more conscious now about the ingredients on all these complete dry foods.my dogs also have chicken wings,turkey necks,bones,veg and fruit but not every day.

Looks like you are well on the way. I know what you mean about a lot of the dry foods it feels like giving them mac donalds every day !