BARF : Can anyone give me recommendations/personal experiences ?

I've always been a big fan of giving my boys a bone to chew at the weekend, and I've always liked the idea of going BARF.

Nature Diet seemed a good way of doing it without going the whole hog and buying carcasses etc I did try that with both of them, but neither took to it, I know it wasn't just mine as a friend tried with her Collies and had the same trouble - really loose and horrible stools.

Currently mine get Frozen Tripe or Lamb from P@H with some working dog biscuits. They're doing well on it, but I'm now thinking of going the Barf way and was interested in just who feeds it? How do I get started ? What do you feed your dog ? Is it just some mince with some raw veg ? How often do you vary the contents of the meal ? Why did you decide to go BARF ?

I'm also interested to hear if you've tried but it didnt work for either you or your dog and why.

Thanks

Hi Willow

I suppose the real reason I decided to feed raw was because firstly I couldn't find a kibble mix that agreed with my girl (s) so I started to buy fresh chicken and cooked it along with potatoes (+ skins) and veg. (long story - vets idea ) and the whole routine of cooking, weighing it out, freezing it etc was becoming very time consuming as well as tedious. But I then tried some minced raw chicken from a friend and wow what a difference it made! and they loved it
Thats what all three of them are on now - minced chicken/tripe, green tripe, liver, kidneys, hearts, necks, wings, veg, etc. I vary their meals on a day to day basis but to be honest I don't give it much thought now, its just a habit and if they have the same two days running, they don't mind at all
I made the change overnight, though I think some people might do it gradually, but for them it worked no problems incurred. I know there are a few dogs that won't eat raw meat (my mums' for one ) but the majority I think would kiss you for it

My two have minced meat (diff kinds... beef,lamb etc) tripe, chicken, liver, heart... infact pretty much anything like that. Chicken wings is a favorite. Also they have a handfull of mixed veg or some biscuit mixer or pasta/rice. Couple of times a week they have a raw egg (complete with shell) and couple times week they have a small squirt of garlic paste. They have apple (not the core) and orange and sometimes cottage cheese. Occationally they have porridge for breakfast (done the proper Scottish way )They love it and they thrive on it

mine were weaned onto raw by their breeder, but then before they all went to their new homes she changed them over onto dried puppy food as she said to me lots of people wouldn't feed raw so she would rather do the change herself. I kept them on dried for a bit but really didn't like the end product so gradually, meal by meal, over a space of about 2 months I got them back onto raw and they look well, have tremendous bone, and are admired wherever they go.
They get raw butchers pet mince for brekkies along with a piece of ox heart and chicken wings, vitamins, a spoonful of pureed veg, and also a raw egg in its shell twice a week.
They have a bone and a banana each for lunch, and at teatime they either have a full raw fish, tripe, neck of lamb, oxtail, tinned sardines, tuna, pilchards or mackrel, along with another spoonful of pureed veg.
Once you have got into the routine of taking their brekky out of the freezer before going to bed, and then as you give them their brekky you get their tea out of the freezer if they are not having anything out of a tin that is.
They are absolutely fine and really enjoy their food.
At dog training last week there was a dog behaviourist there and my dog trainer was telling him that he had tried everything he could to get them to 'go on the bite' and they were so laid back they weren't interested, and the behaviourist bloke said that one of the reasons, was probably because they were raw fed and weren't hyped up by all the carbs in commercial dog food!

I changed because I could Never get my older male to eat dried food, he would eat for a week or so then totally refuse it, he never gained weight as he should have. so after a long hard thingk I changed it was the best thing I ever did, he never misses a meal now, when I changed it was a little hit and miss, I gave them whatever cheap meat/bones were available, plus fish, eggs veg, approx 3 years ago I found Landywoods pet food suppliers (many on this board use them) the meat is fresh minced, and delivered frozen, saves me trudging around for the best deals as it is all reasonably priced dogs love it and what you see is what you get, not loads of water added or preservatives. I still get extra bits in seperate like the fish, veg etc but feeding them meat from landywoods takes the guesswork out of what to give.

Mo

Ok a typical menu for the week for Isla, 2 meals per day (fed total of 9oz cos she's had too many pies! ):

Monday:
Breakfast: 2oz Kidney + 2oz Pilchards
Tea: 5oz Tripe

Tuesaday:
Breakfast: 5oz Chicken Carcass
Tea: 2oz Tripe + 2oz Beef mince

Wednesday:
Breakfast: 4oz Heart
Tea: 5oz Meat Mince Mix

Thursday:
Breakfast: 4oz Chicken Wing
Tea: 3oz Meat Mince Mix + 2oz Pilchards

Friday:
Breakfast: 4oz Beef Mince
Tea: 2oz Kidney + 3oz Tripe

Saturday:
Breakfast: 4oz Turkey Neck
Tea: 5oz Heart

Sunday:
Breakfast: 4oz Pilchards
Tea: 5oz Beef Mince

And so it continues! This is just an example, she regularly gets eggs and sometimes liver etc (although now she's not keen!).She also tends to get the same meat several days in a row otherwise it would go off. But that's fine as you're aiming for a balance over 2-3 weeks rather than every day. You should be feeding approx 2-3% of the dogs adult body weight. I would start at 2% and see how it goes, the fatal mistake I made was to feed the top end and she got fat!
You could also give Rabbit, Lamb etc I try to work to the 10-15% bone rule, which is why she only has it every other day for 50% of the actual meal, and it seems to suit her really well. A very small amount of poo with very little odour!
I don't bother with veg, Isla only gets it if it happens to be left over from our meals. I don't think it's really essential to be honest, just my opinion though.

I would try Landywoods, which is where I get mine from. You can get Chicken Mince from them including the bone so you won't have to feed carcasses etc

http://www.landywoods.co.uk/

Give them an email and see if they deliver to you.

There's also a Yahoo mailing list which I can email to you if you like, they give some really good advice and have some listings of companies that supply BARF.

Having a fussy eater was the main reason I switched and because he was fussy I was 70% there I guess already!

I switched overnight pretty much too and their diet consists of:

Chicken Carcusses/waste
Chicken wings
Rabbit carcuss (not too often though)
Trotters - but they aren't overly keen on these so tend ot have these recreationally really
Pork ribs
Beef ribs
Minced meat
Minced tripe
Hearts
Sardines
Raw Eggs
Some veg waste/fruit as a treat!

The chicken and pork waste etc. comes from a 'traditional' butcher and the minced meat/trip and hearts from landywoods. Although landywoods do offer a whole range including chicken carcusses and wings as do prize choice.

Since changing my once fussy eater just loves his food - initially some of mine wouldn't touch the carcusses (not sure what to do! - lazy beasts) and I had to chop them in half but now generally they will munch anything!

Their teeth are gleaming white and they are very fit and healthy.

Even my old lady (12 in March) munches away and she is missing a few teeth too!

When I started I joined britbarf (the yahoo group mentioned) and they were very very helpful and really gave me the confidence to go forward.

My biggest worry was what and how much and I rigidly weighed everyones food - now I do it by sight unless I need to adjust someones amount - putting on too much weight or needing to put more on!

It is daunting to begin with but I am so pleased I made the full switch over!

all the best of luck moving forward with BARF

This is a really interesting thread, I'm considering it as my youngest dally is very hyper and I think it could be one of the reasons why....

Has anyone had any horror stories with chicken bones etc?

My breeder told me not to do it....but I'd really rather like to!

I am rubbish at maths if a dog is 46 kilo that is approx 101lbs? if you feed 3% of body weight how much are you supposed to feed? I cant work it out lol I keep getting 3lb which is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more than what I am feeding and I still feel the need to cut down as they are gaining too much weight, I feed about 1lb a day

someone will you explaine how to work out percentages

Mo

not very sure about the percentage thing as I too am hopeless at maths. I just poo watch really!!! If it is firm but not white and flaky I know I am on the right path. If it is white and crumbly there is too much bone, and if it is runny there is not enough bone. My 2 are still growing, and I know the percentage thing is the full grown weight, so I think once mine are full grown the amount fed will lessen.
Also, the amount and type of exercise they get will influence the amount of food needed. I have joined britbarf as well as there are a heck of a lot of knowledgeable people on there, they don't make you feel silly for asking questions and there is always someone on there who has experienced any problem you might be experiencing and is able to give you a sensible reply.
I have no horror stories to pass on re chicken bones, if they are uncooked, they are bendy so don't splinter. My girls have strong jaws and very white teeth!!!