BARF v Prey Model

Hi guys,

My two are fed mainly on Burns fish and rice. The get the odd meaty bone, ribs or chicken wings to enjoy.

Last week I bought tripe from PAH and have been adding this in with their Burns. I realise this isn't a great idea, so want to change to feed them Burns in the morning and raw food in the evening. They are loving the tripe and I also offered some rabbit mince tonight, just a little. It was consumed with gusto.

So I have been surfing the net for several hours now researching into how to feed raw. There seems to be two schools of thought.

BARF which includes veggies and supplements (and I think more bone than the prey model feeders)

Prey Model which doesn't advocate the use of veggies (they say that in the wild dogs don't eat this from the inards of their prey) and don't seem to recommend supplements and aren't great fans of minced meats.

What is the general opinion here on both methods of raw feeding?

The thing that put me off in the past has been the number of supplements that some raw feeders seem to add.... If the diet is so natural, then why all the supplements?

But somehow I find myself here, half way towards being a raw feeder and I don't feel very clued up, even after all my reading!

Any help please?

I'm a prey model feeder. I like it because it is complete just as it is, no need for supplements. The key to prey model is balance over time. Unless you own a very large dog, you can't feed your dog a whole carcass at once. In fact, wild dogs will take several days to comsume a carcass, coming back each day until they have finished it off.

What I do is buy whole carcasses, whole chickens, rabbits, ducks, etc make sure to include the organs. Some prey model enthusiasts are against grinding but I do it, and I admit, its because its easier for me to serve that way. I do give her Recreational bones like lamb shanks to work her jaws and teeth. I will give her a whole raw fish once every ten days or so to add some omegas.

I don't believe fruits/veggies are necessary. But I don't think they hurt anything as long as they are given in moderation. My dog likes them as treats. I think grains are actually harmful to most dogs and should be avoided like the plague.

Thats my take on it! Oh, and I've been feeding prey model for three years and my dog is the picture of health.

Thanks for the info Muttzrule.

hi there sorry to but in on this thread, lewis used to be a complete barfer but he had an acident when he was young and now i am half barf, he has his complete mixed with tripe but also gets chicken wings, carcass's etc as a treat threw the week. I have never heard of prey barf so wondered what the difference is really. with regards to suppliments lewis has sa37 and corn oil.

Hiya,

Here's one (of the many) sites I looked at last night talking about Prey Model raw feeding;
http://www.geocities.com/havens_home/feedraw.htm

EDIT to say: No need to apologise btw!

Thanks evie will have a good read

I would be worried about the digestion with feeding complete in the morning and raw at night!!

They digest at different rates and could upset the dogs stomach

That's why I want to feed them seperately rather than together as I find I'm doing now. I can't see how the different rates of digestion would cause upset if they are fed at seperate meals?

Eight to Twelve hours between the complete and the raw should be sufficient so that there would be no problems with digestion rates.

Even though I'm not able to always provide the whole carcuss I still consider myself to feed a prey model diet. Definitly not barf as I have never read any thing by billingshurst and although he apparently now advocates less bone I think barfers tend to feed to much based on his guidelines. I don't feed veggies (only on the rare occassion) and I don't supplement and I choose chunks of meat over mince if I have the choice - but they do get mince.

I don't think you always have to feed the whole carcuss to be basing the diet on prey model but you make up what is called 'frankenprey' bits and pieces put together over time to resemble as close as possible what amounts of meat, bone, inerds etc would be found on the average carcuss.

I always base what I feed following that theory.