Azz I have a plan. An expensive one I am looking for a meat grinder that will grind small bone as well as meat. Not only for the new pup but for us too. We won't eat the bone.

I will buy organic and mince for the dog and for us.

The more research I do on feeding Bernese the more they say raw is the best for them and a lot of research says it is wise to feed them a breed specific diet as close as you can get to what they would of eaten in their native Switzerland.
they suffer for quite delicate immune systems and it can be compromised very quickly.


I have also looked at food dehydrators and you could dry your own liver for the dog and banana chips for us. Ollie loved the raw dried carrot from Burns I think it was so I may give that a go too.

Like you I am concerned where the meat comes from and it seems whatever you buy you have to trust it is not hormone and antibiotic laden. I know I am probably being over the top but I have now lost two dogs very young both to very different diseases but I now feel I have to be in control of what I feed.

We have a couple of organic places near us so I will be looking into prices from them.

I will keep you updated.

I think "The Barf Diet" by Ian is better than "Give your dog a bone" and if you are interested in feeding puppies then his book "Grow your pups with bones" is miles better in my personal opinion.

These two are better structured than Give your Dog a Bone IMHO. Less political ranting as well!

I rate the main raw feeding books in order of ease of accessibility and understanding as follows:

• Switching to Raw by Sue Johnson
• Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schulze
• The Barf Diet by Ian Billingshurst
• Give your Dog a Bone by Ian Billingshurst
• Grow your pups with Bones by Ian Billingshurst
• Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale
• Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale

Websites - Britbarf, K9nutrition yahoo groups the first is UK the second is an excellent US site, K9 Nutrition is run by the same person who runs B-Naturals a superb resource for raw feeding. Lew Olson who has a PhD in Nutrition.

http://www.b-naturals.com/

You know what.... I was looking for a grinder too but could only find the hand grinders and thought they are going to need a lot of extra cleaning and I know I'd rather had a proper electric one - but they were very expensive :/

I kept thinking that you need a separate kitchen for the dogs if you are going to feed raw 'properly' as I bet it would get very messy. I'd like to get whole rabbits and feed that - as I think that would mimic their natural diet quite a bit. But it's just the preparation etc. I'd love to look more into it.

I also like what Mini posted once, about how they cooked the dogs food when she worked in a Kennels - in a steam pressure cooker! Whole sheep heads Pressure cooking makes the bones easier to grind - so I'm guessing any food processor could handle them that way? Plus of course you don't have to worry about bacteria so much.

I wish there was more research - I might have to check out the books Smokeybear posted too.

Thak you SB I have the Kymythy Schulze book already. I looked into the grow your pups with bones but preferred the contents of the one I have purchased.

I bought Give Your Dog a Bone for 25p. We were at a local fete and there was a second hand book stall and my Mum said "here's a book for you", I nearly snatched her hand off, couldnt believe it!

I wasnt a fan of the book, extremely repetitive and he even suggested feeding your dog dried fruit, including raisins. It's a useful book to have on your bookshelf but all the info in it is readily available on the net.

Couldn't agree more with what you say about "Give Your Dog a Bone" - it was my Bible when we first switched our old boy Hal all those years ago from kibble onto raw - but my gosh it is badly written, badly typeset and as you say a bit too "bible bashing" for my liking! It was easy to understand though I have to say - just very repetitive and muddled.

Grow Your Puppy on Bones is better written and presented. I haven't read The Barf Diet. I keep meaning to read Lonsdale's books as well ... just one more of things I mean to do, but never get round to!

TBH I do not think tom brings anything new to the table.

He differs from Billinghurst in that he is not an exponent of pulverised raw plant matter to mimic the contents of herbivorous prey stomachs. I have to say that I am coming round more to Lonsdale's way of thinking ... I still like to chuck in the odd tablespoon of raw pulverised broccoli for the boys though. I think more important than the plant matter though is fur and feather. Which my boys do not have enough of ... must go and visit game dealer in next door village to get some bunnies.