BARF vs Prey Model - what do you feed?

Title says it all really. What type of raw diet do you feed and why did you choose that method?

Also do you feed only minced meat and bones, mince and whole bones or only whole foods?

I feed prey model. i chose to feed this way after doing lots of reading about both prey model and BARF.

i think the decision lies with what the person believes dogs are: carnivores or omnivores. i strongly believe they are carnivores, you just need to look at their teeth to see that! also, if they needed veg etc, then surely they should be able to digest it themselves, but it isnt natural in their diet so they cant. so for me, it was prey model.

I feed BARF (mainly) & choose to give a small amount of juiced up veggies once or twice a week.

I feed whole bones, & both minced meat & large chunks of meat.

I think wild canids are mainly carnivores because they are predators, but I also believe, from the research & reading I've done, that they also eat small amounts of ripe fruit/veggies when available & when hungry enough. They are opportunist feeders so will eat things other than just meat products.

I also believe that domestic dogs are opportunist feeders, scroungers & predators, so will have quite a varied diet & can get some nutritional content from ripe/juiced up fruit & veggies. And I've witnessed many dogs picking their own ripe blackberries, windfall apples & digging up carrots & turnips ~ if they like it & it does no harm, why not?

Another reason for sometimes bulking out meat with veggies is for weight control & calorie reduction.

What she said
I feed whole bones and lumps of meat and mince
From what I read of barf the veggies were included to ease constipation as the bone content of barf is higher, and in the ones I saw the bones were also ground up - so the dogs didnt get the teeth cleaning benifit of whole bones

My dogs sometimes get table scraps and tripe to add veggies to their diet - but im not pureeing veggies

Oops - clicked the wrong button. Meant prey, sorry. senility setting in mumble mumble.
I haven`t got a problem feeding veg etc but the dogs won`t eat it.

I feed chunks or chicken wings for first meal and mince for the second. Plus sardines or beans or leftovers as and when. I rarely give bones because they all drag them indoors and it encourages flies.

I feed mainly prey model but the dogs will get some left over fruit and veg on the odd occassion. I tend to buy whole bones rather than minced items but I do occassionally buy mince beef and the Prize Choice mince packs (my mum feeds them breakfast most mornings and since she's a veggie is funny about meat so the mince is easier).

When possible, I prefer to feed whole prey and thats one reason I favour game. Tonight Jed had woodpigeon and although I plucked most feathers for him he did eat the downy ones along with the innards, feet, beak etc. They get whole rabbit too. I prefer to feed this way as it's naturally balanced rather than me having to think that they are due for some liver, kidney, tripe or whatever. Plus fur and feather is a natural scrubbing brush for the gut, a bit of roughage to clear their intestines.

Plus, from my own point of view wild meat sources are more ethical. Having recently reverted back to eating meat after being a veggie for 17 years I still dont like the idea of intensive farming methods and wild game is free range, organic etc and just feels more natural for the dogs to eat.

Hi Leanne - where do you get the game from, do you catch it yourself? I agree with you it is probably more ethical than the farm produced meat which is what our beasty gets although the bones we get from the butcher would be thrown out otherwise so I guess at least it is making the most of a carcass. (Urgh, I am a reluctant omnivore and if it wasn't for OH would probably slip into vegetarianism!)

No, I dont catch the game myself although I would like to. I do have a slingshot (I dont shoot) and have thought about using it but never have.

I mainly obtain the game from roadkill. I get rabbit freshly shot from an acquaintance and pheasant is also obtained when I beat. The dogs will catch something on the odd occassion too. This is the time of year when there is plenty of game going cheap if you know somebody who shoots, it's not so easily obtained in the spring/summer.

I spotted a dead pigeon in the woods the other day so I sent Flynn to retrieve it...It was a training opportunity as well as a free meal! My Mum happened to be with me and was disgusted, even more so when i stashed it in my game pouch on the rear of my coat! They only get to eat wild meat when Mum is at work otherwise I get a bollocking!

I feed Prey Model. Over a week I feed a mixture of meats: rabbit, chicken, tripe, turkey, lamb. All are minced with bones.
They have chicken wings, necks, lamb ribs, a mixture of offal: liver, kidney, heart (actually muscle meat). I also feed veggies, liquidised so that they resemble pre-digested food as found in stomachs of prey, so that the cellulose is broken down. Eggs, sardines. Still learning as I go along but getting more confident.

I feed mostly prey model.
Bones I get free from a real butcher. heart, liver & kidney I buy from him. (6lb costs £3) I portion it up into freezer bags & it lasts ages.
lumps of meat I buy or get given to me from meat man on market I work at. or sometimes I buy mince from my local cheapish supermarket,(that is getting dearer since it got bought out)
A couple of weeks ago I bought some large chicken thighs (10 for £6 or £7)
Fish, I ask the Fishmonger at market to save me the skins, (which have a suprising amount of fish still attached)

I wish I knew where to get whole food. I almost got a very fresh road kill rabbit, but the road is too bendy to stop on. (plus i felt it go crunch under the wheels so was too to go back)

Whilst on the market Muppet gets alsorts (most of it not from me) today that i know about he had: a pigs ear, bacon bits(cooked), half a fishcake & half a sausage, a (people) biscuit & a few dog biscuits. (he didn't eat crisps or a cheap dog chew that someone gave him)

Occasionally he gets a bit of veg but it's such a rare occurance now it's hardly worth mentioning.

When i first moved from kibble i started with Barf, because that's all i knew about raw feeding. It is the most widely known raw method. But after a couple of weeks I found out about prey model & started learning more about it, & the rest as they say is history