BARF Diet - Page 1

Does anyone have any experience in feeding their dogs raw food? Like most of us, I have been brainwashed in feeding commercial dogfood to my dogs and have had my share of skin allergies, hip dysplasia, osteoarthritis and lymphosarcoma over the years. I have just acquired a GSD puppy and thought i would try non commercial foods. What should I look out for? Please only comments from people having had personal experience no arbitrary opinions. Thanks

Hi Caroline, I read the thread about raw food a while ago, thought it looked interesting and makes sense as a more natural diet, but I was worried about switching and only recently decided to try it. I am now giving mostly raw food, with an occasional meal of commercial dog food (for convenience). I didn't really have a health or allergy problem with my dogs before, though one of them had difficulty putting on weight. When I started with raw meat, chicken necks etc., raw veg etc. the dogs accepted it very happily and not one of them had any adverse reaction. After just over a week I noticed all of them had more shine to their coats and the thin one is looking a lot better.. Have only been on the diet about a month so far, but I think I will stick to it. I would also be interesting to know if anyone has tried this diet with any negative effects??

Hi Caroline I have a youngster who was raised on raw and when I got her I switched my old guy over to raw and the difference is astounding. Their coats are to die for, they have no health problems and the oldster just came to life when I took him off commercial foods. The old guy had chronic ear infections which he no longer has and has the energy of a much younger dog. No teeth cleaning either. I would never go back to processed dog food ever. There are lots of sites on the web with all kinds of information that will help you make an informed decision. I was pretty nervous about switching to raw at first and started with frozen raw because I was anxious about my dogs eating bones so that might be something you can consider until you are more comfortable with their ability to handle bones. Give it a shot, I'm sure you won't regret the decision to switch. And your dogs will love you for it. Judy

I have been on the diet, (well my dogs have, lol) for 8 years. I love it. I would never go back. I do occationaly use dog food but it is organic and purely human grade ingrediance. Heather

Caroline I have never used the Barf Diet, but I am going to try the COMMON SENSE DIET recommended by a Breeder that swears by it and it does show. This is the link about it in case u might be interested, it is just about equal to Barf: http://www.commonsensedogfood.com/ As I understand if using a Barf Type diet alot of Supplements and veggies are also necessary, so I decided it is just too expensive for me having so many dogs to feed daily. I have researched it somewhat but not enough I can tell you it is the best nor have I ever used it to tell you I find it amazing. You having one dog might be just fine, I read it eliminates odors, bad health, good skin, coats, good joints in the dogs, etc. That alone is well worth trying it if I were you.? I use a great supplement called FRESH FACTORS that does all that, so I really have no vet expense but doing Rabi shots and puppies. Good luck and let us know how you like the Barf if u decide to use it.

Thank you for your answers. I got the puppy when he was 9 weeks and now he is nearly 13 weeks. I've been feeding him hamburger with added veggies, cod liver oil, mint, vit e,c, fish oil, flax oil and kelp, egg yolk and shell 3 times a week. I have also been giving him chicken wings but I'm too chicken (sorry for the pun) to give him any other part of the chicken (thighs, rest of the carcass etc) what is your experience with the bones? can the puppy handle harder bones at that age? The resul up to now is great: his coat is shiny and unbelievably soft. His energy is great.

Hi Caroline, I have been feeding raw for 5.5 years and have weaned two litters of pups to raw. My guys are 15 weeks and are eating leg quarters, backs, 1/2 chickens, large turkey necks, turkey tails easily. I also feed them lamb's neck (they eat the meat), different beef cuts (they can eat some of the softer bones), pork necks and other cuts (they can eat the softer bones). The larger cuts of meat of course take them awhile to eat, but they eat all of the poultry bones and most of the harder bones and have been since they were younger than your pup. They also get meals with just meat, offal (liver, kidney, heart) or beef tripe with some eggs. I would start feeding your pup larger pieces of poultry. If you are worried about the leg bones just smash it up a bit with a cleaver before feeding, but leave it attached to the thigh. I would start introducing small amounts of offal (can cause the runs if introduced too quickly) and see if you can find a source for green (not the junk at the grocery store) tripe. I would also feed chunks of meat instead of the ground meat unless you are like me and raise your own beef. Then you have a LOT of ground beef after processing.

Hi, the reason I asked about possible negative effects is that my vet disagrees with giving raw meat, he thinks there is too much risk of parasites. However, I have read so much about the success of the BARF diet I decided not to worry. I based the meals on the menu in the www.leerburg.com, but I don't give quite as many supplements. The shiny coats are really noticible, and I even think their colour has improved....

Caroline: have had my share of skin allergies, hip dysplasia, osteoarthritis and lymphosarcoma over the years. I knew that diet affected or could influence skin allergies. I had no idea that a commercial diet could influence Hip Dysplasia, osteoarthritis and lymphosarcoma. Could you elaborate?

probably not the dysplasia, but I have read that the immune system and joint health can both be improved with a natural raw diet.....