Changing my dog to a BARF diet

[zenie]

BARF is great but it really is a lot of work IMO so I feed naturediet cos I'm lazy!

There are several places you can look for help if you really want to change this yahoo group has a lot of info http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/

I'd be surprised if you couldn't get poacherd rabbits and things like that up your way? There are comnapnies like Landywoods that'll deliver all your food frozen so you take out however much you need and it's all done for you http://www.landywoods.co.uk/

What complete is she on currently? Only I've heard of people having problems with Burns and it not keeping the weight on too well.

Pingu's advice is right. Do you feed her breakfast too?

 

[Looby]

*bumped*

We're planning to change our boy to raw food mainly because he often has quite runny, smelly poos. But also because a couple of behaviourists have also recommended it.

We are also waiting for a new puppy so want to be ready for weaning her off kibble when we get her (early November hopefully as the pups are 6 days old).

I have 2 friends who raw feed their dogs, and their approaches are quite different.

One mainly feeds her dogs chicken carcasses with the odd bit of rice/veg/offal.

The other is more scientific about it and gives them a varied diet with kippers/eggs for breakfast and mince, pork, tripe etc to make sure they're getting everything they need.

All the dogs seem to be thriving (lab, greyhound, spaniel and a mastiff/malamute) and they have reported healthy tummies and less poo which is much firmer.

They all have good coats, teeth etc

We're costing out options at the mo with local butchers and trying him out on stuff (pigs trotter today) gradually.

We have had a look at a couple of forums but there seems to be so much conflicting information.

Anyone doing this, any tips or advice would be gratefully received.

Cheers.

 

[two sheds]

I heard that dogs can go for seven days without eating so if cosmo refuses her food any time i'm just going to mutter 'seven days' at her.

She runs at other dogs out of fear apparently, and the dog psychologist ( ) said to go for food without additives, particularly preservatives which she was partciularly down on. So i'm trying that.

Doesn't help you, though, sorry shirl

 

[Callie]

mastiff/malamute wow neeeeeeeeds pictures!

i cant like my old posts on this thread, makes me sad.

 

[Looby]

Why sad Callie? : (

Not very clear but here's some of the gang.

Lulu the cross is the enormous white dog.

 

[Callie]

thats what I call a pack!

 

[Looby]

thats what I call a pack!

There's 7 dogs that walk together regularly and a few others that we see less often. I think we've had 10 together before ranging from a bichonx dachshund to Lulu the wonderhorse.

Fingers crossed there'll be an old english sheepdog joining them in a couple of months...

 

[equationgirl]

I love old english sheepdogs, they're wonderful dogs.

 

[stuff_it]

All dogs are on a barf diet some of the time, bloody couch grass!

*runs*

Sorry, I had my old dog on a hippy diet for a while, certainly didn't do her any harm but you need a fridge to store the meat etc so not an option atm.

Mainly it was oat and grain flakes with grated carrot, garlic and occasionally wormwood for the fleas and worms, along with fresh bones and meat offcuts from the butcher.

I'd have been a bit more worried if she hadn't been a reasonably large dog with a strong jaw though. (She had labrador and bull terrier in her, and her mum used to eat whole packets of biscuits and poo out the empty wrappers, she would regularly chomp those cow knuckle bones in half)

Not sure I'd go along with feeding chicken bones raw though. We used to try to get mainly pork and beef with no ribs as they are splinterier. Was rather spoiled at the time with the freedom foods organic blah blah butcher at the top of the road though.

 

[Looby]

Not sure I'd go along with feeding chicken bones raw though. We used to try to get mainly pork and beef with no ribs as they are splinterier. Was rather spoiled at the time with the freedom foods organic blah blah butcher at the top of the road though.

Apparently raw bones are ok as they don't splinter in the same way as cooked bones.

We don't need a separate fridge but it does mean we'll have to cut down how much stuff we freeze and go shopping more often to make room.

It does mean mr s will have to do the feeding mostly as I couldn't bear to touch the trotter he had earlier. It'll be scrambled egg and some chicken wings when I'm feeding him. ; )

 

[stuff_it]

Apparently raw bones are ok as they don't splinter in the same way as cooked bones.

We don't need a separate fridge but it does mean we'll have to cut down how much stuff we freeze and go shopping more often to make room.

It does mean mr s will have to do the feeding mostly as I couldn't bear to touch the trotter he had earlier. It'll be scrambled egg and some chicken wings when I'm feeding him. ; )

I would need a fridge at all.

Do any of you regularly pass a butcher? If you make friends with a convenient one they will normally be happy to save back the sort of offcuts and bones you want if you pass by regularly.

 

[Looby]

Ah sorry, thought you meant a second one.

We don't really and tend to buy our meat from the evil supermarket. We've got a few wholesale butchers locally that we're going to contact and there are a couple of butchers on the main road near me. My friend uses one and he sells her carcasses and trotters etc. She does shop there though, don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[two sheds]

I would need a fridge at all.

Do any of you regularly pass a butcher? If you make friends with a convenient one they will normally be happy to save back the sort of offcuts and bones you want if you pass by regularly.

Watch out for slugs and lungworm though i found out recently

 

[stuff_it]

I haven ever deliberately fed any pet slugs!

 

[Looby]

Watch out for slugs and lungworm though i found out recently

Stronghold protects against lungworm but you need a prescription.

 

[two sheds]

I haven ever deliberately fed any pet slugs!

Yeh, you say that *now*

I've started picking up bones from around the garden since I read that, though. Although strangely enough cosmo started off liking bones but seems to have gone off them now.

 

[stuff_it]

Yeh, you say that *now*

I've started picking up bones from around the garden since I read that, though. Although strangely enough cosmo started off liking bones but seems to have gone off them now.

Dunno, that stronghold stuff doesn't kill fleas as well as you'd hope, but does do lungworm....I tend to use it about once a year so if he's got them they don't get out of hand, and that time of year is winter.

I don't think he's one of those dogs that deliberately goes out to eat slugs and snails though, he checks the ceiling for spiders ffs before he sits down. #rubbishstaffy, etc.

 

[Looby]

Dunno, that stronghold stuff doesn't kill fleas as well as you'd hope, but does do lungworm....I tend to use it about once a year so if he's got them they don't get out of hand, and that time of year is winter.

I don't think he's one of those dogs that deliberately goes out to eat slugs and snails though, he checks the ceiling for spiders ffs before he sits down. #rubbishstaffy, etc.

I've been really impressed with it but I know some vets suggest alternating with frontline as that covers ticks and stronghold doesn't.

We've found 2 ticks on him but rather that than lungworm and he does eat snails. : (

 

[dynamicbaddog]

I wanted to change my hound's diet to BARF but found it a bit overwhelming. Just been up to Pets At Home and discovered Natures Menu in the freezer section. Blocks of raw meat and veg already weighed out, you just calculate how much they need and defrost. I think I might get some fresh chicken wings from the butchers up the road to give him in the morning as well, tho I do worry about the bones (even though everyone says it's safe) as he makes them disappear in nanoseconds without much chewing.

 

[campanula]

aha, yep, the natures menu stuff is fine. We use Harringtons mix as it is the cheapest balanced dry food which does not have reds and green bits in and a mix of nature's menu and whatever raw stuff we get from the butchers (chicken wings are OK, oxtail is really good and breast of lamb also top tucker. the raw meat has been much better for the mastiff and the old collie has a lease of life. also, a good teaspoon of cod liver oil every day and the occassional (sp?) garlic clove.

 

[campanula]

lamb is generally the least intensively reared meat - neck of lamb is excellent dogfood (although they do have white turds if they eat a lot of bones)

 

[Looby]

We haven't started yet as we've just taken on another dog. She's currently on James Wellbeloved and I'm really impressed. She loves it and has good firm and non stinky poos.
Feeding both on it would probably cost us about 70 per month so I'm sure we could do raw for less. We are going to try them on a few things and go from there. Albert loves pig trotters (eurgghhh) so we'll try her on them too.

I've also heard good things about natures menu but lucy is quite a big eater so I think it would be too expensive.

Lucy currently also has some wet food but her beard is constantly filthy so I want to put a stop to that before her hair grows back (she's an old english sheepdog but her coat has been cut short).

I find feeding very confusing, there's so much conflicting advice.

 

[campanula]

natures menu costs 83p for a pack - this is quite enough for a large dog if it is mixed with some dry food - our two share a pack a day and have around 300grammes of Harringtons each.

 

[jay1978]

my 8 yr old rottie has been on barf for 15 months now. he got severe upset stomach after being fed loads of crap at a new years party when i left him with a mate to be looked after for a night. basically he ended up being allergic to his usual food so had to hunt for something else.
in a nutshell, went with science diet ID for 3 weeks (£35 per week!!) to sort the problem out, he actually managed to keep this food down but had really soft poo. switched him to royal canin sensitive 28 for a year or so, worked fine but gained weight easily without trying. moved onto the light version but no weight loss and eating a tiny portion twice a day. by this time e'd become very overweight and athritis kicked in and he stopped wanting to eat his food, looked/acted depressed. was on painkillers for athritis by now. vet kept telling me off for overfeeding him?! he was floating around 62kg bodyweight (very overweight)
researched and moved him onto barf, loved it, lost weight, poos come out hard and white.
in london i used to get my chicken carcasses from RS ASHBYs in borough / old kent road area, he did a 10kg box for a tenner, not certified free range but from reputable farms. (check website http://www.rsashby.co.uk/)
and they do gorgeous meat for me too!
up here in yorkshire i get his chicken carcasses from the market, have shopped around and found a good source not free range but look better than some. get 8 large ones for £1.85 which lasts 2.5 days. theres another butchers which actually has a pet food bucket, 1lb for 75p. this is a more offall mix and give this once a week. dog loves it.
i also get 1kg of sweet potatoes and 1kg of greens per week, process them up and freeze half. 1 cup per meal, plus 1 tsp of fish oil (AM) or 1 tsp olive oil or sunflower oil (PM). for fats / coat. also throw in multivitamins and glucosamine supplements i get off vet vits (approx £10 per month) online.
veg must be processed as dogs cant break them down, or lightly steamed.
i used to pay around £48 a month to feed my large dog, via online websites looking for deals. now including vitamins, oils and veg its around £32 a month and he maintains a healthy 52kg bodyweight without problem and is a lot more youthful. i recommend it, if anything its a lot nicer to pick up little bony turds than big nasty dog food cow pats.

 

[jay1978]

ps the cat loves watching him eat it, and excited by the raw meat so may move her onto it at some stage

 

[Shirl]

I didn't go with BARF in the end. I now have two dogs and feed them both on James Wellbeloved. They love it and I love their firm poos.

 

[dynamicbaddog]

I'm finding it harder to get hold of bones from the butchers than I thought I would. I went up and down the length of Deptford High St yesturday asking every butcher for bones with not much luck. Tho one did tell me to come back at lunchtime on Friday I bought a big pack of boney lamb from him and fed it with some veg pulp from my juicer. I knew the lamb would go down well, I didn't expect much success with the veg but was surprised to find he's scoffed the lot!

 

[Looby]

I didn't go with BARF in the end. I now have two dogs and feed them both on James Wellbeloved. They love it and I love their firm poos.

Lucy has great poo on James Wellbeloved. I think if we can't find local butchers for carcasses etc this is what we'll feed them both.

 

[dynamicbaddog]

Really getting into this now - Found a butchers in Greenwich that sells weighed bags of bones and another butcher that will give me a bag of odds and ends for free as long as I buy pies off him