BARF

BARF is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and also stands for Bones And Raw Food. It is an evolutionary & natural diet based upon the principles of how and what a dog would eat in the wild. Commercial foods are full of cheap fillers such as wheat and other cereals.

The BARF diet is made up of

• RMB (raw meaty bones)
• veg
• fruit
• offal
• suppliments.

The most important thing is to get fresh, quality ingredients from a good source. This doesn't mean expensive. Great deals can be found through your local butcher, supermarket or farm shop. Although it may sound like a lot of hard work, its quite simple once you get into a routine.. A great investment was 'our bible' Ian Billinghursts 'The Barf Diet: For cats and Dogs' and I would recommend anyone considering going on this diet to read it. Research is a MUST before starting this diet, although I will say many people now feed slightly less bone than Ian Billinghurst reccomends.

In 2005 we started ordering from Landywoods . They have a great selection of RMBs and they do their own meat & veg pattys too. We also order from The Dog Food Company which is a more local company. They have a slightly different selection of items. By ordering from both companies, and getting a few bits from our local butchers, it means we can give them a wide variety of different things including:

Usually a dog will require 2-3% of their body weight, although this depends on a number of factors such as metabolic rate and activity level. The best way to judge is by 'The Rib Test'. When you run your fingers over your dogs ribs you should be able to feel the ribs but they should have some covering over them. If you can't feel the ribs then the dog is too fat, or if the ribs are really bony and have little/no covering then the dog is too thin.

The RMB part of the diet is fed whole and should generally consist of around 60% of the dogs diet. This is meat *AND* bone, not just bone. Ideally you want at least 50% of the RMB to be meat, if not more. The bones are great for the dogs teeth and jaws. Their stomachs are quite capable of digesting bone matter - you'll notice a change in their faeces when you feed the BARF diet. When first switching over you may notice some bone matter in their stools - thats perfectly normal. As their stomach adjusts to the diet the stomach acids will break down the bone and they'll have solid greyish poos instead. The poos hardly smell, there'll be far less of them and they're also so muh easier to scoop too!

Around 40% of the diet should consist of veggies, fruit, offal and suppliments. This doesnt have to be given in the same quantities each day. For example, if we have some RMBs that need using up then we might feed more RMBs for a couple days and then feed mainly veg & offal patties for the next couple days. Generally we try and keep things 'averaged out' over a two week period.

The fruit and veg part of the diet would come from eating the contents of the stomach and gut of their prey. It would therefore already be partially digested. A dogs stomach can't digest cellulose, the cell walls of plant matter is made of cellulose. Therefore to enable a dog to get the nutrients the fruit and veg needs to be crushed - either by putting it in a food processor or juicer.

Suppliments are really down to the individual. Many people have the tendancy to over suppliment. With the veg/fruit/offal patties we add garlic, eggs and salmon oil. We also use a product called Joint Aid.

How we feed

Some people use meal plans where their dogs meals are planned for every day. I'll admit I started off like that but over time have become much more relaxed. Now it depends on what needs using up & whats to hand, although I do still try and keep it evened out over a two week period.

Generally I'll feed a RMB meal in the morning and then a patty in the evening.

The main bulk of the RMB part of the diet that we feed consists of chicken RMB's (mainly necks) and lamb breast. Although we do feed a variety of other RMBS, chicken has better levels of essential fatty acids compared to other RMBs. We dont feed chicken wings anymore because both Mishka and Diesel have the tendancy to swallow them whole, plus they have quite a lot of bone in them. If we do feed RMBs with less than 60% meat then we feed ground meat in addition.

For the patties we buy the meat and veg mixes from Landywoods which have ground meat, offal and veg. We usually use their Tripe & Veg and Lamb & Veg mixes. Once or twice a week I will make our own patty mix consisting of any leftover veg that we need using up. I'll also add offal, raw egg and for the dogs that don't eat fish whole (Mishka) I'll add their fish too. The others get their fish whole.

In addition to the above they also get recreational bones a couple times a week such as beef knuckles, femurs & marrow bones.