B.A.R.F
diet means Biologically Appropriate Raw Food and also Bones and Raw Food. This diet contains no chemicals, fillers, coloring,
preservatives, grains, or heat processing. All it contains is raw, bones, meat, and vegtables.
What
do I feed in a BARF diet?
50% by weight should be raw meaty bones; the rest can be a mix
of vegetables, organs (also known as offal), ground meat, and eggs.Raw meaty bones are not the same as
recreational bones.Raw meaty bones are things like chicken carcasses, backs, necks, wings, oxtails, turkey
necks, etc.Recreational bones, on the other hand, are larger bones that the dog will chew on but will
not eat the whole bone - things like beef marrow bones, femurs, knuckle bones, etc.Recreational bones
can also be given to the dog but should not make up the entire diet. If your dog is on the thin side feed more raw meaty bones,
if he is on the heavy side feed more veggies.
Vegetables in a BARF diet
The best nutritional
value from a BARF dog food diet, the trick is in the diversity. Feed a wide selection of vegetables to meet
your dog's nutritional needs. Also note that vegetables need to be crushed or pureed to release the content of the cells as
dogs don't digest cellulose well.
1.
Vegetables to serve all of the time:
carrots, celery, parsley, romaine lettuce, pupmkin, green and
yellow squash, peppers, beets, mustard greens, yams, green beens, eggplant, and zucchini.
1. Vegtables to serve some of the time
brocoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussel prouts - it may cause
gas but you may rotate
avocado - feed the
fruit only
spinach, chard, and rhubarb -
small amounts
potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes,
and eggplants - difficult to digest cellulous food
Some problems switching to RAW
Generally, if problems are
going to eventuate, they will do so when switching or adjusting to the new diet and adding in new foods.
The most common complaints at this time include diarrhoea, constipation,
and vomiting. Any and all of these can happen, a new food being added that they can't digest or too much of one food. That's
why, particularly at the beginning, it's important to introduce new foods one at a time to see what your
dog can tolerate.
Once the animal
has adjusted to this type of diet, it's common for people to comment on how relaxed and easy a system it is. If you feed a
raw dog food diet without properly researching the nutritional then you are in danger of not supplying the dog's
basic nutritional needs.
Is Raw cheaper than Kibble?
If
you compair a bag of dry dog food and the Raw diet, it is almost the same price or cheaper. I have learned to be a bargain
shopper. Small grocery stores and the Dollar Store can be a great place to stock up on chicken leg quarters and canned mackerel.
Our local family owned grocery has marked down meat almost every day and runs great specials on chicken and ground beef. Buy
in bulk when you can and repackage into more manageable containers. Walmart has sales on 10lb bads of chicken legs for .59
cents per pound. I can find it in the Nashville area for .49 cents per pound.
natural
raw diet has been shown to eliminate and change MANY dog food-related problems:
Problems with anal glands
Produces firmer and less stools
Supplies
a natural supply of calcium and minerals for growth
Skin
problems
Allergy problems
Weight problems
Stinky Dog Breath
Ear Infections
Hot spots
Itching
& scratching
Dull coat
DISCLAIMER:
Von Der Musikstadt is not a Veternarian, health care professional, or food specialist. The Information
I have on this website is from own personal experience. I suggest to research a BARF diet very closely and read several articles before you decide to change
your dog to this diet. Some dogs do not do well on this diet. Here is a few other links to read about the BARF diet.
