Barf

[porshiepoo]

How many of you guys have turned to this diet for your dogs?
Are there good resources in Caithness for the meat and bone ingredients?
Any thorough A-Z websites for the uninitiated that you know of?
Finally, are your experiences good or bad?

I'm seriously looking into changing to this method of feeding to further help with my GSDs skin problems and would appreciate honest and constructive help and opinions.

[lynds67]

I've been raw feeding my springer spaniel for about 3 months. I originally started because she had such a bad stomach when she was on kibble - really bad diahorrea! I read loads about it on different web sites and actually got pretty confused but I'm getting the hang of it now.
The difference in her is great - no stomach problems at all and she really loves sitting out in the garden chewing on a chicken leg or some lamb ribs.
I buy wherever and whatever I can and put it in the freezer - you do need lots of space. Supermarkets for chicken, lamb, and offal, Pets at Home for bags of natures menu from the freezer and the butcher for anything else.
She's always bolted her food down so I have to make sure it's big enough so that she has to chew it - she swallowed a pork chop whole yesterday!!

http://www.petfriendlyworld.com/chatforum/showthread.php?t=22970
I found some useful tips on here and they have loads of links to other sites that will help you. I also have an e-book that I can send you if you pm me your address.
I would definately recommend it.

[neepnipper]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I always thought you shouldn't give dogs pork, and could they get salmonella from eating raw chicken?
Just remembered, dogs can get round worms from eating raw meat, not just pork.

[porshiepoo]

I assume you mean Pork due to the idea that it can cause disease carried by Roundworm? I've always believed that if the pork is frozen for 2/3 weeks the parasite is killed.

As for Raw Chicken and Salmonella. A dogs gut is better equipped to deal with bacteria and the digestive tract is quicker than a humans giving the bacteria less time to colonize. The risk I believe is only increased if the dog already has a compromised immune system.

[wrightrasta]

I have 7 dogs and they are fed raw meat and bones all winter and bones every second day through the summer as its very hard to keep meat fresh.
I feed mainly venison meat/bones, hearts, liver, kidneys with the occasional tripe and lamb. Chicken must be fed raw as the bones splinter when cooked. I dont have a sorce for chicken any more but used to get carcasses from the local kebab shop when I lived down south.

Pork bones can be bad for dogs if fed in large amounts and they splinter even when not cooked so be warned. Also dogs find it hard to digest pork. I usually boil pork up and remove all the bones and mix the stock with meal just to give the dogs a change.

Porridge can also be fed to them.I make mine with the stock put in 2 scoops of porridge oats a scoop of flaked maize (get it from clb or geddes) half a scoop of kibble a drop of salt and a couple of spoons of cod liver oil. Mix all the time as you add the ingredients and keep adding a bit at a time till you can stand the poon up in it and leave to cool and cut like a cake.
My dogs go mad for it. I give them it a few times a month.

Regards wrightrasta.

[crustyroll]

Chicken must be fed raw as the bones splinter when cooked.

Pork bones can be bad for dogs if fed in large amounts and they splinter even when not cooked so be warned.

No COOKED bones of any kind should ever be given to a dog as that is when they splinter and cause problems in their throat/digestive tract.

I changed my dogs over 3 years ago to a Barf diet and I will never feed kibble again. Their coats, skin, smell, dog breath, health, vitality are all so much better since changing them over. I've also raised 3 litters of puppies entirely on raw and none of them have ever had a problem eating raw food and learning to progress onto the 'hard stuff' or bones..lol

Their digestive system copes so well with raw meat and bones and if they do have a tummy upset it's usually only for a day whereas a lot of kibble fed dogs take days to get over an upset. To be honest, you shouldn't be feeding meat to your dog that you wouldn't be prepared to eat yourself! Why ruin the good that you are trying to do by feeding even more crap?

My sources of food are - PAH for Tripe, Tesco's for chicken wings and bags of drumsticks, chicken legs, whole chickens (cut the breasts off for your own dinner and you can feed 5 on whats left!), any meats on offer or fish, as well as tins of sardines, mackerel, eggs. I then use my local butcher every week for rabbits, heart, bones, dog mince and I add in liver (only give sparingly), kidney, oxtail, lungs, pigs heads and again whatever I can get my hands on.

Some sites to look at are:-

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
http://www.ukbarfclub.co.uk/

As to getting worms from raw meat, well it's never happened here and your hygiene for handling raw meat for your dogs should be the same as handling raw meat for yourself.

The downside is you need lots of room unless you only have 1 or 2 dogs. I have 5 and I have 2 large freezers, one full of bones, the other full of meats.

Dog mess is disgusting at the best of times but my OH stood in one the other night as he was coming home. The poo was actually red with chemicals and dye that's in the food and I just couldn't handle it. Definately one of the benefits of feeding raw is the waste at the other end, it's hard, compact, smaller in volume and doesn't give off face contorting odours :D

[porshiepoo]

Thanks for that Crustyroll.
I've sourced a couple of good books on the subject and will do more research first.
The whole concept just makes so much more sense to me, especially now that I've discovered how our dog kibble is actually manufactured :eek:. It's no surprise to me now that my GSD has such coat problems.