Raw Food Diet for Dogs
 

Hey everyone,
Have been contemplating putting our 4 year old boxer on a raw food diet or B.A.R.F for a year or so now, but haven't made any final decisions. He's been having a bad go with the food he's been on since he's a puppy lately so the husband and I have made the decision to switch foods for sure with him. We're just not sure whether to go with another dry kibble or if we should just use this opportunity to go for the raw food.

Just curious to have some peoples inputs on this? Has anyone tried it? Had luck, liked it, bad reactions? What does a diet like this run per month? We figure it should cost under a $100 a month out here.

We've done quite a bit of research, but the internet is so controversial, and the debate on it is so heavy towards both sides it's hard to make a decision.

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Lisa & Andrew

We fed our 2 dogs for almost 2yrs on raw. We started with chicken legs/drumsticks and every once in awhile eggs and veggies and the odd beef chunk...etc...etc... After about a year we switched over to a brand called mountain dog food, which is raw, but mashed up and packaged. IIRC we bought 3-400 lbs and it was a bit over 500 bucks, that lasted us 6 months. I think i had it figured out to about 1.47 per pound shipped to my door. Our 2 dogs are in the 25lb range so they only eat a small amount per day. But it was messy, and with a baby on the way we decided to switch to a dry food. We buy Orijen, which is a grain free high protien kibble. As far as i can tell its basically raw but dry!

One thing we noticed was when they were on grocery store raw food there poop was small and not very often and it almost seemed as though they never drank any water. And when we switched to the MDF they always had to drink water and they seemed to "go" more often.

We also never cut any of the raw meaty bones up. With our dogs it worked out really good, they each got one chicken leg for breaky and one for dinner.

There is a lot of info on the net about it, but IMO raw is the best hands down. (its just messy)

Oh and the orijen food we have now was 68 bux and it should last us about 5 weeks.

I have been feeding my two malamutes raw for over a year and a half now.. It is they way to go it costs around 50 bucks a month..but the health benefits is the major plus my older pup Nico is 14 yrs old and when she was 10 she broke her leg on a hike... got her an operation and the vet says she wont be able to walk no more then a short distance for the rest of her life .... well she was right for a while then i started to feed them raw and about 6 months after i started nico could easily triple her old distance and now just the other day we hiked 10 kms mind you shes not a runner anymore but she keeps up ...with a smile !!!

oh and they poo way less

I feed both dogs raw and notice an improvement overall in their appearance and energy levels. I don't feed any of the pre ground stuff, I feel they need to crunch through their food. I buy 44 pound cases of chicken carcasses, which is mostly back/neck with the rib cage attached. I supplement this with organ meat and whatever I find in the "about to expire" bin at the grocery store. $5pack of ground lamb for $4 off, is a pretty good deal. Today a hunter friend gave me a bag of venison, so I'll add that in as well. An egg once a week or so tops it off.
I don't add veggies, dogs don't normally produce the enzymes to digest cellulose materials, so just meats. An occasional fish as well, mackerel or salmon (freeze salmon first for 24 hours).

lol, ya, way less.

Here's a good link

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

and your giving that to the dogs :surprise: thats blasphemy!!

hey doggies are people too! :mrgreen:

the reason dogs drink less water on BARF is due to the fact that they retain most of there water from there food in the wild. They also drink less due to the fact that there isnt as much salt in the raw meat than compared to the kibbles.

thats all i know about the BARF diet, ive been wanting to put my 9 month old schnauzer mix on it but decided against it due to the mess. although i do give him raw bones to chew on.

www.pets.ca forums is a REALLY good place for advice on raw. They have a whole section for it. If you DO go raw, you need to do it right, and feeding ground meat is not the proper way to do it. When you buy the ground meats (even if they are designed for doggies) they have way too high of a fat content, too high of an offal content, too high of a bone content, and too low of a lean muscle meat content. Dogs should not be fed any considerable amount of vegetables, fruits, or grains as they do not have the ability to digest it properly. Green tripe (either canned or bought raw) is a great source of partially pre-digested greens for dogs, plus it contains stomach acids to help break it down, contains natural probiotics, and keeps the digestive system healthy and of a good pH.

When you feed raw this is what it should look like. There is a can of Tripett brand tripe in there too. The bowl contains 2 large scallops, 1 bone-in chicken back half, and a 1/4 can of Tripett. It should be chunks of raw meat, as this causes the dog to chew it lots, and this produces a lot of saliva which helps to break down the food, it also cleans their teeth, and massages their gums to keep them healthy.
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...Feb32008-1.jpg


That's just an example. When you feed beef it should be what you would normally call a roast or steak. If you buy in bulk you can get most meats for $1-2/lb. I have found beef to be the most expensive. A 10 lb Sirloin Tip "chunk" (before they cut it into steaks) should be about $30-35. Use lots of chicken and fish, some beef, and a little bit of pork.

There are some risks you should be aware of. First, it's raw meat, so you need to be just as cautious when you feed it to your pet as if you feed it to yourself. Wash their bowl between every meal, don't leave meats out to thaw on the counter (thaw in the fridge), use clean utensils and cutting area. This is to prevent E coli and salmonella infections. There have been a few cases of dogs getting shards of bone piercing their intestines (this is natural in the wild too), which is a costly surgery, and more common in dogs that gobble their meals without chewing so well. If you are paranoid about bones, buy your meat and get your butcher to grind up the bone-in pieces. Every meal should have some bone in it, and 3-5x a week there should be some offal.