©Kenazorora Hungarian Vizslas at
Feeding.
We feed all our dogs the BARF diet. This stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or sometimes you might see it referred to as Bones And Raw Foods.
In a nutshell it means that we feed our dogs a diet as close as possible to that that they have evolved for millions of years to eat. That means no grains or cereals, no dairy, no additives or colourants or preservatives.
It does mean that we feed RAW meat with bones, RAW fruit and vegetables. The fruit and veg are pulverised to make them digestable for the dogs. They mimic the fruit and veg that a dog would eat as part of an animal carcass ie the contents of the prey animals stomach! We have always found that our dogs have enjoyed vegetables even as a treat, cucumber, brocolli and cauliflower being particular favourites.
The basis of the diet is a mix of minced organ meats ie liver, heart etc, chicken
and raw pulverised veg.
Click here for a beginners guide to RAW/BARF feeding.
It is said that this natural method of feeding benefits the dog in many ways, the first and most obvious is the lack of "dog breath" and tartar on the teeth. No need for teeth cleaning or dental extractions. Next is the lovely fact that your dogs' anal glands will not need expressing by your poor vet! The amount of faeces produced is far less, it is white and powdery and , believe it or not, it doesn't smell - (well, hardly!)
BARF fed dogs are said to be less prone to all sorts of ailments ranging from ear infections via cancers of the lymph glands to hip/ elbow dysplasia....
Above: Mabel at 10 days gets stuck in!
We have weaned all of our litters with this method , and as far as I am aware all the puppys are still fed this
way. At the age of 10 days the pups started helping themselves to Natties food and by the age of 3 weeks they were
eating their own chicken wings- like little velociraptors!
Further reading...
Kymythy R Schultz- Natural Nutrition for Cats and Dogs.
The BARF Diet- Dr Ian Billinghurst.
Grow Your Pups with Bones- Dr Ian Billinghurst.
Raw Meaty Bones- Promote Health- Tom Lonsdale.