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Feeding your dog the BARF diet Volume 1, Issue 2 24 April, 2007. By Sue Yeap I have had many people asking me what I feed my dogs- and I say BARF diet. BARF is "Bones and Raw Food" or "Biologically Appropiate Raw Food". I have read about the BARF diet a copule of years ago but did not feed my dogs then as my dogs were fed on cooked pork meat and commercial dog food. I only started feeding my dogs the BARF diet since January, 2006 and I believe it in. I am not an expert in the BARF diet, but I can recommend that you read the book "The BARF Diet" by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. In the book the author provides the sound scientific principles on the evolutionary diet and he explains in detail the enormous health benefits for any dog feed this way. The author also gives recipes and how to switch your dog from non-BARF to BARF diet. For those who are not into reading, I can only attempt to share my knowledge of the BARF diet here in a few pointers- 1. Dogs are omnivores- they eat practically anything in the way of food. 2. The raw diet mimics the evolutionary diet which contains 60% raw meaty bones, 15% crushed vegetable material, 10% offal, 5% fruit and 10% supplements to mimic soil and faeces. 3. Raw meaty bones is not heat-damaged and is easily digested. Dogs will not choke while eating the bones. Dogs will not be more 'fierce' or bite people if fed BARF! 4. Raw fruit and vegetables must not be cooked and MUST be fully crushed to mimic the gut contents of a dog. To make the vegetable mix, I use a good quality juicer from Breville. Picture is below.
5. Offal means internal organs such as liver, kidney of chicken, pigs, cow and must be fresh, raw, free from parasites. 6. Supplement of alfalfa and kelp should be used often to give minerals. Alfalfa in powder form is rich in phyto-nutrients, including anti-oxidants. Alfalfa is an infection fighter, a body cleanser and body deodorizer. Kelp is a sea vegetable, rich in iodine, has 21 amino acids and other health promoting phyto-nutrients.
7.It is not necessary for fibre supplements as vegetables gives a rich source of fibre. 8.There is no need to add carbohydrates in the BARF diet. The dog gets it's energy from protein and fats. 9. Beware of freshness while handling raw meat. Handle the meat as we would handle for human use. The dog's digestive system can handle microorganisms and bacteria. Once or twice a week give your dog 'charcoal' tablets which will help to aid in preventing digestive problem. 10. Sometimes, I add some commercial dog food into my dog's diet as a 'treat'. However I never feed it as a complete meal. I do not believe that high quality commercial food like EUKANUBA/Science Diet/Pedigree is bad for your dogs, it's just that I prefer to feed my dog raw, natural and fresh food. Feel free to discuss with me on the Barf diet when we meet during our training sessions.
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My dog Kofi ( Curly-coated retriever) is about 40kg weight) has been fed on the BARF diet since he was a puppy old enough to eat raw chicken wings. He will be two years old this August 2007. He has enjoyed his meal each time, and it is definitely safe to feed him raw meaty bones. My other dog is Paris a 5-year old All-Malaysian dog, whom I switched from cooked pork to BARF diet. Both Kofi and Paris eat the same BARF diet. Below is Kofi's current diet- ALL RAW 6 am- 4 full chicken wings , 1 whole chicken breast bones ( about 600 grams)
12 noon- vegetable patty + minced pork meat + one teaspoon kelp+ one teaspoon Alfalfa + 2 tablespoons of yogurt or one egg or 5 chicken liver/kidney or coconut ( about 400 grams)
7 pm- vegetable patty+ minced pork meat (about 600 grams) + 1 cod-liver oil capsule+ 1 vetzyme ( vitamin B complex) Once a week, I feed him pork meaty bones, about 800 grams in weight. He takes about 20 minutes to chew on the bone.
Since I train him 5 minutes x 3 sessions a day, his treats consist of chicken wings or chicken kidney or chicken neck or chicken feet- ALL RAW and in smaller pieces- about 100-200 grams per day. Vegetable mix means crushed vegetables and fruits. You can choose from a variety of green leafy vegetables that you readily can buy from local market- chai sim, kangkong, spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, cabbage, tomatoes, celery, beet root, cucumber. Occasionally I add in basil leaves and mint leaves and garlic. Fruits are banana, guava, watermelon, orange, apple, chiku, papaya, avagado. I mix vegetables to fruit approximately 3:1 ratio.
If you would like to borrow the book "THE BARF DIET" by Dr. Ian Billinghurst from me, please drop me an email. If you wish to get a copy for yourself, please try to write to - PO Box WO 64 Bathurst 2795, New South Wales, Australia. email is barfdiet@ix.net.au
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