BARF/feeding raw for dogs

Chakani

Can anyone point me in the direction of any good resources on the topic? For or against, I don't know much about it so am interested to do some reading.

I am particularly interested in the nutritional aspects and how to calculate a diet for a particular dog (which, in our case is still a hypothetical dog, as we're still waiting for the right one to come along).

Of course I'd be interested in anyone's experiences too, positive or negative, and how you manage it/how the costs compare to feeding proprietary dog foods. Also, what do you feed and where do you get it from?

Thanks :beer:

lisawood78

Just a quick one that won't cover all your questions.

We are a raw feeding household. 3 Great Danes (although one is ill and on a different diet now, due to liver failure)
Easy to feed, they eat tripe/chicken/some veg/eggs.
Huge chest freezer in the garage, we buy frozen tripe (and feed still slightly frozen, doesn't smell that way!) from Berriewoods approx £100 p/m and Tesco value chicken portions (bone in) possibly about £30 p/m (bear in mind this is for 3 dogs that weigh over 10 stone each)

We went down the raw route as most commercial food went directly through them, leaving bulky stools (with undigested food) and hungry dogs. Kibble also increases the risk of bloat (gastric torsion) in the breed.

Good luck with your choice.

Croatoan

Chakani wrote: »

Can anyone point me in the direction of any good resources on the topic? For or against, I don't know much about it so am interested to do some reading.

I am particularly interested in the nutritional aspects and how to calculate a diet for a particular dog (which, in our case is still a hypothetical dog, as we're still waiting for the right one to come along).

Of course I'd be interested in anyone's experiences too, positive or negative, and how you manage it/how the costs compare to feeding proprietary dog foods. Also, what do you feed and where do you get it from?

Thanks :beer:

Join this group. Loads of info on here.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

It is US-centric, but there's plenty of UK people on there as well.
There's also a UK group solely devoted to where you can buy supplies, but you'll have to search for that one.

pawsies

I really like this site- it's very informative and has links onto more.
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

I also like the book by Tom Lonsdale 'Raw Meaty Bones' which is excellent.

It's great that you're considering a raw diet although personally I aim to feed the Prey Model Diet rather than the BARF although my dogs get a few veggies if they want them off my plate.
The Prey Model diet basically says that dogs only need raw meaty bones/carcasses and they eat the stomach contents of the prey (so its important to try and get carcasses if possible). The BARF diet is more about meat and veggies and supplements but is harder to make and personally I don't think it's that necessary. My dogs love the prey model diet and have never had an issue with it.

It's a great way to feed, but you need the space in the freezer and a local supplier which can be hard to source.

Chakani

Thank you all, lots of reading for me to be getting through! Any more information or opinions in the meantime, I would be interested to read them

mrdignity

We are lucky enough to live near a raw pet food supplier called natural instinct (naturalinstinct.com)

I have been behind the scenes and seen the food preparation area and it is 1st class - with ingredients that I'd happily tuck into myself! It saves you time if you don't want to prepare meals yourself and is reasonably priced.

Personally we feed our dog kibble by Burns - we have found it is good quality and as a result it is great for reducing stool size and keeping our dog's stomach settled. I suppose it depends on the breed of dog you are thinking of getting as lisawood78 rightly says, certain foods can increase the likelihood of bloat in deep chested dogs and some dogs simply get on better with one food than another!

Keep looking through the forums on different sites and you will get a general consensus on the subject but don't make a decision until you've got your lovely new family member in front of you :-)

krlyr

You will find, if you haven't already, that there are many different opinions on raw, even amongst those who feed it. I would suggest you just read as many books, websites, etc. as possible and make your own mind up. Take some stuff with a pinch of salt, question other things, and try to look at it logically. E.g. those who say that feeding raw will give a dog a taste for meat and make them want to eat small children - well, the majority of dogs eat meat anyway, in the form of kibble, wet food, dog treats etc. so surely we should have seen a huge uprising in dogs wanting to eat the entire human population? Or those that say pork is an absolute no-no - if you do some research, you'll see that pork was problematic due to trichinella spirosis, but a) British pork is tested/treated for it now, and b) it's killed by freezing for a set period of time anyway.
Like pawsies, my two are fed more on the prey model diet (carcasses, whole rabbits, various meats and offal in set proportions, etc) than the BARF-style with lots of veggies and that, though I do supplement their diet with oily fish, eggs, the occasional Kong stuffed with vegetables. The reasoning behind the prey model diet made sense to me, the digestive system of dogs is very much like that on their ancestors the wolf so it makes sense that a similar diet would work well. My two have certainly thrived on it, the issues I was having with Kiki not maintaining a steady weight were soon revolved and the vet has commented on the fantastic condition of their teeth. Not that these things are exclusive to raw-fed dogs, but it seems to suit my two better than kibble did.

I agree with waiting to see what dog you end up with - raw doesn't agree with all dogs, or may be impractical for you. Feeding my two large breed dogs on raw requires a large chest freezer - if I was to buy their meat from a supermarket, I'd be spending around £120 a month at the very least, and that would be buying the value/basics ranges! As it is, I buy from a raw food supplier at a third of the cost, but he only delivers once a month so I have to have the storage space. A smaller dog may be a lot cheaper to feed, you may find a moer convenient supplier, you may have some great local butchers who offer lots of freebie or cheap meats.

Kinski

My pair are barf fed, I was rotten at getting it right and my pair were ending up with the squits. I now buy it ready mixed from Natural instincts and I no longer have to clean mucky bums, I've got a Sheltie and a rescue Bichon ( who I was told might not be able to tolerate barf but she loves it ) and it costs me about £6 a week to feed the pair of them. I do also give them chicken wings and the occasional meal of mince or chicken/turkey breast.

getcarter

I started doing this about a month ago, they have Kibble in the morning and raw in the afternoon. I buy from local pet shops, sains etc (frozen chicken portions etc) but get most from the local butcher who kindly saves me scraps, chicken carcusses etc.

pawsies

getcarter wrote: »

I started doing this about a month ago, they have Kibble in the morning and raw in the afternoon. I buy from local pet shops, sains etc (frozen chicken portions etc) but get most from the local butcher who kindly saves me scraps, chicken carcusses etc.

One thing to bare in mind if you're feeding both kibble and raw is that it takes 16 hours to digest kibble and only approx 4 hours to digest raw.
So your dog may not have digested the kibble by the time he gets to the raw.
If you've seen no issues with it though then your dog will probably be fine but it's something to be aware of for other dogs

Chakani

pawsies wrote: »

One thing to bare in mind if you're feeding both kibble and raw is that it takes 16 hours to digest kibble and only approx 4 hours to digest raw.
So your dog may not have digested the kibble by the time he gets to the raw.
If you've seen no issues with it though then your dog will probably be fine but it's something to be aware of for other dogs

In my experience most dogs' digestive systems are tough as old boots- which, given the things mine have eaten (or attempted to eat) over the years, is probably just as well!

An old lady I worked for as a kid said of her labrador "he does all his thinking with his belly. Shame he doesn't keep any brain cells there. That's why I have to decide what he gets for his dinner and not him" :rotfl: