A BARF Diary.

[tango1986]

i'm a bit of a newbie to the whole BARF idea so could someone just clarrify a couple of points.  I'm hopefully getting a pup in early June time and would liek to inrtoduce raw feeding, probably as a treat based idea to begin wit working up to a full BARF diet. My questions are:
Would an 8/9 week old pup be ok with things like chcken wings, bones etc. the contept of a pup eating bones just baffles me.
Do you have to defrost the meat totally before use.  i know a lot of its frozen so don't you spend half your time defrosting meat??
Can you give a pup a raw egg, shell and all?
Can anyone recommend some good books that will help me get my head round these ideas?
Sorry if they are very basic questions but this concept is all new to me.

[cazza]

tango1986  - I copied this off the first page for you  Look at this thread too   http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=26952.0

Getting closer- reading matter
I put a post on COL for BARF book recommendations and thanks to AnnieM received two of them via her (thanks AnnieM ). They are Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Schultze (American  -qualified animal nutritionist and Animal Health Instructor) & Work Wonders- Feed your dog raw meaty bones by Tom Lonsdale (Australian -vet). I thought it would take me a while to get round to reading them as I have a very busy schedule. Neither was I sure that reading just two books on the subject would give me the range of  information I was after. As a biologist I could see the sense in BARF but I was not confident that I could provide a suitably balanced BARF diet. I didn't want to deny Fern adequate nutrition because I hadn't sufficiently researched it. I am aware that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
I was wrong on all counts. Once started I couldn't put the books down and read them both in two days. In spite of their differing styles they were both easy to read and surprisingly informative. For example -I hadn't realised that many of the added vitamins, minerals and other supplements in cooked tinned dog food may not actually be in a form that an animal can use. I didn't realise that feeding raw salmon was not recommended because of the parasite flukes that act as host for rickettsia. They also settled my mind on the question of  exposing my dog to salmonella and other bacteria. The only slightly disconcerting thing was reading about feeding kangaroo tails   not sure about that here in England  

[cazza]

I get chicken wings in Tesco or Asda - they always seem to have them.  You could also ask your local butcher.  In the supermarket they are about £1.25 for 10 or 12.  I just freeze them on a tray then put into a bag so I can take out one or two at a time.

Thanks

Off to Tesco then as my local Asda haven't done them for a while    Must find a butcher that that does them too

[tango1986]

Thanks for that, obviously need to pay more attention when reading   
Its a whole new concept to me as said so just don't wanting ot end up with and undernorished puppy who resembles a watering can where all the bones have punctured intestines etc or even worse giving him food posioning.  I have so far manged to not kill my OH with my cooking but i am far from the best chef in the world so don't really want to harm the dog with my total lack of cooking or food preparation skills. 

[happydog]

Thanks for that, obviously need to pay more attention when reading  
Its a whole new concept to me as said so just don't wanting ot end up with and undernorished puppy who resembles a watering can where all the bones have punctured intestines etc or even worse giving him food posioning.  I have so far manged to not kill my OH with my cooking but i am far from the best chef in the world so don't really want to harm the dog with my total lack of cooking or food preparation skills. 

  I think that was more or less my reaction when I started.
It's amazing how reticent we are as a nation to feed our dogs what is essentially the most natural food for dogs in the world.
As an oldie  I can just about remember the world before tinned dog food became the norm in England and people were soon brainwashed in to thinking it was the best/only way to save your dog from being malnourished. Dried food hadn't even been thought of then.

Re feeding your pup bones. Never ever ever feed cooked bones only raw A bit of supervision for the first few weeks might be wise in case you hace a greedy 'un who needs to learn not to bolt food whole (as they only bring it up again    ) but there is no reason for you not to put pup straight on to BARF. Plenty of people here on COL have done it and there are breeders who do it too. I am sure a bit of advise re pups will arrive here soon from others who have fed BARF more or less from birth.

Defrosting takes a bit of getting used to but it soon becomes second nature. It is no hassle taking a polythene bag out of the freezer in the morning for her evening meal. If it's summer I pop it in the fridge rather than leave it out on the worktop all day. All her food (mince and veg) is bagged up for each day by me a months worth at a time. If I have run out of those , the large freeflow mince bags I buy make it really simple. I just pour out a meals worth into a bowl and put the bowl in the sink with a bit of hot water for 30 mins, give it a quick stir and feed it straight away. Missing the veg for a day won't harm her. Chicken wings - I do the same thing as I bag them up in pairs.

Apart from COL threads, these sites might help answer some of your questions:

http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm#daily

http://ukbarfclub.co.uk/


Fern eats raw egg shell and all  . I do sometimes have to crush the shell up with my fingers and hide it in her sardines. It's a great source of calcium.

[Cob-Web]

OK that's it I've read up to page two so far    but want to ask a question, where does everyone get the chicken wings from?    I'm having problems getting them.

Now I've got a new freezer I want to put both dogs on BARF fully, they've been having the odd bit as treats, everytime I find chicken wings I stock up but they seem to have stopped doing them the last few months 

My local butcher doesn't keep them in stock over the winter, as he says they are a summer (BBQ) food - but he was happy to order some in for me 

I actually decided to buy awhole 15kg case and then bagged them up to put in the freezer; there were 180 wings in the box (yes, I counted them  )

[cazza]

Thanks Rachel

I've just been talking to a friend and she said there is a great family butcher in a town not too far away so am off to see if they sell them or if they will get them in for me    (tomorrow I will go and investigate)

[Joelf]

Having found myself a really super butcher for our meat I decided to try the dogs with some raw bones which after their initial suspicion they absolutely loved (it took Domino a long time to get through one at first!)

After I'd convinced myself they weren't going to collapse & die having eaten their bones I then tried them with chicken wings - I must admit my heart was in my mouth but they ate them with relish & lived to tell the tale so I became more confident & proceeded to give them some raw hearts ,liver,kidneys & sardines (not in the same meal I hasten to add!!!)

I have also continued to give some NatureDiet as well for some meals but must say that the dogs really enjoy their food even Domino who has never been a very enthusiastic eater. (Spike has a cast-iron digestion so I wasn't quite so worried about him!! )

Having always fed 'processed' food to all our dogs for years it does take a bit of getting used to but proves you can teach an old dog new tricks!! - pardon the pun!!

[Moss]

Another page I have found useful is
http://www.bregorreyglens.co.uk/nutrition.html

I wanted a working cocker to go beating with. My daughter said a show type because she wants to show.  I would want a docked tail, she would need it to be undocked if born early summer.  Long and the short of it  is we sat and went through the list of breeds and reduced it and reduced it to a Shetland Sheepdog.  Collect one on 19th April and I would like to start introducing it to a BARF diet.  Thanks to everyone who has posted the last 16 pages - I have read it all !

Will remain a fan of the cockers, especially workers, and will post pics of our addition on the "other breeds" section when we have some.

[happydog]

BARF: 5 months on.
I think she has stopped putting on weight since I reduced quantities slightly in January ( See Jan.23rd page 13 of this thread). I shall pop her down to the vets to weigh her later (this is just for all of you interested in this thread and not because I am paranoid  )

Finally got round to weighing her today after her run and swim. A very wet and muddy Fern now weighs 14.05Kg (so if you take off .05 Kg for the mud and water she's actually down to 14Kg  )The vets floor and scales were covered in muddy paw prints by the time we left  .
So by reducing her food very slightly she has lost nearly half a kilogram since January. I'm not going to weigh her again. I am learning to trust my eye and like Penel will just give her a bit less if she starts to lose her waist, or a bit more if she starts to look skinny again.

[Sarah.H]

Charlies just had his first chicken wing 

He's got impacted anal glands so I finally managed to convince Mum it would be a good idea to feed them.  He spent about 45 mins stealthily moving through the undergrowth and freezing at every little sound, then he smeared it across the glass door as Mum and Dad were eating their tea  , and finally he began to chomp! It took him about 20 mins to eat, and he kept pausing to look at the chickens in their pen, I'm sure he was thinking of seconds  .

Thanks for the inspiration Happydog, but now I'm waiting for him to keel over 

[DennyK]

i'm a bit of a newbie to the whole BARF idea so could someone just clarrify a couple of points.  I'm hopefully getting a pup in early June time and would liek to inrtoduce raw feeding, probably as a treat based idea to begin wit working up to a full BARF diet. My questions are:
Would an 8/9 week old pup be ok with things like chcken wings, bones etc. the contept of a pup eating bones just baffles me.
Do you have to defrost the meat totally before use.  i know a lot of its frozen so don't you spend half your time defrosting meat??
Can you give a pup a raw egg, shell and all?
Can anyone recommend some good books that will help me get my head round these ideas?
Sorry if they are very basic questions but this concept is all new to me.

As well as those books, try joining the BritBarf Group on Yahoo - run by Derek Turnbull who is hugely knowledgeable and helpful.  Those books (plus Dr Ian Billinghurst's books on BARF) are really good, easy to read and you end up just going back to one or two bits over and over again - and there are chapters on puppies - balance,amounts etc.  I have to admit that I don't watch Paddy eating bones but I'm always in the same room as him while he's eating one. Last night, after nearly 9 months on BARF, he tried to gulp too much down - first time ever - and had to cough it back up.  Glad I was there, just in case!!!

Denise

[Penel]

The first day of feeding raw bones is always the scariest one !  the next day they eat it a lot lot quicker !

[happydog]

  now I'm waiting for him to keel over 

The first day of feeding raw bones is always the scariest one !  the next day they eat it a lot lot quicker !

I was terrified the first few days and watched her like a hawk. I had the vets emergency number to hand before I even opened the fridge . Never needed to use it yet. I still stick around whilst she's eating them just in case, but that's only for about 30 seconds per wing these days 

[emilyjw]

This has been so good to read and very inspirational. We are going to gradually start introducing this to our dogs. Today they had their first chicken wing. Jas our lab cross wolfed it down in about 30 seconds. Bracken (cocker) took about 20 minutes, she took it to the other side of the garden and slowly munched away. It was so funny to watch as she kept picking it up and shaking it, I guess hoping it would disintegrate to bitsized pieces. 

There is a farm shop near us that sells blocks of animal meat, I know they have beef and fish varieties so will see what the other ingrediants are, hopefully 100 ish% meat.

We have got them before, but being new to this cooked them....... though not as bad as the time I cooked tripe and stunk the whole house out...  something never to be repeated.

I was worried before about raw meat but am now feeling confident, god I love this site!

Thanks for all the information that is shared..

Em