BARF

[kate.s]

Ok, so I don't need to use bone meal. I saw it mentioned somewhere and wondered if I needed to give it Sam. We have just started BARF and it's going really well. He had his first chicken wing last night and there wasn't a bone left.

[DennyK]

I just switched Paddy - no intro or any gradual transition.  Morning he ate Chappie, afternoon he was on BARF.  God I hated hated hated Chappie...

Denise

[Naughty Pair]

hi - am sitting here working out the Barf amounts - about to go to the butcher.

Teri is 7kg - 7mths
Annie is 13kg - 16mths

Am going to feed Teri 8% of her body weight - 3 times daily as she is sick and underweight i think....is this ok???
Annie will be given 5%  of her body weight.

will start on a lamb diet for teri and lamb and chicken for annie.

some yoghurt for teris stomach.

will add cod liver oil - should i add any other omega 6 and 3?? also have bought a slippry elm powder for teri stomach.

so anything else i need to do???

[happydog]

hi - am sitting here working out the Barf amounts - about to go to the butcher.

Teri is 7kg - 7mths
Annie is 13kg - 16mths

Am going to feed Teri 8% of her body weight - 3 times daily as she is sick and underweight i think....is this ok???
Annie will be given 5%  of her body weight.

  That seems an awful lot of food  . You could well be overloading your poor dogs' digestive systems feeding that amount. Pups only have tiny stomachs! The guidelines are 3% of bodyweight/day (or 20% spread over the week)of raw meaty bones with veggies as extra. If you want Teri to put on weight then try feeding tripe for a few meals in a week. Fern is just under 12Kg and I am feeding her up but only 350-400g/day.
Based on 3% Teri should be getting about 210g/day split into however many meals you currently feed and Annie about 390g/day.   

will add cod liver oil - should i add any other omega 6 and 3?? also have bought a slippry elm powder for teri stomach.

Don't forget that for balance dogs actually need a little raw fat in their diet. It reduces the need for supplements such as omega-6. Omega 3 and 6 are present in raw meat,eggs and fish, so if you are feeding a wide variety of good quality raw foods, in theory you shouldn't really need to add any supplements at all.

[Rhona W]

Well my boys weigh about 13 1/2 kg and 15 1/2 kg and I feed them between 500 and 600 gms a day. 

I know this is way over what everyone else feeds, but it does tally with the amount suggested in The BARF Diet.
I did try feeding them less, but Reuben lost weight.  And he doesn't have any weight to lose really. They have been having this amount for 2 months and are doing very nicely on it. Reuben has finally filled out and Casper has just maintained his size.
Obviously, if they do start to look fat I will reduce the amount they have. But for now it works for us. 

[happydog]

Well my boys weigh about 13 1/2 kg and 15 1/2 kg and I feed them between 500 and 600 gms a day. 

I know this is way over what everyone else feeds, but it does tally with the amount suggested in The BARF Diet.
I did try feeding them less, but Reuben lost weight.  And he doesn't have any weight to lose really. They have been having this amount for 2 months and are doing very nicely on it. Reuben has finally filled out and Casper has just maintained his size.
Obviously, if they do start to look fat I will reduce the amount they have. But for now it works for us. 

That's fine Rhona. I am feeding over the 3% too but its only about 3.4% over (veggies extra and the odd chicken wing on top too). You are only feeding about 4%, - but Naughty Pair is suggesting feeding a 7Kg 7 month old dog 560g/day and I think this is waaay too much for such a little thing. It's nearly 3x as much. That is the equivalent of you feeding your pair about 1,200g each per day

[Naughty Pair]

ok thanks for this - just means i have bagged up the next weeks food as well, seeing as i have done too much!!!

it will now workout that i feed them 4 %.  I read the barf book and it suggested puppies have between 5-8% - and i thought as teri looks so skinny give her 8%

4%  - this is a bone (chicken or lamb) in the morning and then minced lamb, veg and liver in the evening (and lunch for Teri).

Have just given them their first lamb bone and teri loves it! (although she growls if Annie goes anywhere near her with it) Annie ate the meat off the bone but has left the  bone???

It cost me £10 pounds for minced lamb, offal, lamb bones from a really good butcher nearby - this will last a week and a bit at least!  very cheap for 2 dogs feeding!!  I have wizzed up broc, cauliflower and curly Kale for the veg.

Can you give them fresh sardines - we have loads in are freezer but havent ate them as they are so bony and w dont really like the heads!!   will they be ok for the dogs?  with an egg?

thanks for ur hep everyone!

[minstrel99]

Hi,
I started feeding my 3 cockers a raw diet last year about this time, very gingerly at first with mainly chicken wings, and salmon trimmings from our local morrisons store. I started to add in minced tripe and heart and also gave them lots fo yogurt, crushed fruit and veg and cottage cheese. I also joined a couple of on-line groups and bought a couple of books as well as doing a fair bit of research on-line too. I have or should i say my 3 dogglies have now settled into the kind of diet suggested by Tom Lonsdale of "Raw Meaty Bones" and my guys are in great shape.
Remeber that puppies grown on any raw feeding regime tend to grow at a much slower rate than kibble fed dogs which I and many others belive is so much better for the development of their joints.
Rosie 11months old will tonight enjoy 2 or 3 chicken carcasses, buddy my 7year old will be restricted to 2 as he's on a reducing diet right now and teal who is allergic to chicken will have a large turkey neck.
typically through the week they have a variet of things from large chunks of whole green tripe, 3/4 to 1/2 an ox heart with a couple or 3 chicken wings thrown in, they get a whole egg 3 times a week each, they get 1/4 of a lamb rib cage or pork ribs another night. I also use tinned tuna in sunflower oil and a great favourite just now is pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce. in addition to this they get table scraps, except of course white potatoe or onion and the odd splash of goats milk as a treat.
I can honestly say my dogs have beautiful clean teeth and have never been healthier.
I am no expert but can see my dogglies enjoying the benefits.
Go for it and good luck
Linda Buddy Teal and Rosie;o))
try www.rawmeatybones.com             or britbarf@yahoogroups.com

[Penel]

Crikey I have no idea what mine eat in weight.  I do know that Gracie (lurcher) weighs the same as Tilly and Hattie - and yet she eats about twice as much....   they are all different - just like we are all different.

[Cob-Web]

Crikey I have no idea what mine eat in weight.  I do know that Gracie (lurcher) weighs the same as Tilly and Hattie - and yet she eats about twice as much....   they are all different - just like we are all different.

When you first started feeding raw, how did you work out how much to give them Penel?

Like you, I don't weigh Molo's food portions - I gauge it by appearance and watching his weight gain/loss, but when I first began, I had no idea how much to give, and the guidance in the books/websites was invaluable to give me a starting point  If I had given him too much (very likely as the portions are quite small) and he had got sick/squitty as a result, it could have put me off raw feeding for life 

[Naughty Pair]

can i give fresh sardines with head and bones?

probably a tupid q!

[Mich]

Crikey I have no idea what mine eat in weight.  I do know that Gracie (lurcher) weighs the same as Tilly and Hattie - and yet she eats about twice as much....   they are all different - just like we are all different.

I don't have a clue what mine eat in weight either, Bailey's meal sizes will vary depending on the excersize he has, in France he was eating a whole chicken a day sometimes he did so much walking!

[Penel]

Hmm what can I say  - I just used my common sense same way as if we had a child here to tea, I'd kind of know how much to feed them.

[Annette]

can i give fresh sardines with head and bones?

probably a tupid q!

Not stupid, I asked the same question a few weeks ago. The answer from the oracle was "yes".

[Naughty Pair]

Thanks annette.

Will get defrosting the sardines then! 

They are loving the BARF diet at the moment. 

Hope everyone else that recently converted is getting on ok.

Thanks to everyone for the advice