BARF update

[Karma]

Ok, been going about a month on part BARF and generally Honey is doing really well!!! 
She loves most of the BARF meals - though not everything. 
Liver was fine the very first time, but since has been left (after being placed around the house!!) - have started liquidising small amounts and adding to some mince every now and again, so she gets a portion over a couple of weeks!!
Fish - yesterday was the first experiment with a whole raw fish... I was out so OH in charge of this (and he hates fish, bless him).  Apparently it was sniffed, prodded and carried around a lot, but not eaten, so OH caved and fed something else!!! I tried the fish again this morning - vowing to be more successful.  I cut it into pieces (which she has thoughtfully deposited around the hallway!!) and even squeezed out some meat to give her the idea that it was food.  She has eaten a couple of chunks, but left most of it lying in the hall.  Do I persevere or accept defeat?

Other than this, she loves her new diet, and really isn't touching her kibble on the mornings we give it to her.  This makes us think we really need to go the whole hog and convert to BARF fully.  (I'm sure she would eat a wet food if she ever needed to be looked after by someone who couldn't face BARF.)  So what else would we need to sort to do this??

The books I have talk about including Milk meals, Carbohydrate meals and Grain/Legume meals.  Now I'm not convinced about the Milk meals (given dogs are often cow's milk intolerant) and she does get eggs seperately (as well as cheese and yoghurt) - I'm happy to do an occassional cooked meal (as that is what the others are) if it's needed - what do others do for this part of the diet??

I would guess that a tub of the Keepers Mix would be a wise investment?? Beyond that, I guess it's the eternal question of "To supplement or not!!" - I would prefer not to (though if Honey won't eat her raw fish, I guess some kind of fish oil might be needed). 

She currently gets a good mix of food - chicken wings and pork ribs make up the main meals, but she also gets Tripe, Turkey Mince, Lamb Hearts, liquidized liver, whizzed up veg, yoghurt cubes and cheese as treats.  We will be trying Kidneys at some point.  She would get other bones if we get hold of them.... and if she doesn't eat her raw fish, we would give some canned fish.  So, to all you experienced BARF feeders out there, does this sound like sufficient variety?? Is there anything I've forgotten??

To aid buying and storing food, I tend to do an Offal week (where she would get 2 meals with Offal in a week) and then a fish week, as I think these are the foods that they shouldn't eat too much of???  Does Tripe count to the Offal ration?? I know it is Offal, but people do seem to discuss it as a seperate meal....

Sorry for all the questions - I need to make sure I get a basic plan in place so OH knows what we are doing... 

[bluegirl]

You can get plenty bones from the supermarket or market try chicken thighs or legs, cut off meat and separate the bones and give after a meat meal. You could get breast of lamb and again separate the meat from the ribs and cut 3 ribs together and give after a meal. You could also ask a local butcher if they are willing to sell you chicken carcasses and lamb trimmings for the dog, you'll get loads of bones with these and most are more than willing to sell them (or give themaway in some cases).

Liver seems to be an acquired taste for some at first as are kidneys. Don't give up, keep the pieces small or liquidised as you are doing and she'll  soon accept them. I give offal about 3 times per week as I do raw egg, but I mix it  in with a  main meat meal, never as a separate full meal, only because excess liver in some dogs can cause diarrhoea and I don't fancy the skiddy removal job that could follow the meal

I use alsorts of fish and it's ok to use tinned fish, I prefer tinned tuna or salmon, but if I use fresh fish say mackeral or sardines I'll take out all the bones and the scaly fins and then cut it up into chunks for them. I don't feed the heads but thats really because I'm not a fish person and it makes me heave just cutting the flesh

I don't follow BARF and my diet does include milk and milky cereal meals. I am aware of some degree of milk intolerance with dogs but have never seen it.To combat this you can add a teaspoon of honey to the milk or milky cereal and that avoids any mucousy vomit following milk meals. You could also try goats milk which is better than cows milk but I must warn you that can work out really expensive if used daily (less you invest in a pet nanny goat). I believe that the benefits I get from adding the milk and cereal for my dogs outweighs the arguement against dogs not being designed for milk (after weaning) and cereal (ever) in the first instance, that however is up to you to decide with your dog.
The supplements that I use regularly are kelp, linseed or omega oil  with 3,6,9, cod liver oil,or virgin olive oil depending on the time of the yr. Then I use herbs daily.
I personally don't feed tripe as I can't source raw tripe fit for human consumption, it's all cooked nowadays and the pet tripe stinks so much when defrosted, which wouldn't be so bad if the dogs would eat it  but have to say thats the one thing they have refused to eat, even tried dried tripe sticks but to no avail.

I work my diet around 5 days meat diet,1 day meat free and 1 day total fasting. I start to fast from as early as 4 mths when Iintroduce a half dayfast per week and a full day fast per month,then weekly fasts continue as the dogs turn 8 mths. If my dogs do not eat their breakfast,for whatever reason, they will be fasted for the rest of the day and tried again the next morning, but this is a rarity and generally only happens with Logan when a girls in season and he can't eat, he'll usually fast himself for about 4 days solid when the girls are at their worst bit.