Ok - taken the plunge!

[LesleyW]

i give Bracken tinned fish - either sardines, mackerel, pilchards or tuna - in tomato sausce or olive oil - if she has an olive oil one I nearly always add an egg to it - she gets a dollop of veg with it too, and this is her breakfast.

At dinner time, another dollop of veg and 150gms of raw meat mince, followed by a chicken wing or lamb rib bone.  Once or twice a week I substitute about a dessertspoon of liver instead of meat mince.

It never looks much, its a small amount compared to what I used to give our lab years ago, when she was on (disgusting) tinned meat and kibble! (wish I'd known about BARF then).  They seem to need a lot less BARF food than regular dog food - probably because they use it all, theres hardly any waste.

For treats, I shamefacedly admit to buying gravy bones - but she only has two at bedtime or whenever I leave her for any amount of time.  I should really make my own and keep meaning too, but just never seem to get round to it! 

I occasionally give her a cooked meal of leftovers - usually on a Sunday, left from the roast - this would be instead of her BARF meal. 

[SJP]

Gosh this is all so interesting....being a relatively new BARF convert.

I keep reading these threads so I don't get "hung up" on the minute detail of feeding Lola.  I deliberately don't weigh her kibble (never have done) she just has a scoop for breakfast. And then dinner is 2 chicken wings/tripe/lamb rib.  I might try her with the sardines/egg combo for a treat one evening.

The whole point of me changing Lola to BARF was anal gland issues......and we haven't been to the vet yet and I think we are into week 6 .......yeeeee haaaa

[Karma]

No fair - had to throw out all the chicken we got free from the butchers as it smelt too awful.... 
Off to supermarket tomorrow.

Still gonna keep getting meat from the butcher - as it doesn't cost anything, it's worth it, as it must just have been on the turn when I picked it up....
Just hope OH agrees (he's got a more sensitive sense of smell than me!) 
And the poor dog thinks we are horrible - we just threw out lots of yummy food!!!! 

[Karma]

Well Honey had a great weekend of food.... as we weren't leaving her to go for work, we did raw all the way, as there was no need to leave her her treat ball.... 

She's certainly not fussy - happily munched down the Liver last night - only gave a little bit, as I seem to recall you shouldn't overdo it??  Basically gave her 1/3 of a pack from the supermarket, along with some mince and whizzed veggies - does this sound ok??
Got some ribs in the freezer now, and lots and lots of chicken wings.... 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Glad to hear it's going well!

How are her other end (garden landmines) Dave was pretty loose after his experience so haven't given him another at this point! Think Norms  was fine though...

Hannah xxx

[Helen]

Glad to hear it's going well!

How are her other end (garden landmines) Dave was pretty loose after his experience so haven't given him another at this point! Think Norms  was fine though...

Hannah xxx

Jarv was terrible on raw chicken when he was young up until he was about 18 months old when I tried it again and bingo, his other end was perfick.

I would try Dave on lambs breast - it seems a much easier meat for some dogs to digest 

[Karma]

She's been fine from the other end.... a little loose after the bit of chicken carcass, but as the rest of it was off, it possibly wasn't at it's best when she had it... 
No adverse reactions from the liver!!
 

[Sheryl]

I am sure that Karen (Bluegirl) gives her meat, rancid smelling or not.  I know her dogs get it even if the smell is knocking her out   She is a mine of information on all the herbs too, knows every one and what they are good for.  PM her and ask 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Have to say I'd be surprised if meat that was a little out of date did cause too much of an upset. Particularly as mine have eaten rotting squirrel/rabbit/rabbit/mouse etc with a maggot side salad and been fine in the past 

Mingers!

Hannah x

[Cob-Web]

I tend to avoid supermarket meat that is "on the turn", as the processing and additives can cause more problems that the meat itself   

[LesleyW]

Have to say I'd be surprised if meat that was a little out of date did cause too much of an upset. Particularly as mine have eaten rotting squirrel/rabbit/rabbit/mouse etc with a maggot side salad and been fine in the past 

Mingers!

Hannah x

....thanks for that, I was eating my tea.......

[Karma]

Well, so far so good.  Honey definately approves of her new diet.  Has now added pork ribs to the menu.
I wish we could completely forget about kibble, but we use so much of it for training at the minute... she grudgingly eats it for breakfast, but gobbles it up as a training treat!!
Still, it is good to see her excited about food - though it has resulted in far more interest in what's going on in the kitchen!!! 

She seems to be looking healthy, and has had no real problems tummy-wise.  Have yet to try fish, but knowing her it'll not cause a problem!!

We now have 1/3 of our (small) freezer taken up with dog food..... 

[merrysmum]

That's great news Karma.
Can totally sympathise with everything you've said though - Merry and Honey, separated at birth??!
Merry now gets excited when I go in the kitchen, tries to climb in the freezer when I open it and now stands up at the worksurfaces trying to sniff any chicken wings that might be defrosting up there off! 
Our freezer's also packed full of doggie stuff - OH went in there the other day and said where's our stuff?!  We are preparing to move though so might try and incorporate room for another freezer into the plans 
Good luck with the fish. It doesn't go down well with Merry but I have found that he will lap up cod liver oil from a teaspoon - weirdo! Am glad though because I wanted him to get the oil for his coat somehow.

How has Honey been with the pork ribs? Have often pondered over them in the supermarket (am sure people in there think I'm a loony when they see the trolley stacked up with foul things like hearts, kidneys and liver!!) but wasn't sure whether it was ok to give raw pork?

Also, will Honey eat her boney things whole? Am still cutting things like chicken wings up for Merry but am torn between giving them whole to him for his teeth and muscles, and giving bones which are too big and having them 'reappear'  or get stuck 

Anyway, sounds like you're doing a fab job and am sure it's worth it. Takes a bit more planning etc but it's lovely to see them enjoying their food and trotting along after you when you mention dinner isn't it?

Emma and Merry xxx

[Karma]

Ok - definately need another freezer.... just collected what was meant to be a kilo of lamb bones from the butcher.
There is 3 kg of ribs, spine and tails, plus about a dozen full leg bones, and a couple of shoulder bones!!!!! 

The 3 kilos are now portioned up and in the freezer, along with a couple of the leg bones.  Honey has one leg bone at the minute (as a recreational bone), and I'm gonna boil up others for stock, as I just haven't got room for them... Freezer now 2/3 full with dog stuff, and we are rapidly running out of food.  Am still planning to get some frozen tripe form PAH to introduce into her diet, and need to try some other offal (only had liver so far), but haven't seen much for sale anywhere.... 

Merrysmum - Honey loves the pork ribs, and munches them down quite happily.  I think you are advised to freeze (and defrost) pork before giving it, as it can contain hydatid tapeworms, but as the ribs are sold for human consumption, they should be clear anyway.  All her bones are just given as they are... a couple of times she has coughed a little bit back up, but very rarely (despite 3 chicken wings taking about 30 seconds to demolish!).   

[LesleyW]

I give Bracken heart as well, from Tesco, just buy it fresh, chop and portion it and bung it in the freezer.

I get quite a lot of bones from our local organic butcher, which is luckily just up the road from me - he has a bone bin out the back of the shop and he tells us raw feeders to go help ourselves - sometimes it takes me a while when I get home to divide up portions of rib cages, but its fantastic stuff, loads of meat still on!!

Yep, we had to buy another small freezer just for Bracks nosh!!  Couldnt do without it now.