r u currently feedig your dog(s) Dr Ian Billinghursts raw diet?

okay,

I have fed my dogs this diet for 10 years before it was more known 2 do so. I have not had any vet bills in the last 10 years other than their normal checkups and annual shots. I have a sheltie that is 19 years old(in human years) and she keeps going, a min pin that died at the ripe old age of 18 of just old age as my vet stated natural causes. I have a chow that is 15 and she acts as if she is still in her prime other than being grumpy. I have a 7 month old st. bernard that weighs 110 pounds and doing just great. I also have 7 other dogs i feed this to and they are doing just fine.

Most vets will not agree with this diet, but mine says keep doing what i am doing as it is working for my pets.

As far as daily portions it depends on the size of the dog so each one of mine get differant portions. I feed my st. bernard 4 times per day only because small portions are better for the bigger breed than one meal per day as they are prone to bloat, and bloat will kill them. My sheltie gets fed 2 times per day and i feed her about 3 cups of food twice a day.

Before u do decide 2 feed this diet, i would suggest u do the research on how to get the protein factors right. I cook for my dog doggy stews and etc. besides just the raw meat with fresh veggies.

here is a couple of websites on the barf diet in case u have not checked these out yet.

http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet.s...

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

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html

I feed my dogs something similar. The recipe I use for my dogs is a combination of ground turkey and hamburger (though some of my dogs can't handle the hamburger very well). I also use a mix of brown rice, garlic and vegetables (usually something similar to a california blend). For certain dogs I have to boil the mix until it is medium-raw.

My wolf-dog is doing very good on this diet. She used to be a very picky eater so didn't gain much weight. She also had a rough coat, yellowing teeth, cloudy eyes. She seemed very lazy and not wanting to do anything. Since putting her on the meal (which has been almost a year and a half now) she has improved 90%. She has gained over 100 healthy pounds. She is leaner, more muscular, and not so fatty or flabby. Her teeth, coat and eyes have improved incredibly as well! She is also more playful, less submissive and has more energy than before.

Because of her breed, she gets 80% RAW, 15% kibble and 5% bread, twice per day. When we first started out on the plan, she only got 1/4 RAW to 3/4 kibble; and we eventually worked our way up to where she's at now. To be honest, I wasn't completely happy with 100% raw with her. But I've had other dogs (I'm a foster home for pregnant dogs) that did wonders on 100% RAW.

As far as vets that would comment, I'd say most of them would say it's not a healthy option. And, I agree with certain breeds. But in my opinion, offering a RAW diet that I make at home I know exactly what's in this food and should my dog have any kind of allergic reaction to anything I know what went in the meal and know what to take out. With store-bought kibble, lord only knows what's in it and should a reaction happen, you cannot take any of the ingredients out. You have to search through bag after bag after bag hoping the ingredients are different and the kibble you purchase with the different ingredients has removed the one causing the reaction in your dog.

As for me--that's just too much work.