BARF diet???

If by barf you mean bones and raw food then go for it!! Most of us call it raw-feeding these days to differentiate from the commercial 'omnivore' diets. Dogs are CARNIVORES - this is a physiological fact! Just because they can eat vegetables doesn't mean they should!

Join one of the yahoo groups - rawfeeding and RawMeatyBones are both filled with knowledgeble people who can provide both support and information. Many people feed this way and many vets are now recommending this more natural feeding method for their clients.

I feed my 14 month old stafford and three cats on raw meat, edible bones and offal. The dog gets the occasional table scraps as well. She has been fed this way since 9 weeks of age and when she has pups they will be weaned straight onto raw.

The general guide when feeding this way is to feed 2-3% of the expected ADULT weight per day. For a pup split this over several meals. My 16.5 kg girl gets about 400 grams per day. She has had this amount since about 3 months and now only gets one meal a day.

Feed a variety of meats - most people start with chicken as it is fairly cheap and most dogs like it. After a few weeks of feeding chicken quarters then add another protein source. Wait a week or so between new foods. My animals eat chicken, pork, lamb, beef, fish, goat and kangaroo.

Feed your dog about 70-80% raw meat, 10-15% edible bone (not those big shin or marrow bones but ones that can be crunched though) and 10-15% offal (about half of this liver). Feed these amount over the course of a week or two and your dog will have all the nutrients he needs to be healthy.

There is no need to cook, grind or puree - just make friends with your local butcher!! Good luck on your journey and feel free to contact me for more information. PLEASE don't be put off by ignorant scaremongers - a dog's digestive system is designed for prey and carrion not grains and cooked vegetables!

do a search for barf diet chat boards...there are many out there...i have fed Barf...but it was too time consuming for me and my family...but have come up with my own type of "mush" that I feed, that consists of mostly raw foods...perhaps that would be ther route to take with your smaller dogs...

good luck to you!

Please do not feed the raw food diet! There may be people out there who agree that a raw food diet is beneficial to their dogs, but in truth you are exposing your pets to salmonella and other bacteria. Dogs are actually omnivores and require grains and vegetation in their diet. The raw food diets do not provide adequate nutrients and are an imbalanced diet. Most well made kibble (Innova, Wellness, California Natural, Royal Canine) would be much better for your pets. Especially since you have a new puppy he will need to be on puppy food, not a raw diet to receive proper nutrition.

I have fed all the dogs I have had on raw food. Some were small, the smallest being 6lb, thought he was a huge dog though. You need to fed smaller peices but its abou the same as a large dog. I also feed my cats the same way and they just bully my pit bull out of some of his. They also go out and kill thier own. By the way all those nay sayers that tell you about all the germs and such dogs can get need to do thier home work. All meat eating animals have things in their systems to fight anything that may be in the meat. As a person who eats her meat almost raw I have never gotten sick and none of my dogs have gotten sick.

Are you looking at BARF or prey-model? There are lots of people on Yahoo's rawfeeding group who feed all kinds of dogs, cats, ferrets...

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

There are also the Dogster forums, which have provided me with tons of help and encouragement.

http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet

Here's a specific link on it, even!

http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread...

Good luck!

Try this....

http://rawfed.com/myths/toybreeds.html

http://www.healinghope.net/downloads/canine_raw_fo...