What is a BARF Diet

What is a BARF Diet?

By Cherilyn Alport

Sometimes you will hear a breeder or pet owner say they feed their dog the BARF diet. This seems a funny name, but in fact the diet is based on the old-fashioned principles of feeding dogs something close to a natural diet. BARF stands for Bones And Raw Foods, and strict BARFers do not feed their dogs any processed or cooked foods at all. I am by no means an expert in this area, but I have been feeding my dogs a mainly raw diet for about 10 years, with occasional supplementation from commercial dry foods. Most BARFers claim that their dogs rarely are ill enough to warrant visits to the vet, and I’d like to share with you some tips for feeding dogs the natural way. I have included a summary diet sheet but for more information, I recommend the websites http://www.barfers.com/ and http://www.drianbillinghurst.com/, or the books Give Your Dog a Bone and Grow Your Pups With Bones, by Dr Ian Billinghurst.

The BARF diet aims to mimic as closely as possible what dogs would eat in the wild – in other words, what they evolved to eat. The food should be raw, contain high levels of vegetable matter, and should contain no artificial preservatives or colours. The dog’s diet should be based on raw meat, raw meaty bones (RMBs) and vegetables. In Australia, we can get the meat from beef, lamb, kangaroo and chicken. The first three are best for overweight Cavaliers! Chicken is especially good for youngsters, as the dog will gain a lot of calcium from eating the chicken bones. But beware – some dogs are allergic to the antibiotics used in battery or barn hens, so organic or free-range is best. Kangaroo is always “free range”. Whole fresh fish also add variety, and the dogs love them! And remember, RAW meaty bones – never feed cooked bones to your dog.

Raw meat and RMBs should constitute about 70% of the diet but should never be the only food given – this would leave the dog lacking in many nutrients. One of the most important things about Raw Meaty Bones, is that a dog must really work in order to eat them. Young jaws and teeth will develop well, teeth will stay clean and the dog must use muscles from throughout it’s body, in order to pull the meat off the bone. Great for muscle and bone development!

Vegetables supply fibre, proteins, anti-oxidants, enzymes, B group vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Fruit can also be used but not too much. Vegetables and fruit which are useful include: carrots, pumpkin (great for “fatties”), cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, celery, apples, pears, melon (caution: the rind is toxic) and over-ripe bananas. Most BARFers crush or vitamize the vegetables, thus allowing easier access to the nutrients, for the dog’s digestive system. This mimics eating the stomach contents of killed prey (sorry!). DO NOT include the potato family (too starchy), or onion (causes anaemia), and only use the cabbage family in limited quantities, as it may affect the thyroid.

Some supplements to the diet are very useful, while others can be harmful. Useful supplements include (in small quantities – less than ½ tsp per meal): Brewer’s Yeast (watch out for rashes, as some dogs are allergic), kelp (thyroid function may be affected in some dogs), offal, flaxseed oil, fish oil, and garlic (repels fleas and worms). Eggs are great – one raw egg 3 times a week. Crack the egg over the meal, and throw in the shell – the dogs love it! Yoghurt and honey are also beneficial, particularly in case of digestive upsets. Avoid anything containing artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Dogs have little use for grains. This includes rice, wheat, corn and barley. Use these as little as possible – many people use rice as a “filler” to make the meal go further, but it really has little nutritional value to a dog, as they don’t need the level of carbohydrates that we need. Rather than giving your dog a biscuit as a treat, try a stick of carrot or celery, or a chunk of cheese. Although strict BARFers feed no commercially processed (cooked) foods, everyone gets caught out from time to time. For these situations, I like to keep a few tins of Supercoat or Nature’s Gift products in the cupboard – they are the closest to my dog’s natural diet that I can find in a tin.

I find my dogs, which are fed on the BARF diet (whether the strict version or one of the many variations) are very healthy. So healthy in fact, that once my vet thought I must be taking my dogs to another practice, as he hadn’t seen us in a while!

There are several suppliers who make BARF diet commercially, or who can provide the crushed vegetables and suitable meats for you to mix. Their details can be found in the Yellow Pages, under “Pet Foods &/or Suppliers”.

To follow is a summary diet sheet that I give to buyers of my Cavaliers – this is the “adult dog” version. It is a rough guide, as I don’t believe in “hard and fast rules” when suggesting quantities – it is up to the owner to decide when their dog is getting too fat or is too thin and adjust the diet accordingly. The diet can also be adjusted according to seasonal availability of various vegetables. Of course, there are always dogs who have dietary intolerances, in which case I suggest you remove the offending food and/or consult your vet.

Your adult Cavalier needs one meal per day, between 180 and 200 grams TOTAL of a mix of the following:

raw chicken/ beef mince

raw chicken wings or necks

raw eggs with shell

mixed raw vegies (diced or vitamized)

yoghurt

grated cheese

RAW meaty bones

As you can see, many of these are foods we eat ourselves (except the pet grade meats, I hope!), and this makes it quite easy and relatively cheap to feed the dog. For example, the vegies can be the scraps from your own meal, vitamized raw.

Your dog needs to eat raw bones for several reasons:

· to clean teeth and keep breath smelling good

· for dietary roughage

· they are a natural source of calcium

Raw meat is better than cooked because the cooking process destroys many of the vitamins, and removes the fat. Cooking also hardens any bones in the meat, making them indigestible- this can cause very painful (and expensive) bowel obstructions, so please DO NOT give cooked bones, wings or necks to your dog.

Cavaliers can be greedy, but obesity can cause BIG health problems. A Cavalier is supposed to weigh no more than 9kg, but this will vary according to the overall build of the dog. Check with your vet to see if your dog’s weight is OK for its build.

A couple of things to avoid in your dogs diet:

· cow’s milk

· any food containing dyes or preservatives, as these can cause hyperactivity and some allergic reactions

· potatoes (ferment and become toxic in the dog’s stomach)

· onions (cause anaemia in dogs)

Clean fresh water must be available at all times.