Barf-diet

                      THIS IS A HAND OUT I HAVE BEEN GIVEN FROM A BREEDER WHO SWEARS BY IT.

                                 I have been giving it much thought about putting my Dachshund on it!
                                                          Something to consider   /   Another option

BEFORE GETTING INTO WHAT A RAW DIET IS, LETS START WITH SOME BACKGROUND:

Imagine each day eating a complete diet. But, instead of fresh wholesome foods making up this diet, it's composed of a dried extruded kibble or meal. Along with this for variety you could eat the same thing canned, or semi-moist. The ingredients would read something like: corn middlings, wheat middlings, oat hulls, meat meal, meat by-product meal, FD&C Red #40, Blue #20, Preserved with BHA & BHT. Imagine your horror when you then found out that meat meal could be ANY TYPE of animal INCLUDING dogs and cats. Not only that, it could be cancerous cells, diseased animals, 4D animals (Dead, dying, diseased or down - upon delivery to the butchering plant). These are all placed together in a huge vat and cooked till they're 'rendered' together into a mass then added to food. This is all you could eat, day after day, month after month, after all it's complete and balanced.

You wouldn't be willing to do that would you? Why then do it to your dog?

And it gets worse, not only does dog food contain rendered meat products, inferior grains, and toxic chemicals, they also are a completely dead food. Abandoning all the dog food commercials advertising "Real Meat" etc, lets think this through. Dogs are descendants of wolves. Not just descendants, they basically ARE wolves. Their DNA is the same as a wolf, they can cross breed and produce viable offspring, their skeleton and digestive system is the same. There are differences in appearance, but inside they're the same animal. What then do wolves eat? In the wild wolves eat a diet mainly consisting of raw meat, bones, offal, crushed vegetable matter (as found in a herbivores stomach and intestines), and very little if any grain. Wolves are scavengers as well as hunters and will also eat eggs, overripe fruit, some vegetation, and carcasses. Almost all their meat would be FRESH and would make up about 75 - 80% of their diet or more. So, how do we emulate this at home? We feed a RAW fresh diet made up of about 80% meat and bones, and 20% veggies, fruit, offal etc.

WHY I FEED BARF

I started out on a quest for better health for my dogs in a fairly simple way. I was looking for a way to make my dogs immune system work better. My dogs had been fed a premium diet, kept healthy, vaccinated, wormed, and were well cared for. Why would MY dogs have weak immune systems? . I started searching the web and found the BARF email list and joined. I found out about a book called "Food Pets Die For by Ann N. Martin. I was shocked to read what dog food was made from and decided to switch my guys immediately. I learned of Ian Billinghurst's books "Give Your Dog a Bone" and " Feed Your Pups with Bones. I ordered them both and I switched.

The first 6-8 months was a time of learning and making changes. I saw changes in my dogs almost immediately. They have better coat, skin condition and have more energy than they did before. Their teeth are now white without tartar. Scooping poop is a breeze as the BARF diet leaves little undigested food to be expelled.

WHY I WANT YOU TO FEED A BARF DIET.

When I decided to breed, I was very concerned with the health of the breed as a whole. As I started researching more and more, I realized it wasn't just purebred dogs in general. ALL dogs are having health problems in this country. 15 years ago it was extremely uncommon to hear of dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Epilepsy, Cancer, Thyroid dysfunction, allergies, heart disease etc. Now this is common place. Vets estimate 80% of dogs they see have some form of health problem!! Specifically have heart, hip and eye problems. They also suffer from Epilepsy, Cancer and other diseases. While these are genetic to some degree, I also believe that they are partially due to the diet and vaccinations.

I am breeding for Health first and foremost. It is my goal to have a line of dogs which are recognized as healthy. While you can not control genetics, and there will always be fatal genes out there, it's very important to me that all my puppies are given the healthiest possible start so they can develop into healthy dogs.

OK, now you're thinking this is WAY too complicated, and what about the balanced diet? Lets address some issues.

First is the 100% complete and balanced part. Purina, Science Diet, Iams and all the other companies would lead you to believe that only a scientist is capable of feeding a dog correctly. Hmm, is there merit here? Well, think about this logically. What do YOU eat? If I'm guessing right, you're like most of us, you eat a little of everything, try to stay for the most part healthy but don't follow the food groups exactly or add up your vitamin/mineral consumption each day. You may take some vitamins to offset the effects of this, but overall you're healthy, happy and a normal person. If you have kids they're probably the same, you try to feed them well but don't stay awake nights worrying about what exactly you did feed them. They are also healthy, growing normally and happy. So, where does that put the balance thing. Balance should be achieved over a 2 week period. I bet if you charted your diet for a month, you'd find overall it pretty much fits the standard guidelines and there's plenty of variety there. This is the same thing that dog food should be, maybe not balanced every day, but balanced over time. I personally find it appalling and feel belittled that pet food companies have preached that we're so stupid we can't balance our own animals diet. I disagree strongly with this! And for the sake of argument, ARE the commercial diets REALLY balanced? They SAY they are, but WHY then are there so many supplements out there? Why do so many dogs have health problems on these diets? Why do so many dogs do BETTER when placed on a homemade diet? Which one is really balanced and which isn't?

Now, what about the RAW issue? This is quite simple, wolves did not invent fire. No animal NATURALLY eats cooked meats. Even if you go back far enough PEOPLE don't. Dogs have a short digestive track designed to process raw meat. (interesting fact, a dog's digestive track is 3 times as long as their body. Ours is TWELVE times! We were meant to digest much more in the way of veggies but I digress). It is made so that food moves through quickly, too quickly for bacteria to develop. Furthermore, they have a much stronger stomach acid than people, this cuts through meat and also kills bacteria. Yes, bacteria could potentially affect your dog. But the chance of this is so slight that I don't even consider it. Especially in a dog who's been fed a raw diet his or her entire life and is healthy and vibrant. There is a much larger danger in feeding your dog a cooked diet. Cooked meat is treated as a 'rancid' meat in a dog's system. So much so that it can cause pancreatitis, diabetes etc. Dogs will also not be getting full nutritional value from this cooked dead food. Raw meat is chock full of enzymes, fatty acids, and good stuff, It's the perfect food for our little carnivores.

Some people are concerned about the bacteria for PEOPLE, especially in the stools, and especially if they have children. I can't tell you there is no risk, but chances are, if you eat meat, go to the grocery store, eat in restaurants, shop at malls, or go to the playground, you have come into contact with the same bacteria your dog would be carrying. Matter of fact, you probably have some on your hands right now! Salmonella (the main cause for worry) and e-coli (which, in properly prepared and handled meat should NEVER be an issue) needs the right condition to grow. It loves to reproduce when the temperature is above 50 degrees and below 140. The grocery store is a delightful place to get some on your hands, but I bet you've never gotten sick.. E-coli is carried in the large intestine of EVERY animal. It's a natural bacteria, helping your body. The problem is when bad sanitary habits lead it into the mouth, then into the tummy. If you wash your hands, wash your veggies (other people could have contaminated them) and thoroughly cook your hamburger (something your dog probably won't be eating much of) you won't run into a problem. In theory it's possible for your dog to A, give someone salmonella by licking them right after eating, or B, pass it through the stool. The first is easy to prevent. I believe that dogs should eat in crates. B is prevented by the diet. Dogs on a raw diet produce very little stool, and what there is hard, DRY and crumbly. I have never seen a stool in which you could pick up salmonella from. It's a totally different product than what a kibble fed dog produces.

OK, raw meat, I can see that, but BONES? My vet says that dogs are KILLED by bones. Dogs get obstructions, pierced intestines, and other problems from eating COOKED bones. RAW bones are very crumbly, and are fully digested. Matter of fact I've never seen one of my dogs pass an undigested bone, or vomit up a piece of bone. Here's where that strong stomach acid comes into affect again, they digest them and are made to do that! Bones are necessary for dogs in many ways. The first is dietary. Break a chicken bone open, look at that rich marrow. If you can grind it up, you can see the juices. Chicken bones provide the dog with every essential mineral and fatty acid except for one. That one is found in raw chicken. Again these must be RAW! The second is behavioral. Dogs are voracious chewers, and in reality need to live a more active lifestyle than most people can provide. Bones give the dogs an outlet for energy. I give my adult dogs a raw beef bone about once a month. They chew these down but we always have some old ones hanging around. Puppies should have an almost constant supply of beef bones of varying sizes to chew. It helps get those puppy teeth out, wear the puppy out physically, develop neck and front muscles, occupies them while you're busy, and prevents boredom and chewing on inappropriate items. People report much happier less destructive puppies when they're given raw bones to chew up.

What if my dog got a deficiency? It makes me nervous to think about that. A vitamin deficiency is pretty hard to do with a properly maintained raw diet. By monitoring your dog's health (are it's eyes clear and bright, does it have a shiny thick coat, is the energy level high, is it scratching, is the skin clean looking with no signs of dandruff?) you can adjust the diet accordingly. Additionally what each dogs needs is slightly different from any other dog in the world. By feeding a raw diet you're able to adjust things until the diet is just right for that dog. I have seen many a dog on a commercial food that has dandruff, a dry coat, allergies, weepy eyes or other problems. Commercial food are traditionally very low in fatty acids, trace minerals, and vitamins necessary for a good immune system. Bring into that that cooked meat is so devoid of nutrition for a dog, and which diet is deficient?

But I hardly have time to feed myself, there's no WAY I can make food for the dog! Assuming you have one or two dogs ( I currently have 8, all eating raw!) the time is so little that you'll be amazed. I'll cover prep times right before the menu, but figure 15 minutes a WEEK per dog. You can juice the veggies once a week and freeze them in correct portions. Or, juice them on your veggie feeding days, especially when your dogs an adult and only needs veggies a couple times a week. The chicken or turkey meaty bones can be bought in advance. Divide into portions and freeze. Believe it or not, a conventional freezer should store all this stuff plus your pizza, frozen dinners and ice cream. In reality the time needed for a raw diet is hardly more than the time needed for a commercial diet plus supplements. Or in many cases a commercial diet period! For those that are just convinced they don't have time, there are some commercially prepared frozen foods sold now that are based on a Billinghurst/Shultze diet. But I really believe once you're through reading this, that making at home won't seem very daunting.

But today's meat is contaminated with hormones, antibiotics, and other junk. Why feed THAT to your dog? In a perfect world we'd all be feeding organic, free range meat. Unfortunately this isn't a perfect world. While the meat we buy at the butchers or the grocery store may not be ideal, it is 1,000 times better than what dog food is made from. Food for human consumption must be inspected. It must be kept refrigerated, and animals for butchering must not have any antibiotic or hormones in their system when they're butchered. When I win the lottery I will raise my own animals or have someone do that for me but until then, this is the best I can do. I know at least the animals was not rendered straight from being euthanized at the vet still containing the sodium-phenobarbitol, and wearing it's flea collar and rabies tag, or that the animal was riddled with cancer therefore not fit for human consumption, or that it had mad cow disease so was 'down' when it reached the meat plant. All of these things ARE in dog food, and it's appalling. Cooking does nothing to destroy the antibiotics or hormones in the meat, matter of fact some sources says it can intensify it. We could of course, cut out meat all together but dogs are not made to be vegetarians. Contaminated or not, they must eat meat.

THE INGREDIENTS

The main ingredient is of course raw meaty chicken bones. IF you can not find a source for chicken, check into turkey bones, especially necks (no turkey drumsticks). Ideally the chicken bones should be either necks, backs or wings. These provide the correct meat to bone ratio. If these can not be found, chicken quarters, or drumsticks may be used. You can remove some of the meat, or else make sure an additional source of calcium is available (generally in the form of raw beef or lamb bones. These will make up about 75- 80 % of your dogs diet.

Veggies. Veggie meals should be fed about 3-4 meals a week in an adult dog. For a puppy a small quantity of veggies can be fed every day. Veggies of course must be crushed for a dog to assimilate the nutrients. Veggies should be varied and whatever is on sale. Basically any veggie located in a grocery store will be fine, except for onions. Make sure to keep a large variety involved in the diet, and to use plenty of dark leafy greens along with your carrots. Some veggies I use include: Carrots, Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, Celery, Butter Lettuce, Leaf lettuce, Bok choy, Parsley (in small amounts as it is hard on the kidneys), Cabbage, Sweet potatoes or yams, Squash,, zuchinni.

Offal: This can include, liver, kidney, heart, or any other organ meat (beef, chicken, turkey or lamb). I mix offal with the veggie meals. I also often feed liver as training treats, simply cook (with garlic) in your oven and freeze. It is frozen and cut into blocks of 1 pound each. It contains kidney, liver, tripe, spleen, heart, meat scraps, etc.

Eggs: Eggs are a perfectly balanced food. They assist in giving plenty of minerals, fatty acids, protein, calcium, and the sulfur content allows the dogs to absorb the fatty acids present in other foods. I throw whole eggs in with the veggie mix.

Vitamin C: Because today's world is polluted to some degree, dogs do not generally produce enough Vit C to prevent disease. A dog should receive about 500 mg a day. This can be either given in a pill form, or bought in a powder to mix with the veggies.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E helps keep fats from going rancid in the body, and is a known antioxidant. I give about 200 IU a day.

Flax Seed Oil: Flax seed is the richest vegetarian source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Chicken provides the omega 6, we must balance it. Flax seed oil must be cold pressed, and minimally processed then kept refrigerated.

Salmon Oil: This is another source of Omega 3, along with omega 9. This is fish BODY oil, different than fish LIVER oil (which is used for it's A & D content).

Marine Oil: This is another source of Omega 3, along with omega 9. This is seal oil. I use this one oil primarily and I give it daily.

Spirulina: It is a source of Iodine, trace minerals, and other goodies. It helps boost the thyroid, increase pigment and provides a good supplement of minerals.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

Like I've said before 70-80% of your dogs' meals are going to be raw meaty bones. Once you've located your source of chicken, estimate how much your dog will need. (I buy 50 pounds.) For my moderately active dogs, this is about 1-2 chicken necks per meal. 2% of your dog's IDEAL weight is a good measurement to start out with. You can then move it up or down according to weight gain or loss. Estimate the chicken out into meals and freeze in containers. Veggies can be processed using either a food processor, blender, Vita-Mix, or juicer. I personally use a juicer. Once you have your equipment, have bought your veggies (yes, slightly old or wilted are just fine) you're ready to go. Thoroughly wash your veggies and slice them into chunks and juice . I then add the pulp and the juice together and add an egg, oil and 1% natural yogurt. I now add a bag of Essex Farms supplement to this mix (instead of adding supplements). Once it's a liquidy gross icky slop it's ready to serve! If you're serving one dog, and making one batch you're done. If you're feeding an army or making up enough to freeze, place this batch in a big bowl and separate into serving size containers. Muffin trays work well for a single dog household or puppy. For my guys I use 1 pound margarine tubs. Once you've frozen the items into the trays, simply pop them out and store them in ziploc baggies.

To serve the veggie meals I take a tub of veggies out of the freezer along with 2 blocks of offal. Thaw overnight and in the morning mix together and serve.

TREATS

Liver is a well loved food. Try dehydrating it in your oven for the ultimate training treat. Bake at about 175 for several hours or overnight till it's dry but still leathery. Break into little pieces and freeze. It will defrost quickly and makes outstanding training bits. You can do the same with chicken giblets. Hearts and gizzards dry very well and there's no cutting up! You can cover liver with garlic and bake until cooked let cool and freeze in baggies. Raisins are well liked by most dogs, banana chips, apples etc are also treats. Dogs LOVE to chew up carrots,celery or other fresh veggies.

I believe 99.9% of owners are capable of preparing a healthy diet for their dogs. Not only that, but I believe that EVERY owner wants their dog to live a healthy, happy, active, long life. There are no guarantees in life but I think that by feeding a Biologically Appropriate Raw Diet, and keeping the dog's whole health in focus, we can be much more successful in meeting these goals.

       (BASED ON 2 MEALS A DAY)

       MONDAY       TUESDAY        WEDNESDAY     THURSDAY         FRIDAY           SATURDAY       SUNDAY

        vegetable           meat                   meat                vegetable                meat                   vegetable              meat

         meat                meat                   meat                  meat                    meat                      meat                  meat

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