A closer Look at the BARF Diet Part 1

Much has been debated on the BARF Diet for Dogs. Even among those who feel this is the perfect canine diet, there are vast differences of opinion as to portion size, frequency of feeding, and ingredients.

This makes perfect sense to me because there are no two dogs alike. What works perfectly for one dog may not work for another. A close relationship to your companion helps a great deal when sorting out the options. If you know your dog, you will be able to see which foods work best and which cause problems.

Central to this diet is the concept of food rotation. This is the practice of moving various foods in and out of the diet, so that no food makes a constant appearance in the diet.

Often the Protein Source is rotated to avoid overexposure to one protein, such as chicken. Some people feel this lessens the likelihood of an allergy developing to that protein.
The additional ingredients, the plant based foods are also rotated for the same reasons of allergy avoidance. However they also rotate in order to include the widest variety of vitamins and minerals offered by a diverse diet.

As mentioned, there is no solid rule regarding how much of what and when. That said, I will offer an example of what I feel is commonly accepted as a healthy ratio of foods.

• Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) about 65-75% of diet
• Vegetables, fruit, plant matter 15-25% of diet
• Offal (organ meats) about 10%

Meat and Bones: Use whole bones with meat when possible, such as chicken legs, wings etc. NEVER COOK BONES.

Plant Edibles: All vegetables, and fruits must be ground, pulped, or otherwise finely grated or minced. If you use a juicer, return the pulp to the mix before feeding. It adds fiber. Use more vegetables and less fruits. Overripe fruit is best.

Offal: Include a variety of organ meats. Remember that hearts are actually muscle. Use livers, gizzards, kidneys etc to make up offal mix. Keep it rotating.

The diet does not have to be balanced every day. The goal is to provide a balanced diet overall. For example, some people achieve 10% offal in the diet by feeding a day of ONLY Offal every 10 days, and putting zero offal in on the other 9 days.

Chose meaty raw bones that fit the size of your canine companion. All dogs seem to do well with chicken, however small does are unable to crunch through beef bones. So for the smaller ones, stay with appropriate bone sizes.

Some people say supplements are a must. Others say they are not needed. The verdict is out for me.

What is the BARF diet?

BARF stands for "Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods", or "Bones And Raw Foods". It's not a pretty word, and has been replaced by some with phrases such as:

• species appropriate diet
• raw diet
• raw feeding
• all natural diet
• ancestral diet

Even the "Species Appropriate Diet" does not lend itself to a pleasant acronym, becoming SAD. We at Sheriff Tom and Posse Pals tend to prefer the term "ancestral diet".

When people speak of the BARF diet, ancestral diet, or any of it's forms, they are almost always speaking of a RAW diet.

Grain Free Diets, Are they best?

Hi, and welcome back.

Through my observations and research I feel GRAIN FREE diets are a MUST for cats. They are the true carnivore. To be technical, cats are obligate carnivores. By definition these are animals that subsist only on meats, and lack the ability to digest plant matter. So to you cat companions I say, grain free is the only way to go. Those who have made the switch rarely go back, and often have remarkable results from going grain-free. More later on how to achieve this.

Now for dogs. In recent years much has been written for and against raw feeding. Not being a veterinarian, nor a scientist, I can only give you my opinion based on experience and study. That said, stay away from grains with dogs! It is NO doubt in my mind grain nearly killed my dog.

Do wild dogs eat grain? Not usually. They may come across a minor bit in the intestines of their prey , but they do not pick grains, eat corn, boil oats, or otherwise ingest grain. They are, of course, opportunists when scavenging for food, and if hungry enough they nibble rotted fruit and any number of other plant materials. However, the bulk of their nutrition comes from meat, bones, cartilage, and organ meats. This is what they were built to consume. It has been stated by those who are scientists that when a dog eats grain from the intestines of their prey, the digestion has been done by the rabbit, deer, etc. The digestive enzymes were provided not by the dog or wolf.

I was surprised to discover that vegetables and plant matter tends to go right through my dogs undigested. By that I mean it shows up in the poop looking remarkably like it did when it went in the other end. After some research I discovered the reason. Dogs lack the ability to break down the cell wall of plant matter. So if feeding them plants, I need to grind and pulverize the material for them, as though I were the deer or rabbit chewing it. Only then can my little canines access the nutrition.

For the most part, I feel that grains are bad for dogs. Some dogs can tolerate grains, others, like my Sheriff Tom, have no tolerance for them. At best, is it a good idea to feed your companion something they can "tolerate"? I suggest a much wiser approach is to feed only what is optimum. If plant matter is consumed, let it be a very small part of their treats. And then use caution.

At www.sherifftom.com we have some great suggestions for grain free treats and food. Stop by sometime.

Happy Trails, Posse Pals!