For all you dog, cat and even ferret lovers out there (I'm a dog lover) you really need to read this. If you want your dog to have a long, happy, healthy life I'm going to tell you something that will do just that and save you a lot of money in the process, so please read on.
As a dog owner and lover I've always wanted the best for both my dogs. I have two dogs a Great Dane cross Bull Mastiff called Hannibal and a Boxer called Ralphie. Both my dogs had a lot of problems with commercial dog food. Ralphie constantly had diarrhea and a lot of stomach upsets and Hannibal was always sluggish and looked depressed and he was only 11 months old.
I started going on dog forums and eventually came across a diet called the BARF diet. People were raving about how much better it was for them, and also how much cheaper it is.
What is BARF?
BARF stands for Bones And Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, depending on which books you read. The basic principle is to feed a diet that the animals have evolved to eat, or to put it another way as nature intended.
Dogs & cats (and ferrets) survived for thousands of years without a pet food manufacturer in sight there are records of wolves living to in excess of 35 years of age! We all imagine dogs living pampered lives in modern civilized countries, but believe it or not they are also thriving in African villages, wild in Oz as Dingoes, still hunting prey in deserts, and so on and no, they don't have yellow, filthy plaque-encrusted teeth or gingivitis.
Dogs and cats in the wild lived off whole carcasses including the internal organs, and the contents of the stomach which usually contains ground down, partially digested vegetation containing essential nutrients.
A BARF feeding diet is as close to nature as we can get with the right mix your pets will live a happier healthy life. We hope this information helps you on your way.
Why I started feeding my dog Barf
I would like to say I started feeding my dogs the BARF diet because of health reasons, which is very true, but having two big dogs or should I say one very big dog and a fairly big dog they ate so much, in the end I was paying about £80 ($158) a month feeding them commercial dog food. Now I pay between £20 and £30 ($39-$59) per month on BARF, a BIG difference!
Why I would never go back to commercial dog food
Since learning about the Barf diet and how good it is for them I was disgusted to find out how very bad commercial dog food is for a dog. I also couldn't believe vets knowingly support these companies when they should know they are putting rubbish in their products. I mean they put diseased meat into dog food, they also put corn into dog food knowing full well that dogs find it hard to digest. They also put chemical preservatives into dog food knowing full well they can cause cancer, sweeteners which causes health problems and also food colouring that is also linked to health problems, plus so much more bad stuff. How many dogs do you hear about dying of cancer nowadays? A lot is the answer!
So lets go over that again. If you're feeding your dog commercial dog food, there is a 99.99% chance that your dog will be eating diseased meat, corn, cancer causing chemical preservatives, sweeteners and food colouring which has been linked to bad health, no wonder dogs only live to 8-10 years of age nowadays. And vets know this, if they don't perhaps they should consider another vocation?! Yet most vets still continue to support these companies who are only thinking about lining their greedy pockets, while you are unwittingly and slowly killing poor old Sammy or Patch!
What BARF does for your dog
Here are some pointers I have learned along the way.
• Reduced doggy odour – This is a fact for my dogs anyway. The amount of wind my dogs passed when eating dog food used to make me feel sick lol.
• Naturally cleans teeth - no need for toothbrushes, de-scaling jobs, helps prevent gum disease - This is also true, even if you don't decide to feed your dog barf give him/her a bone a day as my dogs teeth are now whiter than mine!
• The time it takes for a dog to chew a raw meaty bones give their stomach time to get the acids moving – They also seem to exert more energy which keeps them fitter.
• Produces firmer stools with reduced quantity – This is also true. When I fed my dogs dog food, their poo was so runny there was no way I could pick it up.
• Can reduce vet bills (healthier dogs) – We've covered this above.
• Economical to feed in comparison to commercial dog foods – Most definitely true. A pig's head cost me 70p that probably about $1.30 or something. (You don't have to feed your dogs pigs head if you don't want, lots of people wouldn't lol)
• Mirrors what nature intended them to eat in the wild – I am a firm believer in this.
• Puppies develop at a more appropriate rate and quick growth spurts are avoided. A GOOD breeder will want to stop fast growth in any pup. – I'm not a breeder and I have to say I didn't notice different growth rates as I started my one dog when he was 11 months on the BARF diet.
• The ripping and chewing involved in eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles of a dog - This is very true, my dogs look a lot bigger than their average size for that breed. They also have very well developed heads legs and shoulders. In fact I've been considering entering my Boxer (Ralphie) into a bodybuilding contest. If they'll have him.
• Better weight control which helps to reduce the symptoms of arthritis and obesity. – I can tell you that my dogs can eat twice as much raw meat than they would dog food and yet they are slimmer than when I fed them commercial dog food, and they look like athletes compared to the other dogs in my area.
Prey Model Diet
There is another diet which I think I'm now slowly converting to and that is the prey model diet. This diet is designed to totally imitate what dogs/wolves used to eat in the wild. As dogs are carnivores and not omnivores some people suggest they do not need vegetables (the raw food bit in BARF) in their diet. Some say dogs would have eaten the stomach contents of their prey which may have meant they would eat vegetables, some say they wouldn't have eaten the stomach contents so they would of only ate the meat. What I can say is my dogs (Hannibal & Ralphie) like their meat a lot better than their vegetables, and after seeing how strong and healthy my dogs look after eating meat I've slowly converted over to the Prey Model Diet.
Conclusion
I won't go on again about commercial dog food as it disgusts me and I'll only get wound up, but what I will say is this. I love my dogs very much and I could not feed my dogs commercial dog food and live with myself after knowing what I know now about it. I can honestly tell you that my dogs are so much more livelier, fitter, stronger, healthier and happier now that they eat proper meat than when they were eating that rubbish. They really get excited when it's dinner time, and the first couple of times we (my partner and I) fed them BARF food Ralphie was jumping up to my shoulder height and Hannibal was almost to jumping up to the top of my head (Very funny to watch).
It's very easy to feed them now, I just throw them down some meat out my back garden leave them for an hour, if it's all gone then great if they've had enough then I pick it up, put it in a cooler box and give it to them later (they get fed twice a day). It's quicker than giving them tinned food.
I hope this article will have made some of you think and hopefully convert you to feeding your dog either the BARF or Prey Model Diet. Remember a happy dog is a healthy dog, and who wants to see their dog die of some horrible disease and have to pay for all the vets bills when a simple diet change can save you money and most of all save your dogs life!!
If you would like to learn more of the full horrid details of commercial dog food, the diets you can give your dog that will increase his or her life, and keep your pet fit and healthy then please continue to the report entitled Pet Health Report below.
| Steve Luxton writes articles on Pet Health and Happiness and specialises in raw feeding diets such as the Prey Model Diet and BARF Diet. The information any animal lover The Pet Health Report If you would like to email for any help or advice on your dog please email Steve Luxton at steve.luxton@fsmail.net |
1 comment:
Hi there,
This is Mary from Barfworld. Thank you and keep spreading the word on the BARF diet.
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