The very best puppy food? BARF
Dec 03 '00
BARF- no, stop giggling, I'm serious. BARF is an acronym for the absolute best way to feed your dog- the Bones And Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet.
Why is it so much better?
1) It eliminates all the byproducts, grains, preservatives, fillers, and other junk that dry dog foods, even the very best and most expensive, are full of. The "super-premium" brands, even those that you have to do mail-order with and will cost you up to $2 per pound, have a large portion of their ingredients made up of grains (corn, wheat, rice, and so on). But dogs can't digest grains! That's right, they really can't. Their bodies do not make amylase, which is the enzyme that breaks down and digests grains.
2) It can turn a dog's health totally around. BARF-fed dogs are typically shinier, stronger, better-muscled, and leaner than kibble-fed dogs. Eyes get bright and those tear stains or brown "eye loogies" disappear. Breath becomes clean and fresh. Older dogs tend to act younger and become more active. The risk of bloat (such a terrible problem for large or giant breeds) is reduced. Gas production is much less. Many owners experience a huge and wonderfully positive change in nearly every aspect of their dog's health.
3) Tiny, odorless poops. Because the food is so totally digested, the output is minimal and dry, and the poops typically turn white and dissolve or blow away within a few days. A BARF-poop is usually about 1/4 the size of a typical kibble poop, and DOES NOT SMELL.
4) It's cheaper! When compared with the cost of premium foods, BARF often comes out on top. I know I'm spending about half what I once did- I'm feeding a Great Dane and a Great Pyrenees (both over 100 lbs) on about $40/month.
OK, so how do you do it?
BARF sounds complicated at first, but soon becomes just as easy as kibble feeding.
Part One: Raw Meaty Bones (RMBs). DON'T feed your puppy or dog plain meat- it's not nutritious enough and will lead to bone problems. What you want is meaty bones- most often used in the US are chicken backs and necks (find a butcher who is happy to unload them and you can often get them for a song- I pay $.29/lb), but you can also use pork neck bones, turkey wings or backs or necks, oxtail, and other meats, as long as there's about 50% meat and 50% bone in the cut. A puppy gets between 5% and 10% of its body weight per day in RMBs, while an adult dog gets between 2% and 3%. For my dogs, who are now adults, that means around 2-3 lbs per day, or about 4 chicken backs each, divided into two meals. And no, raw bones are not dangerous to dogs- cooked bones are, and should never, ever, be fed to dogs or puppies. But raw bones are digested completely and the act of chewing them up cleans the teeth and works the upper-body muscles.
Part Two: Vegetables. These are served raw but pulped- run them through your food processor or blender. Use the widest variety of nutritious fruits and vegetables you can find- you can often get the bruised stuff from supermarkets for free or close to it. I usually make mine from romaine lettuce, bananas, apples, pumpkin (when I can find it), green beans, zucchini, and/or whatever else is on sale. A vegetable meal replaces a RMB meal two or three times a week- I give 2-3 cups of blended veggies per dog.
Part Three: Supplements and Organ Meats. Some people add the organ meats to the vegetable mix to make it more attractive to the dog, while others (whose dogs love the straight veggies) just feed it whole. Either way, the dog should get one to two organs per week. The way I do it is to pick up two calf livers (or kidneys, or beef hearts, or whatever is on sale) each week when I grocery shop. When I get home, I hand one to each dog, who quickly gulps it down- couldn't be simpler. Dogs should get an organ meal about the same size or a little smaller than the RMB meal- my big guys take whole livers, but obviously a Chihuahua should only have a couple of tablespoons. Supplements are a little more complicated, because they're tailored to each dog's needs. A healthy young dog might need nothing, or very little (my dogs just get a couple tablespoons of olive oil and some trace mineral mix and they're doing great) but an older or infirm dog would need different supplementation- MSM or glucosamine for joints, fish oil for coat health and eyes, and so on. There are many good books that can help you identify exactly what your dog needs. Supplements are typically added to the vegetable mix, but can be fed separately.
BARF is not a "new" way to feed- it mimics how a dog would feed in the wild (eating the meat and small bones, organs and stomach contents of a rabbit or deer), and it has been used now by thousands of people for several years. The safety record is very good and the health record is wonderful.
Required reading:
Give Your Dog A Bone -and-
Grow Your Pups With Bones
by Ian Billinghurst- available at bn.com and dogwise.com
For more information, or finding a puppy whose breeder feeds BARF, see the many BARF websites and email lists.
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