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Author Topic: Barf Diet  (Read 23981 times)

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #45 on: December 04, 2013, 08:13:18 pm »
We give sprats whole, herrings, mackerel, codling, sardines etc we cut them into 2-3 pieces for smaller dogs and whole for the big dogs
Sprats are on at Morrisons at the moment at £2.49 a KG  :thumbsup:
Graham

happygolucky

  • Joined Jan 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #46 on: December 04, 2013, 08:44:10 pm »
 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: , well that will save me cooking them then! we had a huge bag of Mackerel and Herrings so they are in the freezer for the dogs !

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #47 on: December 04, 2013, 08:58:55 pm »
Forgot to say give them them outside as they do tend to eat them like a bone and the smell of fish does linger if they eat them indoors  ::)
Graham

happygolucky

  • Joined Jan 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #48 on: December 04, 2013, 09:04:59 pm »
I cooked a lot of fish last week and had visitors and had to use loads of spray etc to get rid of the smell. I gave our pup some mackerel this morning and she wiped her face on my PJ's and jumper!! Not a great smell! ::)

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #49 on: December 04, 2013, 09:20:21 pm »
 :roflanim: worst we have had is one of the small dogs managing to carry a sprat into the lounge and burrying it under a cushion without us knowing  :o
Graham

happygolucky

  • Joined Jan 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #50 on: December 04, 2013, 09:35:16 pm »
 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: ....I put a status update of how smelly I was this morning, first fish then poo collecting and dropping some down my leg!!!!!! Never mind, I had a good spray of Katie Price perfume in B&M   ::)

Welshcob

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #51 on: December 04, 2013, 10:19:02 pm »
Hi everyone, if you don't mind I would like to give you my personal experience as my mother's little helper when she bred dogs (all big/giant breeds, we had Great Danes, Newfoundlands, Sharpei, Alsatians and Labradors + a couple Dalmatians).

What I remember clearly is: when they were fed on commercial diets, the effects on these dogs was hugely variable. Some dog food was awful (bad breath, lots of loose poo, ragged coats), others were ok, others were good (no bad breath, poo ok, coats ok). However, the best results ever were when my mum started going to the local chicken abattoir and used to buy carcasses (what is left once breast, wings and thighs are chopped off, still lots of meat on them), and also those wings/thighs that couldn't be sold because bruised/broken etc. My mum would take the lot home and mince it up fine, bones and all. Then freeze what was in excess.
Our dogs loved the chicken mince and ate it raw. Some of them might get a handful of cheap biscuits full in fibres if they were a bit constipated, otherwise nothing else. Poos were very small and well formed (even in the giant Danes!), glossy coats and lots of energy, but not mental.

However, many years have passed since and I have become a vet. I have seen many dogs brought in at the surgery because they ate bones, not just cooked but also raw. Bones can cause obstructions in the best of cases, and gut perforations in the worst. I have seen dogs dying whilst on the operating table trying to get the bones fragments out - too much intestinal damage. I have also seen dogs with bad lesions in their mouths because of eating/chewing bones. Cooked bones are the worst as they will splinter and break easily, but raw bones can do that too especially if caved bones like you find in birds. Rabbit bones can be as bad. Generally the big marrow ones are a bit better and less splintery, but I am still wary of them.

On the whole, I don't disagree with BARF diet, as long as it is not just meat. Wild dogs don't go for the muscled leg of deer, they go for the belly and herbivore's guts (with fibres in them). Only after they got that, they will start on the actual muscle and bones, and often leave it for days to "mature".
I think that if the meat is raw is fine, most dogs like the taste of it, but I would always mince it fine like my mum did. That way, the risk of bone pieces/splinters is much reduced and you still get the benefit of this diet.

Having said that, some dogs never really take to it, so as it's been said before it's trial and error for the individual dog.

Good luck, and try to avoid whole bones please!!
 :wave:

happygolucky

  • Joined Jan 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #52 on: December 04, 2013, 10:25:28 pm »
Oh dear!!! ::)

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
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Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #53 on: December 04, 2013, 10:47:29 pm »
I've got frozen tripe in my freezer that i got from someone earlier this year - mine would go daft for it, but like Sandy I can't bear the smell when its defrosting.  To be honest when I did feed it to them they got fat.  I can see it going in the bin unless anyone near Clacks wants it.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

happygolucky

  • Joined Jan 2012
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #54 on: December 05, 2013, 07:48:09 am »
I did buy tinned tripe a few years ago but it made the dogs fat too......I also used to buy frozen minced chicken,     That's better.....maybe I shall just keep to kibble......

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #55 on: December 05, 2013, 07:56:48 am »
Never had a problem with ours being impacted but then again getting the rice and veg cooked in cheap mince gives plenty of oils to counteract with the bones . My theory if all is doing well don't fix what isn't broken  ::)
Graham

Old Shep

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • North Yorkshire
Re: Barf Diet
« Reply #56 on: December 05, 2013, 10:16:32 pm »
I feed Natural Instinct - which is frozen complete raw dog food including veggies etc.  I only give bones every few weeks just to clean their teeth.  I think the old style barf diet of lots of bones just leads to blockages, I prefer to feed raw rather then barf.
Helen - (used to be just Shep).  Gordon Setters, Border Collies and chief lambing assistant to BigBennyShep.

 

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