Looking into BARF

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Hi All this is for anyone who feeds BARF but mainly from our BARF rep Caryll lol
Blue has no health problems etc but he is just so hard to please. He has gone back to not bothering with his food again. So I've started to do some research into BARF like allot on here recently.
How much does it cost approx / day or month?
and where can I find good information on what I need to feed him? The sites im finding are rubbish.

cant wait to try Logan on some raw meat. He's had a little bit of mince and a lamb bone but when he had the runs we gave him dry food. But deffo gonna go the pet shop and get him some raw!!

Why don't you try him first with a small amount of ox or lamb heart from the supermarket? Then you won't have to buy a large bag & see it go to waste if he doesn't like it!

I'll do that Caryll! Thanks for the suggestion. I would of gone out and bought loads!! I went to the butchers on Sunday at the local market but he didnt do any offal! Logan was quite upset!! I'd promised him a little heart or liver!

Hayley109 wrote:I'll do that Caryll! Thanks for the suggestion. I would of gone out and bought loads!! I went to the butchers on Sunday at the local market but he didnt do any offal! Logan was quite upset!! I'd promised him a little heart or liver!

Heart isn't offal! It's muscle, so is classed as meat.

Found out today that tripe is classed as 'organ meat', so is officially offal!

Fitting some doors today for a customer and I asked him......"So what do you do for a living"
"Im a butcher"

So me being shy and all that I set the ball rolling on getting my supplies in the future for Blue
Im fitting more doors tomorrow so im hoping to finish the deal. Already been promised some chicken necks

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Fitting some doors today for a customer and I asked him......"So what do you do for a living"
"Im a butcher"

So me being shy and all that I set the ball rolling on getting my supplies in the future for Blue
Im fitting more doors tomorrow so im hoping to finish the deal. Already been promised some chicken necks

You lucky so-and-so! Wish there was a butcher near me!

Only a few butchers near me as they are halal butchers.
Asians don't trust buying their mean from supermarkets, they like to know their butcher personally so they know it has been killed/bleed in their correct way. So lucky for me their beliefs mean the supermarket will probably never kill the local butcher

There's a few of those around here, but unfortunately they're not over friendly to the non-asians. I suppose there's been racial problems in the past & there's no trust there now.

Saw this on another site. It's by a raw food manufacturer, but it makes a lot of sense. The only thing I disagree with is the thing about veg. Dogs can only digest veg if it is cooked or pulped.

http://darlingsrealdogfood.com/article3.php

Nice one good read.
Like the bit about dogs are designed to rip not chew food thats why they don't chew food and just swallow it.
Now that is one thing that I have noticed in dogs, gave Blue a piece of steak and he just went gulp......thought chew it Blue....what a waste.

And yet if you give them something really small, they chew it!!

I can't remember if I've asked you this before Caryll. But it is one of the first questions people get in their mind when wondering if they should switch to a raw diet for their dogs.

How much roughly does it cost per day to feed a average size staffy raw?

Dry kimble im using at the moment costs approx £1/day

Dogs tend to need less raw than dry/tinned. I'm lucky in as much as I get my bones from Morrisson's & they only cost me about 80p for 4 or 5 days worth!

He eats one bone and about half a kilo of raw a day. If I buy the frozen chunks from the pet shop it costs around £1 per day, a bit more if I buy fresh from the supermarket, a bit less if I feed tripe instead of heart.

If the frozen raw food companies delivered to my area I'd probably be able to do it for less.

Cheers Caryll, doesn't seem to be anymore expensive then a bit less convenient than getting a few biscuits out of a bag.
I've just been to a local butchers and they charge £5 for a 7KG bag of mixed stuff e.g. Lambs hearts, livers etc and he said bones etc he will give me for nothing. He just give me a small bag to try Blue on but it is the carcus of a lamb mmmmmmmm lol. I will have to get the heart and liver etc and chop it up myself then maybe chop the remaining stuff up. Not a pretty sight
Apart from hearts, livers, kidneys, bones, and once in a whle
fish, egg etc what else should the diet involve?
Do you get things like chicken breat meat or is it just the cheaper end like tripe etc?
I know Im a pain Caryll but I want to make sure im feedng him right. With a bag of dog food you can be lazy and just take the companies word that it's a complete diet.

I am reading this with interest I would like eventually to give Billy raw meat.

Also Caryl when you have a moment (when you are not too busy) could you let me know what a weekly menu is like e.g anything else that you give your dog like veg, rice etc Also, do you have a day for chicken, day for lamb, or is it just what comes next out of the frezer.
Sorry to be a pain

Your like me soo many questions lol
There is lots of pages about BARF on the net but none say you should give this and this amount in your dogs diet.
I just chopped up some of that carcus and managed to reconise the heart and liver and Blue loved them and ate the lot. No sick as yet so
The rest......well I think there were parts I've never seen....again
I think if I do change to raw I will have to get a bag of hearts etc not getting the carcus and doing that everyday....not pleasent

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Apart from hearts, livers, kidneys, bones, and once in a whle
fish, egg etc what else should the diet involve?
Do you get things like chicken breat meat or is it just the cheaper end like tripe etc?
I know Im a pain Caryll but I want to make sure im feedng him right. With a bag of dog food you can be lazy and just take the companies word that it's a complete diet.

I wouldn't give chicken breast meat - it's very rich & very expensive! Stick to wings or even a full carcass. Tripe is offal, so a couple of times a week is fine, although unlike other offal you could give it every day without a problem, although you'd have to watch your dog's weight a bit cause tripe packs on the pounds. Dempsey's absolute favourite is heart, lambs, pigs, ox, he doesn't care! As heart is muscle, it isn't classed as offal. Pigs heart is normally the least expensive. Don't cut them into small peices, you can cut an ox heart into 4 and let him rip it & swallow large pieces. Lamb & pig hearts can be cut into two or maybe 3 pieces. Kidney & liver should be given once or twice a week.

lynne wrote:I am reading this with interest I would like eventually to give Billy raw meat.

Also Caryl when you have a moment (when you are not too busy) could you let me know what a weekly menu is like e.g anything else that you give your dog like veg, rice etc Also, do you have a day for chicken, day for lamb, or is it just what comes next out of the frezer.
Sorry to be a pain

I give whatever comes out of the freezer next! Usually ox or pig heart, some days tripe or kidneys (Dempsey won't touch liver!). I don't give veg as a matter of course because unless you pulp it dogs can't digest it. However, if I'm preparing veg I'll give some carrots or cabbage (shredded) to Dempsey cause he loves them! Rice is ok as a filler but has no nutritional value for dogs. Don't give cereals/grains if you can help it. One or two eggs a week (preferably raw) are good, but not too many as they can inhibit the absorption of some essential vitamins/minerals.

Thanks Caryll - next question then I look at the website.



Do the dogs get all they need from this diet or do you have to give them supplements or vitamins

The cheapest cuts of meat are usually the best ones for our four legged friends. Since I also feed cats I have to worry about taurine, so I only go for the dark meats anyway. Which means no chicken breast around here unless I get a whole chicken on sale.

As long as you provide a balanced raw diet (like pray model: 80% meat, 10% edible bone and 10% offal of which half is liver) there's no need to supplement. No wolves running around eating vitamin supplements. If you don't feed mostly grass fed meats and no fatty fish you should supplement a little fish oil or other omega 3, though. Like with raw egg, raw fish contains enzymes that bind certain nutrients and shouldn't be fed too often. A couple of times a week is fine, though. (I know many who feed raw eggs every day and so I'm inclined to believe there's some truth to the theory that there is sufficient biotin in the yolk to prevent any real effects from the avidin in the raw egg white.. However, I don't feed more than a couple of times a week.)

Tried Blue tonight with some chicken wings to see how he gets on with it.
He seemed to struggle with them but he did try chewing it and not swallowing it whole. Could hear the bones crunching. But he only ate 1 the rest he seem to chew then leave on the floor.
Picking up some chicken necks free of charge tomorrow off my new butcher mate

lynne wrote:Thanks Caryll - next question then I look at the website.



Do the dogs get all they need from this diet or do you have to give them supplements or vitamins

Provided you feed meat, offal & bone you don't need supplements. Neither do you need vegetables (though there are those who'll say otherwise!). A dog's digestive system is quite different to ours. For example their intestines are extremely short compared to ours, and their stomach acids far stronger.

Try not to think of a dog eating the way we do, ie with '5 a day' fruit & veg. Bu all means give them some fruit & veg if they like it - it won't do them any harm, but neither is it essential.

Blue, not all dogs like chicken wings, or even chicken! Try a lamb's neck or spine or ribs, and see if he prefers those. Dempsey would eat wings, but like Blue, he'd eat one or two & seem to get bored with them And then we discovered he was chicken intolerant anyway!

He loved the heart loads....more than anything else I've ever fed him. So much he tried jumping on the side to get the rest of it out of the bag.
I will see what he is like with the chicken necks. But I will try other meats too so I can see what he can and can't have.

He has been letting some silent but deadly psss noises out tonight though

Thank you Caryll for all your help. Im starting to change my opion on you lately too

Thanks, Blue!

If you can get them, Duck necks seem to be a firm favourite too!

Have a look here........
http://rawtogo.co.uk/ProductsandPrices.aspx

2% of Blues body weight is exactly 454g.....It's a sign
This look a great site. Thank you so much
Have you ordered from them?

Not yet. I keep meaning to, but I keep forgetting. Anyway at the moment I have a freezer full of heart, tripe & bones so I'm not desperate to order. I will, though. It was recommended to me by someone on the GSD forum I look in to every so often & they say that they're pretty good.

i've just had a look too!!!! cant wait to get back from ,my hollybobs and order a few treats!!!

Thanks Caryll!!!!

I'll be mainly ordering the bones, but I want to find out if the green tripe is minced or chunks. I might give them a ring tomorrow, cause I can't get tripe easily round here!

What answer are you hoping for? Chunks?

How many necks will you feed Dempsey per morning/early afternoon meal?

Yes, hoping for chunks. Mince is ok, but doesn't make full use of the stomach acids.

I've never given him duck necks so I don't know how big they are, but he'll normally get a 9" length of lamb neck/spine, or a section of ribs in the morning/early afternoon. Then he gets a really hard walk (off-lead running & chasing for about an hour) at around 3pm. Then he gets his main meal at about 5pm.

Don't forget, though, that raw takes about a third of the time to digest that processed food takes. So whereas you could feed dry food to a dog at 5pm & not need to take them out for a poop till the morning, if you feed raw at about 5pm you'll need to take them out to relieve themselves at about 9.30 - 10pm.

Oh right. Thanks again. Im learning loads.
Your becoming my jedi master (Yoda)

Ummmmm scouse git ...........teach you Barf will I

well im going out on sunday fishing for rainbow trout so with a but of skill lol the dogs will be dinning on trout sunday night , it would make me barf though , yuk

Just looking that website your posted Caryll, with duck necks etc...
Just wondering am I best getting the chucks and stay away from the minced meats?
Sorry but growing up on microwave meals, I am useless when it comes to fresh meat etc

niff wrote:well im going out on sunday fishing for rainbow trout so with a but of skill lol the dogs will be dinning on trout sunday night , it would make me barf though , yuk

Was that pun intended?

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Just looking that website your posted Caryll, with duck necks etc...
Just wondering am I best getting the chucks and stay away from the minced meats?
Sorry but growing up on microwave meals, I am useless when it comes to fresh meat etc

Stick to the chunks if poss. Mince is ok once in a while, but no good for their teeth or digestion.

I have found a non halal butchers in the next town so im going to go and see them some time this weekend. Only looking for non halal as asians don't stock all meats as they don't eat all meats.
Anyway here is a list of what im going to ask if he sells. Is there anything else I might need in his diet?
Plus when you see lamb chunks etc on these delivery places what part of the lamb are they. I mean im guessing its the lesser quality bits that we don't generally eat?

BONES
Necks - Chicken, Duck, Turkey
Ribs - Lamb
Spines - Lamb

MEAT
Tripe
Hearts
Liver & Kidneys
Chunks of meat Beef, chicken, turkey, lamb,

I've never really thought about what the chunks are funnily enough, they just look like meat to me! I would guess they're the cheaper cuts cause the frozen chunks are so much cheaper than the meat for human consumption.

Take care with the tripe - find out if he'll get a whole stomach that you'll have to clean & cut yourself, or if it's human grade. If it's human grade there's virtually no goodness in it. If it's green tripe (the whole stomach or slices of it) that's the best, but cutting it up is horrendous & will blunt your sharpest knives!

Cheers Caryll.
im not used to going into butchers etc so just didn't want to make a tool of myself. The butcher will probably know what cuts of meat the chunks are as im guessing I won't be the first person to enquire about meat and bones for my dog.
I'll let you know how I get on. I will probably end up ordering stuff off that website you showed me. But for starters I need to know what Blue like and what doesn't upset his stomach before I order boxes of the stuff

Not been the butchers yet instead I have used the time to empty the extra freezer we have in the cupboard under the stairs and bin 90% of it
Mrs might not be happy when she gets back
But Blue has a freezer all to himself

BlueStaffBlue wrote:Not been the butchers yet instead I have used the time to empty the extra freezer we have in the cupboard under the stairs and bin 90% of it
Mrs might not be happy when she gets back
But Blue has a freezer all to himself

someone is going to be in trouble, better nip out and get some flowers or wine

Good idea.
I'll nip out and get some wine. That way I won't feel the frying pan as much or I'll just be to drunk to care

you got an answer for everything !

I didn't have one for the flowers.
But luckily no one has noticed that part........fewwww

they only die anyway!

janey wrote: they only die anyway!

Your right......silly Lynne for suggestions flowers

silly billy.............

you crack me up the pair of you

As you all know I've emptied the spare freezer and defrosted it (There was enough ice in there to sink the Titanic) so it's empty and all clean and ready to go.
Just got a phone call from that customer who's a butcher, went to his house and he gave me a big carrier bag full of chicken necks. Already been froozen for a week oh and for nothing RESULT
So Blue's first part of his new diet is in the freezer and ready to go

I'm actually pleased for you! I didn't think I could be pleased for chicken necks on a saturday night! Its all too exciting!! Mrs seen the freezer yet lol

Yeah, she's not bothered, probably change when she goes to get something and can't find it cos I've chucked it.
Gotta love her.................think she's used to me now

can you come over and sort mine out now?? Its only small, just I left it open the other day and now I can't get the bleeding drawers out!

Sorry to keep bothering you Caryll. This is what im planning to order from Raw To Go if they deliver to Blackburn.
Product................Qty.....................Price
Liver Chunks.........1 Kg....................£1.40
Kidney Chunks.......1 KG...................£0.97
Heart Chunks........10.5KGs...............£23.10
Beef Chunks..........1 KG...................£2.20
Green Tripe...........2Kgs...................£2.00
Duck Necks..........16 Pieces.............£3.78

ToTAL PRICE £33.45
+ Delievery charge
I will get some more chicken necks from my new butcher mate if he is ok on chicken. Duck necks are for just incase he isn't. Thought 1 meal of kidney or liver per week and the rest of the time heart. Don't want to be using too many meats at the early stage. Tripe incase he starts to lose too much weight. Hoping this will last a month and fit in a average size front opening freezer. Does this seem ok to get me through the first month? Would you change anything?
Thanks for any feedback Caryll. Oh and sorry for boring you to sleep.