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The BARF diet or more descriptively the bones and raw food diet is an interesting way to bond with your dog. My great danes have been very willing participants in my experiment to find out exactly what works and what doesn’t.
For those of you that are not familiar with this dog food diet it is simple. You simply feed your dog what it would eat in the wild. This means, lots of raw meat, some organ meat, bones, pureed veggies and fruit, eggs, yogurt (maybe not be available in the wild, but still good for them), fish, and really whatever else you can think of.
A couple of things have become apparent since I have started feeding my danes in this fashion. First, they love it, give a dog a bone and you have a friend for life. It is amazing how long a dog will crunch on a bone. Great for cleaning their teeth and improving dog breath.
Second, giving dogs actual nutrients instead of store bought processed dog food really does improve their coat and muscle tone. My dogs both lost some flab around the mid section but actually gained a little bit of muscle and weight.
Last, it is difficult to feed animals like this all of the time. I usually mix in a little bit of regular dog food, the amount is determined by how much other stuff I am giving them. On busy days they may just get a couple of scoops of regular dog food. And yes they do seem a little disappointed.
A couple of things to watch out for. First, make sure you are giving your dog good quality meat that has not had a chance to go bad. I may leave it in the refrigerator for a day or two but more than that is asking for trouble.
Don’t make any transition too quickly, give their systems a chance to adapt to the dietary changes or you will most likely be cleaning up a surprise off of the floor.
Last warning. If you give them bones they will crunch until the bones are gone, this is completely normal. Shortly thereafter, I’m talking 2-10 hours they will regurgitate the indigestible bone fragments. This is kind of disgusting and a bit alarming at first but completely normal. Many animals do this, it is a mechanism which allows them to get the most out of their meals.
My great danes love the BARF diet and I have witnessed numerous health benefits from feeding them like this. I am happy to do whatever needs to be done to extend and improve the lives of my furry friends.
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