What is BARF diet for dogs: If you have come here, it is because you are curious to know what the BARF diet for dogs consists of, how it is prepared if it is really beneficial for the health of your little four-legged furry, recipes, quantities and a lot of doubts more, right?
Well, let me tell you that you are in luck because if you dedicate me the next five minutes of your life, you will learn everything you need to know about this type of natural food. Believe me, and your dog will thank you and much.
What is the BARF Diet for Dogs?
It is not a diet to lose weight but a way to feed our dog with healthy products, raw or cooked to the taste of each person (or dog).
It is about feeding our dog in a natural and healthy way, with fresh products, just as we feed ourselves. But, adapted to your nutritional needs, that is, not everything goes.
Why Should I Use Natural Products?
Starting at the beginning and in a summary way, we must remember that the dog is a direct descendant of the wolf. Trained and socialized for centuries, it evolved to what we know today as a dog or companion animal.
Knowing this, let’s move on to what really interests us. What do wolves eat? Wolves do not eat croquettes or cookies for dogs, and they eat what they hunt. They are carnivorous animals that feed on their prey.
So, you should rethink if you would be happy eating processed food all your life because that is what you do to your dog when you feed him with feed. Obviously, what we know how I think for dogs is not the most natural option (although the most comfortable).
What Ingredients Does the BARF Diet for Dogs Include?
Generally, seasonal ingredients are used to make them very economical, so we will not only feed our dog well but also save money.
Canes on offer in the market, fleshy bones, fruits suitable for dogs, and some vegetables are the common ingredients of any BARF recipe.
It is about emulating what a dog would eat in freedom, or rather a wolf since we go back to his ancestors. These are prey (fresh meat) that includes some vegetables (which the dam is supposed to have eaten).
Some of the most used ingredients in this type of natural food are:
- Chicken meat, veal, lamb, rabbit, ox, foal
- Organs like veal heart, chicken figs, viscera (optional)
- Fleshy bones like a chicken carcass, wings, necks
- Healthy fruits without heart or pips like apple, pear, banana
- Vegetables like spinach, squash, cauliflower
- Cereals like rice (optional)
Benefits of BARF Feeding for Your Dog
In reality, the benefits of properly feeding our dog with biologically appropriate natural foods are so many that we could dedicate four articles to enumerate them.
But how my intention is not to bore you, I will detail the most important ones so that you can appreciate them from day one. Yes, you heard correctly, you will appreciate these benefits from day one, and they will be more as more days go by.
- Brighter hair: Your hair will look really healthy and shiny, and your skin will be better hydrated.
- Tartar-free teeth: BARF feeding helps your dog to have its teeth completely clean, avoiding the unpleasant and harmful tartar that originates from consuming dog food.
- Stronger immune system: It is no secret, a well-fed dog is stronger against possible diseases. Actually, much stronger, including the decrease in allergies and intolerances.
- Stools less bulky: Meaning that natural nutrients take better advantage of food nutrients. Also, your seat will be less odorous, and you will stop having so many gases.
- Better smell and breath: Have you ever wondered why your dog smells so much? It is not because it gets dirty playing, but because of its low-quality food (I think). With BARF, you will have fresh breath, and you will not smell so much of a dog.
- You will drink less water: The feed is dry and needs to be hydrated, which makes you very thirsty and very heavy digestions. Something that will go down in history as soon as we start using the BARF diet for dogs.
And if these valuable reasons seem few to you, remember that you will also be more happy and vigorous. Even calmer and less anxious about food. You can see more from:
How to Prepare a BARF Diet for Dogs
Although the first two times seem a bit complicated, believe me when I assure you that it is really super simple. You just have to take it easy, and you’ll be an expert in natural food right away.
We only need the raw material to start and be careful, do not go crazy buying sirloins or steaks. Offal and tender meat are more than enough. We can buy it at the market, farmhouse, or even at the slaughterhouse.
Ingredients to buy:
- Meat (between 20% and 30% of the total)
- Fleshy bones (between 50% and 60% of the total)
- Organs and guts (about 10% of the total)
- Fruits and vegetables (about 10% of the total)
So if we are going to prepare a kilo of BARF diet for dogs, we will need 200 grams of lean meat, 600 grams of fleshy bones, 100 grams of organs, and 100 grams of fruits and vegetables.
My advice is that when you buy, you do it in larger quantities, and once the food is prepared, store it in individual bags and freeze it. So you will have spare food for a long time without having to continually prepare.
Do not go crazy with the exact proportions: If your dog eats less fruit today, nothing happens, the important thing is that it has a balanced diet at a general level, not that every day eat the exact grams.
Ingredients and how to prepare them: You can give meats raw or a little cooked. If the kitchens, which are without oil or condiments, can be grilled or steamed (and do not spend cooking, back and forth).
The always raw meaty bones should never be cooked (super important, never forget it).
The organs and viscera can be raw or slightly cooked, just like meat. Always raw fruits and always cooked vegetables.
- Meat and fish: Chicken (breast, wings), pork, lamb, veal, ox, foal, beef heart (being a muscle, it is also considered meat and attention, it is super cheap). Sardines, trout, fish without bones in general.
- Fleshy bones: They are soft bones that are easily digested, such as chicken or turkey shell, very cheap by the way.
- Organs and guts: In any farmhouse or market you can find guts or chicken figs, very cheap too.
- Fruits and vegetables: To begin with and since they are always available, you can use bananas, apples, and pears. I eat vegetables, a pumpkin, orchard.
- Optional: Raw or cooked egg (without shell), natural yogurt, boiled white rice (whole grain if constipated).
Preparation
This has no mystery; chop the meat (raw or cooked) or fish, fruits, and cooked vegetables. Mix everything and add the fleshy bones. The end.
If you are afraid to think that you can choke, you can pass it all through the mini primer (crusher) so that it remains a kind of porridge. It is equally nutritious (advisable for dogs of small breeds, less than ten kilos).
BARF Diet Amounts for Puppies and Adults
The amount varies depending on the weight of our dog, so we must administer in two doses (one in the morning and once at night) from 2% to 3% of the total weight, depending on the energy expenditure you have.
If your dog eats three times a day, you can continue giving him three shots without any problem, simply divide the amount of food into three.
If we have a dog that weighs 25 kilos, we must give it a shot in the morning of 370 grams and another one at night of 370 grams (daily total = 740gr, which is 3% of 25kg approx.).
In puppies, the proportion is 10% of their total weight and not 2% or 3% as in adults since the puppies would be very hungry and lacking with only 3%.
Simple BARF Diet Recipes
To prepare the recipes, remember that you can prepare a large amount of food and freeze it in individual food bags (for sale at any supermarket).
Here is an example of one of the multiple BARF diet for dogs recipes that can be found on the Internet through the Google search engine or on YouTube.
We can vary with food and proportions, always keeping a minimum percentage of meat/fish so that they do not lack protein.
Meat and Fish Recipe
How bones can we use 2 kilos of chicken carcasses, or include some chicken neck or wings if we want.
How meat we will use beef heart that is very cheap and of quality, with 1.2 kilos is enough.
As a fruit, we will mix pears and apples without seeds (without the heart), using 600 grams approx. And how vegetable a little boiled pumpkin (about 200 grams).
We take the heart of the veal, chop it and cook it a little. Add the cooked and chopped pumpkin and the fresh fruit into small pieces, mix everything well.
Now we add the fleshy bones (always raw), and we already have 4 kilos of BARF food ready to be served or to be frozen in portions.
Common Questions (Very Common)
Surely you already know that natural food is much healthier than prefabricated feed, but you still have some doubts.
That’s why I have collected the most frequent queries with their respective answers. I hope they help you. If you have any different questions or concerns, just leave me a comment (below).
If My Dog eats Raw Meat, Will He Want to Eat Humans or Animals?
Although it may seem an absurd doubt, the truth is that many people think that their dog will become aggressive and will want to try human meat if it is fed with raw animal meat.
Nothing is further from reality. The answer is NO, your dog will not become a murderer, nor will he want to eat your children. That’s horror movie stuff. You eat meat and want to eat a human?
My Veterinarian Does Not Recommend the BARF Diet for Dogs
Veterinarians are doctors for animals and not nutritionists. If you want an expert opinion on canine feeding, consult a dog nutritionist, not a veterinarian.
Remember that veterinarians earn a commission by selling the feed they have in their office. And that also, large commercial feed companies usually teach “master classes?” in veterinary faculties. Eat them a little coconut (it sounds hard, but it is like that).
Imagine that your doctor recommends eating junk food every day, would you listen? Well, it’s the same with your dog.
Can Sick Dogs Eat BARF?
Yes, yes, and yes. Natural nutrition will help them improve their ailment and strengthen their immune system. Without a doubt, natural food is the best food for a sick dog.
But be careful, you should know that some diseases such as pancreatitis (for example) require more specific ingredients to facilitate their digestion.
So if your dog requires a specific diet for health problems, the idea is to consult a canine nutritionist beforehand to help you prepare the recipes.
Is My Dog at Risk of Eating Raw Food?
Obviously, there are always risks, such as, for example, that the meat has a bacterium or parasite. That is why it is recommended to buy quality meat (never passed or rotten) and freeze it previously or cook it, to eliminate possible parasites.
It is also possible to be attracted to a piece, just as it is possible to be attracted to a feed ball or with a snack, the risk always exists.
Can I Add Cereals to Recipes?
Actually, yes, you can add an extra 20% of cooked white rice if you wish, as a source of carbohydrates.
Any Recommended Videos About the BARF Diet?
Of course, you can find thousands on the Internet, but here I leave one that personally seems very good to me because it explains everything. You can also find on Facebook a multitude of groups of people who feed their dogs with a BARF diet, where they share recipes, knowledge, etc.
Can I Buy Ready-made BARF?
Although the BARF diet is prepared by hand at home, it is normal that on many occasions we do not have all the free time we would like, for example, to be able to prepare this type of natural food for our dog.
That is why there are also highly recommended alternatives, such as buying the already prepared BARF diet and using it when we need it. For example, the BARF diet sold by the Naku company made with Pork, chicken, veal, or fish and which only uses real meat in its compositions.
A 100% natural but prepared BARF diet, so we don’t have to worry about buying the ingredients or preparing it. You can see all its ranges from its website:
I hope you have learned everything necessary to feed your dog in a healthy and safe way, however, if you have any questions, you can leave a comment.
