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Considering Going Raw


Luke W
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For info on BARF I suggest that you get hold of the books by Ian Billinghurst. Give Your Dog a Bone is the one I have. Info on Raw or Prey google Raw Meaty Bones and you will get info on Tom Lonsdale's stuff. The basic difference is in Raw Meaty Bones/Prey you pretty much just feed dead animals! BARF you feed some veggies and other stuff.

I don't like how BARF has changed into feeding those BARF patties. I prefer to do the diet from scratch.

Up to you to decide what you believe! But do the research as I have seen dogs that have got quite ill from their owners not following the diets correctly.

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Reasons? I want to avoid ear problems, alergies, skin problems etc.

- Good enough reasons?

I recently changed all three of mine over to a BARF diet for this reason (Daisy had continual ear problems and I thought it could help).

It has been easier than I first thought. I started feeding Dr Billinghurst BARF patties but after two days Daisy refused to eat them (VERY unusual for a beagle!) so I started making my own. It is so much easier than I first thought! I mix a heap of grated vegies with human grade mince meat, yoghurt, sardines and kidneys. So far the dogs are thriving and in a month I have had so many comments on their coats and general condition! Even the cat is chowing down on the BARF. I have been balancing the mince mixture with fresh bones - chicken frames, necks, wings, lamb necks, etc etc and they are loving it. Little Cherry has never been so excited about eating :love:

I am really glad I changed them over to 100% raw, they are thriving and I am a total BARF convert :love:

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I'd throw away the advanced before the EP :love: mixing foods is not a good idea with these breeds because when you haev a problem you cannot pinpoint what the cause is.

I say go with the raw meaty bones and veges. Mine are all on chicken carcasses, boiled rice and grated veges and they are LOVING it. The rice is in there to bulk out the food as they tend to get a little porky :love:

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Quick answer is generally BARF versus a more simple prey model or a combo of both.

I feed mine a pretty simple combination - meat, meaty bones, offal, fish and vegies if there are any (just cos they do no harm). So eg they would get for dinner - a lamb neck, chicken frames, wings, or marylands, turkey wings or marylands etc, and then in the mornings they have offal or fish or some meat or a chicken wing.

I think BARF can be too finicky about adding supplements etc. As long as they get lots of meaty bones (and not just chicken frames as some people do - there is hardly any MEAT on them) and some offal, they'll be fine. I feed offal about twice a week, and one of those times has to be liver.

I also feed them muscle meat in the morning like heart or tongue etc.

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Luke, you hit me as the kind of person who'll carefully consider the issues before making the switch.

I'd suggest you read the books recommended:

Ian Billinghursts's books

Tom Lonsdale's book

I'd add Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats by Kymythy Shultz to the list. It draws on the others in a more readable format.

Then browse a few of the BARF/Prey Model thread here and come up with a plan. If you really want to ensure its viable, book an appointment with a holistic vet and get it checked out.

Or, for a large fee, I'll send you the Poodlefan Patented Raw Diet sheet. :)

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Cause the RAW dudes are pretty passionate about it all. That is why I said you need to decide what you believe!!

I tried feeding the inside cats some bones, that was a pain in the arse with them dragging chicken necks around the house. Yuck. You need to be feeding bones with quite a bit of meat on them (chicnken frames, wings, lamp flaps etc) A dog eats these pretty quickly. I don't usually get back inside the house before my dogs have scoffed theirs! So it is not like Barkly will be chopping on a marrow bone for hours in the house. Some dogs do try to bury the bones in the couch though!

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I have tried both (100% commercial/100% raw) and mine are now on a combination of both. (4 days raw/3 days Eagle Pack in off trialling season and the reverse in trialling season) They get kangaroo mince, fish, a little bit of organ meat, lots of pulped vegies and fruit, sardines, chicken wings, necks and frames, omega oil supplement, kelp, yoghurt, meaty bones and very occasionally a bit of oat bran.

I can honestly say that for them this has given the best results in relation to their coat condition, fitness levels, etc.

Plus a side benefit was that it is now easier when travelling to trials for the weekend in relation to feeding them.

You may need to experiment a little to find what is best for your particular dog. Are you sure the EP was responsible for any allergies? One of my kelpies has a grass allergy over 'hay fever season' and this was no better when he was on 100% raw - if anything it was slightly better this year when he was on the 'mix.'

Agree that I would dump the other brand - Eagle Pack is the only commercial food that I would feed, however we won a bag of Artemis at a trial recently which is the only trial food win they have been allowed to eat as it appears to be comparable to EP.

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Oh - forgot to ask - does anyone feed RAW inside ?

He's going to be dragging carcasses through the apartment, I just know he is! :)

I feed my ferrets and dogs prey model raw, with one of the dogs fed inside (she needs very strict supervision due to a throat condition).

She eats on an old bath towel, spread out on a vinyl tablecloth over the carpet.

I treated it like a training exercise, put the food on the towel, and each time she moved it off, I'd return it to the towel quickly, saying 'On the towel!' and praising. She learnt very quickly and will now move it back to the centre of the towel herself when I say 'On the towel!'.

I started my food journey with dry food, then dry food with some raw meaty bones, then home-made BARF and RMBs and now Prey Model Raw. My dogs and ferrets are the healthiest they have ever been in their life, with each change of diet showing noticeable improvement in coat shininess and softness, and body, teeth, gum and skin health. All my future pet carnivores will be fed Prey Model Raw...

A great PMR feeding resource is the yahoo raw feeding list;

rawfeeding

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