Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I'm considering making up my dogs BARF from scratch like I used to (I'm currently using Canine Country patties). However, my biggest thing was always the offal, it's sloppy, smelly, slimey, and just plain gross. Can I get away with making BARF with just mince and veg, with cod liver oil added instead of offal, and feeding dried liver treats as training treats? Even with the vets all natural there is no offal called for! I add CLO to be sure they are getting their Vitamins A and D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpley Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 You can feed it seperate, in bigger pieces if you wanted too. I make Barf and my butcher minces the offal through with my meat, so I don't even notice it. I think offal is important in the Barf mix, so I wouldn't be leaving it out to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Just make it without the offal and add a piece of liver or whatever to their dinner a couple of times a week instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 When I've done that in the past the dogs didn't like the offal... I'll try it though, fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Do you have a blender/juicer? Put the offal through that and mix the juice in with their meat/veg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Do you have a blender/juicer? Put the offal through that and mix the juice in with their meat/veg. Just don't be tempted to smell it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 My dog doesn't like livers and kidneys. I guess he doesn't like the smell, because he would eat frozen ones. Maybe you can once or twice a week add some frozen kidneys or liver so overall balance would be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolzseinrotts Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 (edited) For the fussy ones, try a lamb heart, most will eat it without a problem. If the lamb heart is not accepted well then try to lighty cook / boil it and then wean back to raw, retain the juices to encourage them to eat it. As for liver it is usually the texture that they don't like.......you could start by lighty cooking it and then slowly weaning them back to complete raw and again retain the juices and use with the offal. It is what I do for baby puppies until they are able to eat large chunks of it without fussing over it. As for kidneys my guys are not fans of it and neither am I and you can forget the brains, I am not even going to go there.......... ;) We feed BARF and have now for a number of dog generations, the only offal that we use is lambs fry and lamb heart (it is all I can cope with and the dogs love it). Edited February 22, 2010 by Stolzseinrotts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 For the fussy ones, try a lamb heart, most will eat it without a problem. If the lamb heart is not accepted well then try to lighty cook / boil it and then wean back to raw, retain the juices to encourage them to eat it. As for liver it is usually the texture that they don't like.......you could start by lighty cooking it and then slowly weaning them back to complete raw and again retain the juices and use with the offal. It is what I do for baby puppies until they are able to eat large chunks of it without fussing over it. As for kidneys my guys are not fans of it and neither am I and you can forget the brains, I am not even going to go there.......... ;) We feed BARF and have for a few generations now but the only offal that we use is lambs fry and lamb heart (it is all I can cope with and the dogs love it). Hearts shouldn't be counted as offal; it's muscle meat I think if you want to feed 100% raw diet, it has to contain offal (liver/fry, kidney). If you cannot get your dogs to eat it, then I think feeding a good quality dry food is a far better option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 The only thing stopping me from starting BARF at the moment is the fact that it is illegal to feed offal to dogs in Tasmania. ;) I'm still trying to think of a way around it. I daresay others do it, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable blatantly breaking the law and yet preaching responsible dog ownership at the same time IYKWIM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 I do have a blender and a juicer, but that's where it gets gross and messy and with a toddler running around demanding my attention at the drop of a hat gross and messy is something I just don't have the time for anymore. I bought a lambs fry today, will offer it to them at dinner tomorrow and see how they go, even if I do have to lightly cook it. Otherwise I'll just stick to the BARF patties. Thanks for the suggestions! That's a silly law Ellz, they should just have laws on what sort of offal you can't feed, not all offal carries parasites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 It's not really that silly Jeanne. Tasmania is a hydatid free place and they want it to stay that way. Our hydatid-free status is one of the reasons that our livestock is a big earner for us. I think the whole point is that if they relax the law to allow some offal, it has to be completely changed to allow all offal and that is where the industry would fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Good point ellz Could you feed cooked offal? Surely cooked offal is better than no offal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Good point ellz Could you feed cooked offal? Surely cooked offal is better than no offal? Sure you can feed cooked offal. It just isn't as nutritious as raw. I think it's better to figure out the way to make your dogs eat offal (by introducing it cooked and cook less and less until they can it raw; or having it mixed with something they really love, like sardines for example) rather than trying to innovate with your own version of raw feeding with no or cooked offal. Hope that helps and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Legally, NO offal cooked or otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Yes Laffi, I'd be aiming at the offal being raw, was just wondering about the Tassie laws Can people there eat offal? What about commercial dried liver treats? Are there any pre mix BARF's available there? Just over run with curiosity now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myboyjosh Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Legally, NO offal cooked or otherwise. I am in the same boat ellz with feeding a raw diet as I too live in Tassie. But isnt chicken liver ok to feed here as there is no hydatid in chicken. Or isnt chicken liver any good for dogs? I did email Ian Billinghurst with regard to feeding raw without offal here and he emailed me back saying there will be a rep here in tassie for the BARF diet but unfortunatley my darling hubby deleted the email so I cant remember the contact details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prydenjoy Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Doesn't Dr B's website have the reps listed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 It's not really that silly Jeanne. Tasmania is a hydatid free place and they want it to stay that way. Our hydatid-free status is one of the reasons that our livestock is a big earner for us.I think the whole point is that if they relax the law to allow some offal, it has to be completely changed to allow all offal and that is where the industry would fail. This might be a silly question - but what about dried liver treats? Would adding those to the food each day (as a last resort) help at all? Or even chicken frames. Are you allowed to feed those? Most of the time they still have some (or all) of the goobly bits attached inside so if you were feeding them everyday I would think that would cover it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolzseinrotts Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 (edited) Hearts shouldn't be counted as offal; it's muscle meat Technically you are right, but in my book it is offal. And those of you in Tasmania I do feel for you not being able to use offal, you are bound by the law. Edited February 22, 2010 by Stolzseinrotts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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