Alternative Diets For Dogs: the BARF Diet
How to Feed Your Dog
For Optimum Health and Longevity
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“You are what you eat”—many of us take this as a given about the human diet. It also holds true for your companion animal. Many animal lovers recognize this and, concerned about their companion’s quality of life, buy premium dog food. But is premium dog food the answer? A closer look at the pet food industry will surprise you.
From the Farm to the Food Bowl—A Closer Look at the Origins of Pet Food
Let us take an average cow raised for food. At the time of slaughter, all of the choice muscle meat that humans eat—ribs, shoulder, etc. are cut out and packaged for human consumption. The parts that humans don’t eat—bones, intestines, ligaments, unhealthy cows unsuitable for humans—get turned into pet food. They are often called “by-products and “meat-and-bone-meal” on the labels.
Animal protein isn’t the only ingredient in pet food. Some kind of grain will also be listed in the top five ingredients. The type of grain used ultimately affects how much nutrition animal companions get from their food because it regulates how much nutrition is absorbed. The more popular grains used in pet food are soy, wheat, corn, and peanut hulls. Studies have shown that, while our companions can almost completely absorb the carbohydrates in a grain like white rice, that number drops 20% for other grains. This means that our companions are short-changed in two ways. Their food is low in nutrition, and what there is, is not completely absorbed.In addition, these inferior ingredients make an unpalatable product. Pet-food manufacturers get around this by spraying artificially-flavored fat onto animal kibble. The source of this fat? According to the Animal Protection Institute (www.api4animals.org): “Restaurant grease has become a major component of feed grade animal fat over the last fifteen years. This grease, often held in fifty-gallon drums, may be kept outside for weeks, exposed to extreme temperatures with no regard for its future use. “Fat blenders” or rendering companies then pick up this used grease and mix the different types of fat together, stabilize them with powerful antioxidants to retard further spoilage, and then sell the blended products to pet food companies and other end users.”
Common sense tells us that these ingredients have a questionable nutrition value. But what can the conscientious pet-owner do?
Building a Better Pet Food
Pet-owners and breeders around the world, appalled by the nutritionally bankrupt choices available, are choosing to make their own pet food. Making pet food is easy and convenient. It promotes vibrant health and wellness. And it protects our pet companions from the bacteria and other contaminants that plague commercially-produced pet food.
How does one make nutritionally sound pet food? It begins with a look at your companion’s biology. Canine Biology
Dogs are hunter-scavengers. Before domestication they hunted down live prey and helped themselves to whatever else was readily available. Their food was raw, and completely free of preservatives, contaminants, and artificial ingredients.
Much has changed for the wild dog. He’s been domesticated and bred into wildly different shapes and sizes. And yet, on the inside, his body works just as it ever did. Not only can a dog eat like his wild ancestors, he is healthiest when he does so. His body is designed to extract all its necessary building-blocks from raw whole foods.
This common-sense approach is the basis for the BARF diet.
What is the BARF Diet?
BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.
Quite simply, followers of the BARF diet mimic their animal companion’s natural diet using high-quality, human-grade ingredients. Since dog are omnivores this would include a selection of muscle and organ meats, vegetables, and meaty bones.
The advantages to this diet include:
Freedom from hidden contaminants
Total control over food quality
A decrease or complete relief from common canine allergies
A higher quality of life
Beginning the BARF diet couldn’t be easier.
Very little equipment is involved—a sharp knife, food processor or meat grinder, a mixing bowl, 2 spoons, a couple of Tupperware containers and a cutting board are all you need. For this first recipe the ingredients can come from any grocery store. Buy organic and free range if at all possible.
2 carrots
2 zucchini
2 celery sticks
2 medium squash
1 lb ground meat (chicken, turkey, lamb. or beef)
1 cup water + hot water
Put the vegetables in the food processor and chop as finely as you can. Set aside in 1 Tupperware. Put the ground meat in the mixing bowl with 1 cup of water. Mix thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator, in the second Tupperware, until ready to feed.
Feeding Instructions:
Mix roughly 2 parts of the meat mixture with one part vegetable. The actual serving size should be scaled to the size of the dog. Aim for the same size serving as his regular food. Add enough hot water to make a stew-like consistency. Mix and serve.
Additional Notes:
Stay away from vegetables from the Nightshade family (Eggplant, bell peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, chives, and garlic) as they are harmful to dogs and cats. Otherwise, feel free to experiment with different vegetables.
Stay away from raw pork, as it could contain trichinosis. Feed only one type of meat at a time (i.e. don’t mix chicken and beef together).
And that, in a nutshell, is the BARF diet. For more information, read related dog diet article: Selecting Nutritious Pet Foods
to learn more about what's in dog food click here
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