Dog problems - help please!

[Polly Fouracre]

kirstyB, when you first start your dogs on the BARF diet you can expect a lot more wind than usual!This is only until their bodies get used to it.
If you have a well known and friendly butcher you can ask him to let you have bones etc. that he would otherwise have to pay someone to take away. This would only work though if you have a lot of dogs or can pal up with a few other "BARFers'" as it will involve large quantities several times a week.
Your dogs will need a bit extra by way of raw, grated carrot, lightly cooked and chopped cabbage, sprouts etc. Also powdered garlic (half a teaspoonish per dog) raw, pureed spinach three times a week and cod-liver-oil capsules (cheap on-line)
It is so much easier to measure all in one dried food into a dish twice a day just as it is much easier to buy microwaveable ready meals for the family instead of cooking meals from scratch. Which would you prefer?

[BrideXIII]

This is turning out rather interesting. How much weight of raw meat and bones would I feed a mini dachshund? Would it cure the problem of him being very smelly (not in a windy or breath way - just BO)? There are only so many times you can wash a dog!

about 2 percent of his adult body weight a day.

my collie is 50lb so he gets a pound a day, half ground raw mince in the morning, this is butchers pet mince made from the ground up chicken carcasses and offal etc. and then a wing and thigh with maybe some sardines for tea.

some beef heart once or twice a week, and some liver again beef once or twice a week.

liver can make them loose, so spread it over the week if possible
heart is muscle meat, not offal and high in taurine, ( essential for cats)
oily fish, always good, but you can feed any raw fish as well, i fillet it though becuase of the small bones.
you can add a raw egg occasionally if you feel like it.
some people add cooked veg, I don't bother, he has the occassional carrot to chew on , thats about it.

[shirlthegirl43]

about 2 percent of his adult body weight a day.

my collie is 50lb so he gets a pound a day, half ground raw mince in the morning, this is butchers pet mince made from the ground up chicken carcasses and offal etc. and then a wing and thigh with maybe some sardines for tea.

some beef heart once or twice a week, and some liver again beef once or twice a week.

liver can make them loose, so spread it over the week if possible
heart is muscle meat, not offal and high in taurine, ( essential for cats)
oily fish, always good, but you can feed any raw fish as well, i fillet it though becuase of the small bones.
you can add a raw egg occasionally if you feel like it.
some people add cooked veg, I don't bother, he has the occassional carrot to chew on , thats about it.

Cheers for that, might try it as I am fed up with him being so stinky. We have a friend who is a butcher so maybe I could get liver and heart minced with other stuff and feed it to both dog and cat.

[BrideXIII]

Cheers for that, might try it as I am fed up with him being so stinky. We have a friend who is a butcher so maybe I could get liver and heart minced with other stuff and feed it to both dog and cat.

one thing, if you are going to feed the cats heart, have it chunked, or cut it up yourself, the taurine deteriorates when it is ground, and as cats can't manufacture it themselves, it is essential they get as good a supply as possible.
they do get it from fish as well, but do not feed too much tuna as it can have high levels of mercury ( depends where it comes from I think).Beef heart though is the best source along with ........... brains and eyes, and as much as I love my cats, i'll stick with heart

[BrideXIII]

Don't forget supermarket meat too.
I always do a sunday run to tesco's cheap beef mince, reduced wings legs and thighs, lamb chops, ask the butcher for leftover lamb rib bones, they are excellent. wheigh it into meal sized baggies for your dog and stick in the freezer.

[kirsty b]

kirstyB, when you first start your dogs on the BARF diet you can expect a lot more wind than usual!This is only until their bodies get used to it.
If you have a well known and friendly butcher you can ask him to let you have bones etc. that he would otherwise have to pay someone to take away. This would only work though if you have a lot of dogs or can pal up with a few other "BARFers'" as it will involve large quantities several times a week.
Your dogs will need a bit extra by way of raw, grated carrot, lightly cooked and chopped cabbage, sprouts etc. Also powdered garlic (half a teaspoonish per dog) raw, pureed spinach three times a week and cod-liver-oil capsules (cheap on-line)
It is so much easier to measure all in one dried food into a dish twice a day just as it is much easier to buy microwaveable ready meals for the family instead of cooking meals from scratch. Which would you prefer?

If it makes my dogs healthier and less stinky, there is no real contest is there?
I wouldn't feed my family the crap that comes out of a tin for dogs/cats, but I had never heard of BARF before.
Boo and Max are fed first thing and late afternoon, and they never eat it straight away, (not hungry?, am I feeding too much because they are big dogs?) they leave it in their bowls and graze throughout the day, attracting flies in summer which is a nightmare. They tend to want to eat after their walks.


I've worked out that it costs £50 a month to feed my dogs, another £10-15 to feed my cats. So, if I can get them all on BARF for the same amount or less, I will not meet with a great deal of resistance from Him. He must agree or he will just do his own thing when I'm not around to nag him.
Once I'm set and organised, it won't be much more work than sorting out their meals now.

[BrideXIII]

Landywood Pet Foods : Home

this supplier has a good reputation on other BARF and RAW forums.
they do deliver, but you have to check they do your area, and I think there is a minimum order, so you will need a freezer to hold it all.

but there is the link for you to check out.

[Glutton4...]

Hi again all, and thanks for your continued interest and advice.

The old boy is fine at the mo, and the vet said to keep him on the bland diet, which seems to suit. The antibiotics run out tomorrow, and we have another appointment in the morning.

I'm very interested in the BARF and RAW diets, and will Google them later this evening.

I have to say, I don't know what you lot do all day, but I can't keep up with all these threads or is it just me? Did get waylaid with the cold shower one earlier - and HayWayne in a skirt was just fab - laughing so much on top of my lunch gave me indigestion!

Will be back later tho.

Cheers all

G4...x

[Bephlam]

As a vet nurse I see this problem often, however they are very rarely due to the same problem. Of course, if your dog appears unable to digest any food I would be concerned that this is an underlying problem that needs to be investigated further, but if he's fine with the 'light' diet and only shows problems when he is reintroduced to a 'normal' diet, I'd be more inclined to believe he had developed a food allergy. It is possible for dogs who have been fed a diet for some time to develop a food intolerance to it - almost over night. (classic cases being little lap dogs fed on chicken alone - suddenly develop a really nasty food allergy to...you've guessed it, chicken!)

I would put him on a diet of fish & potato for a couple of weeks, to give his stomach time to completely recover (I'd stick to those two proteins and carbs strictly) then I would really slowly reintroduce one food type at a time. If you keep it as controlled as this you should be able to pinpoint the food type/source that is causing the upset. Of course, this will only work if your dogs problem is not secondary to an underlying medical condition.

This does sound like a huge chore, but it's worth doing if you're having real problems. You often have to do this with atopic dogs, etc. I myself STILL have to do it with my Wheater Terrier due to her allergies!

Your dog isn't on Metacam or anything, is he?

[Bephlam]

Oh, and reading up...I wouldn't advise anyone to change an older dog on to a BARF diet. I think it's fine if you do this from a young age, but it is a lot for an 'old' stomach to handle.

[Cloud]

Dogs.Blah,Blah,Blah,Blah.Can't see the fascination!

[Glutton4...]

Only thing he's on, medication-wise is Rimadyl, which is for his arthritis.

Fish and potato sounds reasonable, ironically I was wondering about potato earlier when mashing some for Cottage Pie!

Our Vet's very good, like most I guess, but they are always extremely busy, and I never think of all the questions I could have asked until after the event! Luckily for me, I grew up with Dogs (and Gerbils, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits, Chickens and Cats), and my Mum used to breed Golden Retrievers, when I was a teenager, so I've been through most things!

I have to add to those of you that scoff (Cloud) - don't mock it until you've tried it!

Cheers again all

G4...X

[lynda66]

Dogs.Blah,Blah,Blah,Blah.Can't see the fascination!

so you aren't getting a dog now then??

[lynda66]

theres often an advert on the manchester freecycle site for barf food, someone gets tons of it, keeps what they need then gives the rest away ...... i'd probably go for it if i had transport, but carrying half a ton of meat on the bus might pose a bit of a problem lol ..... anyway, my 3 cost me about £4 a week to feed, so it's not exactly breaking the bank, and they are all happy.

[kirsty b]

Oh, and reading up...I wouldn't advise anyone to change an older dog on to a BARF diet. I think it's fine if you do this from a young age, but it is a lot for an 'old' stomach to handle.

Boo is going to be 4 at Christmas and Max is 15 months. Is she still young enough if I make it a gradual change do you think?