BARF for a 9Wk old pup

[Sully 3]

Hi Fella's, I was wondering what your thoughts are, as you maybe aware I recently picked up my 9 Wk old Hancock lurcher, well I really like the idea of feeding her a BARF diet, well I thought about a 50 50 diet, 50% redmills 50% BARF, but it's bl**dy scarey giving her chicken bones etc, I gave her a wing for the first time yesterday and she loved it, I hit it first and broke all the bones up, problem is she now sticks her nose up at her dried food, your help and advice is very much appreciated,

Craig

[craigyboy 1,274]

stick wi barf mate its the best way,just watch her wi little bones while shes young,chicken,breast o lamb,tripe, turkey necks,beef scraps its the finest food for em,just dont leave her unattended wi small bones while shes small an shel be reet,and dont forget fruit and veg,give em that whenever,keep away from commercial dog food mate its expensive and shite

Edited July 1, 2009 by craigyboy

[Hannah4181 260]

If your worried about the bones, try starting her on chicken carcasses instead of wings, the bones are softer and she will need to gnaw at them to get smaller pieces off. It is scary but once you've seen her swallow a chicken wing whole . . . . and bring it back up whole . . . . you learn to relax!

 

I know breeders who start their pups weaning on barf at 4/5 weeks.

 

If you do want to include a dry meal as well then try mixing it with some tripe or turkey mince as it will be more appealing to her. However as long as she gets a mixed diet of raw meat, bones, offal and veg . . . . there is no need for the dry meal.

 

Good luck with it, worth sticking with in my opinion.

[doga 50]

yep fed mine barf all the way through no problems and if the ckicken bones scare yoy get butcher to mince up youa load of carcases and dont for get young soft bones calves lambs if you can get also your beef knuckle in halves.

[EskdaleHawks 8]

I feed my 16wk old pup on mince mixed with bone meal. Gives them a real good start.

[Sully 3]

Hi, and thanks very much for your advice, Ive bashed the wings with an hammer, so all the bones were fragmented, Im just frightened that the sharp bones are going to stick in her throat, bowel or intestine etc, it just goes against everything Ive always been told...."DONT GIVE A DOG CHICKEN BONES" I must admitt, she loves it ! another question tho....is it normal for a 9Wk old pup to try and swallow it whole ? Hannah, your spot on, she is so ravenous with it, and just wants to get it down her throat asap ! I am feeding her a mixed diet of hi protein puppy meal, Chicken, and fruit and veg, infact she loves an apple, but will be moving onto lamb and rabbit soon,

Thanks in advance for your comments,

Craig.

[TIMMAY 6]

I know it's scary! its almost as if we are conditioned that bones are bads for dogs, mad isn't it! My lurcher pup is now nearly a year old, and she's had wings and carcass all that time, and my old dog who is 15 has taken to it well, after being on dry food all his life. The only problem he has ever had health wise was his teeth, and after a year on barf, they look great, even the vet comented on how good his teeth look for a dog of his age! Perhaps don't use the hammer, cause may splinter the bones, rather than letting the pup grind them up?

[Hannah4181 260]

Hi, and thanks very much for your advice, Ive bashed the wings with an hammer, so all the bones were fragmented, Im just frightened that the sharp bones are going to stick in her throat, bowel or intestine etc, it just goes against everything Ive always been told...."DONT GIVE A DOG CHICKEN BONES" I must admitt, she loves it ! another question tho....is it normal for a 9Wk old pup to try and swallow it whole ? Hannah, your spot on, she is so ravenous with it, and just wants to get it down her throat asap ! I am feeding her a mixed diet of hi protein puppy meal, Chicken, and fruit and veg, infact she loves an apple, but will be moving onto lamb and rabbit soon,

Thanks in advance for your comments,

Craig.

 

 

Definately try chicken carcasses instead of wings, but really my sisters dalmation pup swallowed 8 wings whole the other day, then brought them up whole, then swallowed them whole . . . . this process continued for about 20 mins until she settled down to chew them nicely! :sick:

[Sully 3]

Flippin eck Timmay, thats a real good point even more worried now !, I'll deffo take that on board, Ive been told to freeze any meats first, apparantly kills any nasty beasties, know it's 100 questions but if I dont ask I'll never learn, whats your thought on road kill ? whats your methods in getting veg into em ie which veg ? how du feed them with it ?

bit embarrassed by all the questions, sorry

Craig

oh yer sorry erm, is it normal for a 9Wk old pup to try and swallow it whole ?

Edited July 2, 2009 by Sully

[Sully 3]

Silly question but y's the thread been moved ??? ive not done anything wrong have I?

[Neal 1,873]

I've started my last three pups on chicken wings the moment I've brought them home at eight weeks or so. It's amazing the transformation from taking quarter of an hour or so to eat one wing to now where it's just, "crunch, crunch, swallow!"

[Wild_and_Irish 11]

Flippin eck Timmay, thats a real good point even more worried now !, I'll deffo take that on board, Ive been told to freeze any meats first, apparantly kills any nasty beasties, know it's 100 questions but if I dont ask I'll never learn, whats your thought on road kill ? whats your methods in getting veg into em ie which veg ? how du feed them with it ?

bit embarrassed by all the questions, sorry

Craig

oh yer sorry erm, is it normal for a 9Wk old pup to try and swallow it whole ?

I give my pup a bone with lots of meat hanging off it about 3or4 times a week and he gets high protein feed the rest of the days, I tend not to freeze it and just give it to him straight from the butchers, it's only stuff thats been minced you need to worry about freezin, because the bacteria is inside, I feed him veg thats left over from dinner, and my pup ate 3 swallow chicks whole after there nest came down in one of the cattle houses so I wouldn't worry about it choking, its only cooked bones tht have a chance of breaking and causing them to choke because they're hard, and I wouldn't bother with puppy feed, theres more vitamins, minerals and protein in greyhound nuts

[Sully 3]

Thanks for the advice Wild,

she's been fine on it so far, just a bit concerned that her pooh's not stiffening up, still very sloppy ?

[Wild_and_Irish 11]

Thanks for the advice Wild,

she's been fine on it so far, just a bit concerned that her pooh's not stiffening up, still very sloppy ?

Mine was the same when I changed it's feed, it will stiffen up soon enough

[Sully 3]

Thanks W&I, she's on 30% protein at the mo, could this be the reason du think ?? was recommended it, specialised puppy food, cost me an arm and a leg in comparison with the likes of the adult GH mix, figured didnt matter what it cost her first bag as I wanted to give her a good start, she's also on BARF has fresh chicken once a day and then dried 2 times daily, she's really put some timber on, so well chuffed, but was slightly concerned with her sloppy pooh