Gundogs and BARF

[Mooch. 177]

The earth and running dog boys (and girls) are always going on about how good the BARF diet is for their dogs. Some say it gives their dog more prey drive.

 

My question is: Do you feed your gundog BARF?

 

I've been feeding half BARF and half dry per meal this past week and I've certainly noticed a change in "output"(both quantity and smell!) but I'm already having trouble with my dogs' desire to chase and kill (always have, not due to change of diet) without making the problem worse.

[Lab 10,979]

The earth and running dog boys (and girls) are always going on about how good the BARF diet is for their dogs. Some say it gives their dog more prey drive.

 

My question is: Do you feed your gundog BARF?

 

I've been feeding half BARF and half dry per meal this past week and I've certainly noticed a change in "output"(both quantity and smell!) but I'm already having trouble with my dogs' desire to chase and kill (always have, not due to change of diet) without making the problem worse.

What do you want your gundog to chase and kill? I feed half and half through the shooting season, just for the added protein. If i dont have beef for them for a couple of weeks i never notice any difference in there performance by just feeding there normal dry biscuits.

[Mooch. 177]

Good god no, chasing and killing is the last thing I want. I've always fed dry (Gilpa Valu Mix, 20% protien). Just wondered what the pros and cons where of feeding BARF to gundog breeds.

[skycat 6,174]

I've got a really good tale to tell about a mate's spaniel: now he's not a particularly good dog man, tends to treat his dogs like tools with no real consideration as to what makes them tick, and he had a very timid bitch who never did much good at all: within a week of getting her on raw food she was already changing. Coming out of herself. Within a month she was starting to hunt properly, and although she never made the best dog in the world, she came on enough to make him change over completely to raw food.

 

More and more people are beginning to see that various behavioural problems can be attributed to highly processed food: maybe an intolerance to some colouring or preservative in the food: hyper activity as a result of that intolerance, or 'brain fog' also happens when a dog just appears dopy and dumb.

 

Some people do find that their dogs are keener when being fed raw, certainly to begin with, a the dog feels so much better in itself: things settle down after a while, and you end up with a healthier, fitter dog which is far more likely to work well.

 

BUT if you have control issues now, they won't go away just because you feed the dog raw food. You need to address the training side of things as well. Some people do say that if the dog is already being fed on raw meat etc, it is less likely to go bonkers when it gets the taste of fresh meat in its mouth; a carcase: I believe this because dogs fed on raw are already getting all the vitamins, minerals, protein they need, in a natural form, so are less likely to get hyped up as a result of contact with dead things. Makes sense to me.

 

Edited to add: just seen you last post: Gilpa Valu may be cheap, but does it really contain the nutrients a dog needs? I've sent you a pm.

[sandymere 8,263]

Now gundogs aren’t my thing but dogs digestion is dogs digestion and that’s an area I’m interested in so I’ll add my two pennies worth. Adding meat into the diet will increase the total fat content and thereby total calories which, in theory, may very well increase energy with the result of increased activity but in reality its unlikely. In my experience feeding meat doesn’t make dogs more aggressive or increase prey drive, rather its our perceptions that change. The classic example is sweets/ fizzy drinks and children, parents swear that the kids are more hyper after consuming these products but when filmed for activity and behaviour before and after the parents said they became more hyper but the film showed no change ie we expect a result and therefore see it. Personally I’d go back to scratch and see the behaviour as the problem and treat that with appropriate training.

As to diet, a little meat is unlikely to do any harm and may even do some good but is unlikely to blame, increasingly it seems that raw food etc is offered as a panacea to all ills but as with all the others life is far to complicated for a one hit cure for all. I feed a base of complete with meat and bones plus cooked veg to give a balance of fat, protein and carbs for diet and use training to give balanced for behaviour, there is no one answer to all. I would give a higher fat content to a gundog than a lurcher but would only expect to see any difference towards the end of a session.

Ps, allergies to this and sensitivities to that its getting like hypochondriacs heaven.

 

[Mooch. 177]

Thanks for the replies. I'm getting the impression that feeding raw to a Gundog certainly won't do any harm to his controllability and will probably improve his overall health.

 

I must clarify though that I don't see diet as an alternative to training but as another tool in the box i.e. a healthy, happy dog should be easier to train and more willing to work for/with me and I want to get it right.

 

Thanks again for the informative replies.