Teeth out

[sandymere 8,263]

Lucky plum, some dogs are more prone to this than others hence having dogs that were problem free in the past. Add in bones once or twice a week, see your local butcher for waste stuff like lamb ribs etc. Start gradually and avoid the big knuckle bones as these can wear down the front teeth.

A general post on this subject below.

 

I write this after answering a myriad of post questioning BARF. First can I state that feeding a dog some raw meat and bones along with other food is not BARF. BARF is feeding ONLY raw foods based on rubbish ideas like 'dogs can't digest cereals' or commercial dog food is poison etc etc along with the nonsensical 'naturalistic fallacy' (http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Naturalistic_fallacy). If you live in a yurt and exist on holistic, free range, organic gobblygook then go for it!

 

 

For the more normal types who are considering adding raw meat and bones as a part of the diet, as I do, I would suggest using decent quality meat such as game the dog has caught or butchers waste, (freeze game for a week or so to kill worm cysts), build up gradually, don't over feed bones and avoid weight bearing ones.

Combine with a good carb source such as pasta, dog biscuits or a lowish protein complete.

Adding cooked veg, (cooking makes it more digestibl)e, gives a wider range of minerals etc making the addition of supplements unnecessary for a healthy animal. A good source of veggies is good old table scraps.

Lastly there are risks with feeding raw meat and bones as part of a balanced diet, bowel obstruction, dietary imbalances, bacterial contamination, internal injury through bones etc, but the worst are rare when done sensibly and I find the positives outweigh the negative for adult healthy dogs.

Edited December 3, 2012 by sandymere

[stevemac 434]

Mate I feed dry food mostly for convence sake busy life and all that. How ever I make sure they get goodbones a couple of times a week and not that I hunt rabbit or hare much but they always get it when I do sure the bone keeps the teeth in good order and cheap as chips from the butcher.

[lapin2008 1,587]

The siren that lab has that goes off when someone mentions lurchers and pheasants in the same sentence is probably the same make and model as the one Sandymere uses whenever anyone posts a pro BARF comment!