PREPARING BARF MEALS

Before starting your dogs on a BARF diet, you need to have a copy of Give Your Dog A Bone or Grow Your Pups With Bones by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. You will find yourself reading it over and over again and always using it as a reference.

Next you need to find a supply of raw meaty bones. I purchase in bulk with some other BARFers and we are able to purchase directly from a wholesaler. I found that at first my senior dogs were able to digest the bones better if they didn’t have them for every meal and if I ground them. After a short adjustment period I stopped grinfding altogether although I do grind the chicken wings for the puppy. Many people feed the chicken wings as is but I am uncomforatble with that so I grind them. There is no one way to switch from commericla to raw. Whe we imported Jamie, he had a kibble meal for breakfast in the Netherlands and had chicken necks and raw vegetables that evening when we got home. He loved his new raw meals. His daughter, Romy, who was born 9-20-02, has never had anything but raw food.

The fresh chicken necks come packed in ice.

Meat grinder.

Ground chicken wings…about the consistency of chili meat.

Whole chicken necks.

The turkey necks come frozen in 30 lb. boxes. The extra boxes can go right into the freezer. I thaw a whole box and then repackage them into enough for breakfast for two days.

A variety of fresh vegetables.

The vegetable puree is made of a variety of fresh vegetables including carrots, cabbage, kale, collards, celery, tomatoes, squash, romaine, and anything I find in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator.The vegtables are pureed in a regular food processor or you can use a juicer.

The vegetables are pureed to the consistency of pudding.

Breakfast may be one turkey neck or, if the dog needs a few more calories, I may toss in a couple of chicken necks too. I like them to have fresh fruit with their breakfast. I make fruit smoothies with fruit, eggs, yogurt, cottage or riccota cheese and enough water to blend.They get about 1/2 to 2/3 cup with their turkey neck.

The evening meal consist of chicken necks, the vegetable puree, and a tablespoon of olive, flaxseed, peanut, or sesame oil. One night a week the evening meal is ground beef or beef chunks. I try to feed less beef in the meal than I would chicken so a beef night usually also includes an egg as well as extra vegetables. I recently started to buy some of the already packaged ground lamb and tripe and that has been a big hit at mealtime. If you feed any grains, they should be overcooked. You want it a little on the mushy side. I rarely feed grains but they may get a very small amount of rice a couple of times a month just for variety.

Special occasion meals…a new title or a birthday…are usually a nice raw steak with baked sweet potato, vegetable puree and oil. Of course, special occasions call for special desserts.

This is an AM meal of turkey neck, ricotta cheese, egg, and bananas..

This is an AM meal of turkey neck, bananas, and raisins.

This is a PM meal of ground chicken necks, vegetable puree, a little rice, bananas, and olive oil. Wouldn’t your dog prefer this to kibble?