Any one familiar with the Barf diet?

considering this for my dog but unsure
Answers:
I'm a breeder (%26 exhibitor %26 judge) and all my dogs and puppies for the past 15 years have been raised on raw foods and it is stated in my puppy contracts that that is the preferred regime. Both my allopathic vets and my naturopathic vets together with my canine chiropractor all use my dogs as examples of sound, healthy dogs.
If you want information about it, try reading through Tom Lonsdale's book "Raw Meaty Bones" - excellent resource. Another good resource is Lew Olsen's website: www.b-naturals.com/
If you check in the Yahoo Groups listing you can find Raw Feeding sites (BARF is actually copyrighted these days - go figure). And you may be able to find a group local to your region to give tips and sources for meaty bones and the like.
Also, there are the Bravo Foods folk %26 you can do some mail order with the folks at www.k9rawdiet.com

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BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR DOG!!
Shouting is intentional :)))
Good luck!

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The BARF diet is actually really good for your dog and raw meat is on the top of good foods to feed your dog. If you have the time e.t.c. to plan and stuff, go ahead.

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http://www.barfworld.com/
The presence of bacteria in raw food often worries pet owners and vets. They assume these bacteria will make pets sick. However, dogs, being scavengers, have evolved to eat and thrive on bacteria laden food, requiring them for immune system maturity. Wild dogs eat the gut contents of their prey, and the feces of many different animals. They eat soil, contaminated meat, buried bones, infected meat and so on. These are all a source of microbes and any toxins they might produce. That is why the bacteria in raw meat are of no consequence to ninety-nine plus percent of dogs. This does not mean we recommend bacteria laden food for our pets. What it does mean is that pets that have eaten commercial pet food for most of their life are safe eating raw food from clean sources.

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Dogs do get food-borne illnesses as people do. They are subject to salmonella, salmon poisoning, etc. In addition, if you have anyone with a compromised immune system at home, you should take care to follow strict hygiene rules with raw meats.
Just as there are food handling warnings on all raw meats used for human consumption, the same rules apply to those used for dogs.
Dogs are not wolves, they are domesticated. Wolves are not altogether that healthy either and are now fed commercial diets in captivity.

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Some folks swear by BARF. I've never done it, but I don't know of anybody whose dog didn't do well on it.
The only problem I see with BARF, is that even pet nutritionists don't always agree on ingredients and quantities. Many BARF people will tell you that they had to make adjustments to their feeding regimen because their dog didn't always agree with something, or that they had a difficult time obtaining certain ingredients, or that certain aspects of the diet didn't sit well with them.
There is a Yahoo group of BARF people. Consider joining up to get more info before you decide to take the plunge.