Gun Dog Forum

Maybe i have too much time on my hands while i am at work but i have been google searching and i came across the b.a.r.f. diets which reccomends large meaty bones. Chicken. And some other stuff. Just putting this out there to see if anyone has experience or adverse concerns.

I realize some people do but I have no interest whatsoever of going that route. The sourcing, storage is just not for me. Also with all the hype/discussions about dog food spec's how do you actually rate raw? My dog does fine on kibble.

Doing it right and financially sensible is a ton of work. However, if you use a good dry as a base, there is nothing wrong with buying 50lbs of chicken necks or backs and some green tripe and feeding it a few times a week after the dogs eats the kibble.

Chicken necks and backs are easy to get and cheap.

My sister feeds raw b/c her GSP is allergic to brewer's yeast. She gives vitamins as a supplement and most days feeds him a chicken thigh and leg in the morning and some other raw something in the evening. She does supplement with a vitamin as well.

I am feeding my skinny EP some raw and some kibble. I would go totally raw if I was home more. If you're a hunter, you ought to have plenty of variety for the dog. My sis's dog loves rabbit, so we try to load her up with rabbits and squirrels when she comes to visit to take back with her.

I will say that her dog has a fabulous coat and very little waste (poop). What he does have is very chalky and disappears at the first rain. He seems hale and hearty with the raw diet and the addition of raw meats to my EP's diet has helped her put on some weight. She just loves to get the chicken in the morning. I do like to give my dogs knuckle bones from the butcher - it helps with the tartar on the teeth.

As soon as I find the time I would like to do raw. We raise our own chickens and soon rabbits . Rabbits are a very high protein meat and they multiply very fast I need to do some more reading on raw diets.

I feed raw. My guys get chicken backs or necks and a spoonful or two of a commercial mix that I get from a friend here in town. Those mixes are usually quail, pork, lamb, turkey, beef or tripe. Some of the mixes have veggies others don't. I also give a little yogurt, sometimes some pumpkin, a good vitamin/mineral supplement, and a joint supplement. My dogs do well on it but it really isn't for everybody. You have to learn what amount of food is best for your dog and sometimes dogs do better with one meat over another. I occasionally give a beef knuckle bone but those are outside treats and they don't get them often because I have some dogs that will fight over them, so it's a treat that they get when I have work to do in the backyard where I can keep an eye on them.

Thanks for.the input. I started feeding some ground elk that was given to me by a co-worker. (Freezer burn) to my pointer female that just whelped. She's keeping her weight very well despite the pups. I was also able to get some 20 % fat raw milk from a small local dairy for her. The true test is going to be a very drawn down shorthair with pups i picked up yesterday from an elderly friend who suffered a stroke.

I have no desire to feed raw. Too much work for not enough payback, IMO.

However, if you want to put weight on a dog...feed more fat, not more protein. It takes more energy to break down protein than you get back. That is the basis of the Adkin's diet.

For a lactating female,or for puppies, one of the best tips I ever came across was to put a healthy sized dollop of whole milk(4%) cottage cheese in with the puppy kibble. Yeah I feed the momma puppy kibble also.

RayG

Tripe works well for weight gain too, and they usually love it.

Eggs are awesome for a Momma dog too. The egg is the miracle food, high in fat and protein as well as easily digestable. A great addition to any diet either raw, with shell or cooked ....
Just sayin.

Sully- Good to see you on here and giving input!!! You have lots of quality knowledge to share on here, glad to have you aboard

It is fun to watch a dog deal with the whole shell egg at first, but after yummmmi. My dog used to carry the egg around the house before eating the whole thing.

I was thinking of supplementing my Britt with some ground venison. In fact I can easily get an extra tag for a doe and was thinking of making that part of my dog's diet. Likely use it as a supplement over the hunting months and winter and rely on kibble over the summer when he consumes less anyway. Any thoughts on this theory? Also do you cook the raw or actually feed it raw to the dog?

The stuff that i have read all indicates raw. From what i gather is the high heat eradicates the vitamins that are pre existing. If you do want to cook it keeping it below 200f saves much if it. The meat that is added to most dry dog food is leftover bone and meat along with feces filled intestines. Along with dead cows picked up by renderers. This is all cooked at high heat and ground into meal. Killing all bacteria and most nutrients. I am not trying to promote anything. I am just concerned with keeping my dogs in the best condition possible. I have a hard time keeping weight on my dogs during hunting season.

gotpointers wrote:The stuff that i have read all indicates raw. From what i gather is the high heat eradicates the vitamins that are pre existing. If you do want to cook it keeping it below 200f saves much if it. The meat that is added to most dry dog food is leftover bone and meat along with feces filled intestines. Along with dead cows picked up by renderers. This is all cooked at high heat and ground into meal. Killing all bacteria and most nutrients. I am not trying to promote anything. I am just concerned with keeping my dogs in the best condition possible. I have a hard time keeping weight on my dogs during hunting season.

Gotpointers -

First - Don't believe or buy into the hyperbolic, hysterical Bullsh!t put out by those "natural" or "organic" dog food hawkers. They usually have an agenda and their agenda almost always is to get you to spend waaaay more money on feeding your dog than you have to. On THEIR dogfood of course.

Second, you can go to any supermarket when they have a beef sale and ask for beef fat. Most will give you all you want because they generally have to pay to have it hauled away. Some will charge you a nominal fee, like ten cents a pound. I used to get a bunch, cut it into little chunks and freeze 1/4 lb. portions in sandwich bags.

When I was hunting my one or(in later years) two dogs four and five days a week for three months straight, even the best feed was not enough. I would supplement with 1/4 pound of pure beef fat(thawed and mixed in with the kibble and some warm water)per day for two dogs and that would keep them in good shape. When I only had one dog, I would supplement 1/4 lb. every other day. If 1/4 lb was not enough, I would bump it up to 1/4 lb per dog per day. They never seemed to need more than that in conjunction with a good grade of kibble.

Eggs will work, but I read somewhere that they should be cooked. Might want to check on that first.

RayG

Egg yolks are great but the whites are detrimental. The big component of the egg is the fat and there are much cheaper ways to provide that such as lard or beef tallow or even any vegetable oil. Whole eggs with the shells intact can be very abrasive to the esophagus before it is dissolved in the stomach.

Ezzy

Half the protein of the egg is in the yolk. My wife bakes an angel food cake a week, so if I didn't feed them to the dog they would get thrown away.

The white is also a mess for the dog to eat, even when you mixed the yolk and white my dog makes a mess. I just give the yolk.

gotpointers wrote:Maybe i have too much time on my hands while i am at work but i have been google searching and i came across the b.a.r.f. diets which reccomends large meaty bones. Chicken. And some other stuff. Just putting this out there to see if anyone has experience or adverse concerns.

I have a friend that is doing the raw meaty bones diet for his dog. It is obviously healthier for a dog to eat what it would eat in nature. Every one i know that feeds raw meat to there dogs has said that the dogs live longer. This I think goes for people as well stay away from processed food and we would be healthier also. Another guy I know who is a breeder as well as his father feeds raw chicken and sweet potatoes to their dogs and says they never have health problems with them . As far as feeding fat to your dog ,it is no different than feeding fat to yourself it clogs your arteries and too much is not good for you or the dog. All that said I feed my dog purina pro plan performance because it is convenient. Purina foods have never been recalled and they donate a lot of money and research into the hunting breeds. I think it is good to support the people that support our game. Feeding raw meat of good quality can get very expensive also . My friend that is doing the raw meaty bones is spending double my expense per month.

It is obviously healthier for a dog to eat what it would eat in nature.

There is no way I would feed my dogs what they eat in nature! I will stick with with the kibble that is convenient, affordable, the dogs seem to love, keeps them healthy, in great shape and looking good and is a balanced diet. The dog food we have available today is better than it has ever been and my dogs did great on the kibble we had available 40 yrs. ago.

Charlie

terrym wrote:I was thinking of supplementing my Britt with some ground venison. In fact I can easily get an extra tag for a doe and was thinking of making that part of my dog's diet. Likely use it as a supplement over the hunting months and winter and rely on kibble over the summer when he consumes less anyway. Any thoughts on this theory? Also do you cook the raw or actually feed it raw to the dog?

Terry, I supplement the kibble with venison as well, but I send it to the processor to be ground and have them add beef or pork fat. Just feed it raw. Sometimes I even feed it frozen if I've forgotten to take some out. My sis is asking for two deer this year - just to feed the dogs. Don't cook it. Also, RMB's , or raw meaty bones, help a lot with plaque and tartar build up on the teeth. knuckles are good but weight bearing bones are to be avoided.

Thank you all for your input. I have noticed a lot less mess. More time spent preparing. Less time cleaning. My female with pups has kept plenty of weight on. The female shorthair rescue with pups is improving.
The sourceing and gathering hopefully gets better. I was talking to a buddy who raised greyhounds and he would do the straight meat diet but had a homemade cooker out of a water heater to bring it up to temperature before feeding.