Mixing Dry kibble and BARF?

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm just wondering if it would be alright to mix a little bit of BARF in with Coal's kibble instead of canned food? It makes me shiver every time I feed him, how much crap I'm putting into his body :-? But at this time of my life, I don't think I can do the whole BARF diet with him, I have too much other stuff to do right now, and if I'm guna do it, I wana do it the right way. But I was wondering if I made up little amounts of BARF, and mixed that with his kibble if it would be bad giving him only a bit, since a dog's amune system has to build up a little before going on the BARF totally, but this isn't totally.
Another concern I have is that Coal doesn't usually eat his food right away. It sits for half the day before he eats it, my dad came in here and actually yelled at me, and called me LAZY for not giving him his canned food this morning and only dry!! :evil: Well EXCUSE me for worrying about his health, I don't like thinking about it sitting there collecting bacteria. Is there any way I can teach him to eat his food right away? Coal also has issues with me being around his food bowl, and has gotten TONS better, but it's still an issue. So Giving it to him for only a short period then taking it away, I'm afraid might bring back more issues with him.

Thanks! :D

[courtnek]

Shara, as far as BARF, I dont know enough about it to instruct you - HOWEVER...if Coal doesnt eat his food inside of 30 minutes, pick it up and either throw it out, or put it in the fridge. When he gets hungry enough, he'll eat as soon as it's put down. and no, its not cruel, he's taking advantage of you....

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[3ofakind]

If you want to feed both it is best to feed them seperately, meaning barf at one meal and kibble at the next. Kibble takes about twice as long to digest as opposed to barf. What allows dogs to tolerate the raw meat without risk of infection is the shortness of the digestive tract and the speed in which it leaves the body. When you mix kibble and barf you run the chance of leaving the raw in the digestive track long enough that they can get sick from the bacteria. Some people feed it together and claim they have no issues. But logic and science tell us that it is optimal to feed them seperate.

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks! :D

Court - I understand that, but with his training I've been trying to make it as positive as possible when I take away his bowl and return it, taking it away just like that, I'm afraid might make him snappy again, and I won't be able to take his food away, period :-?

Thanks 3ofakind! I read when I first started Hazel on the BARF to not start her just cold turky like that, and to mix some with her kibble, and eventually take away kibble and add BARF until it's all BARF. I never did that though :oops: Hazel lived off a LOT of scraps we gave her, and bones and stuff, and my mom told me it wouldn't be bad to just give her the BARF straight away, which I did, and there were no problems. I never knew about the mixing them, I knew that with BARF the digest quicker, but never thought mixing them it woudl stay in their system longer and stuff! Thanks!
Maybe I'll feed him BARF in the morning, so I know he eats, then give him kibble when I get home from school, or at dinner time so I know he'll eat his kibble, he'll be just hungry enough, but yet didn't starve all day, and they'd be seperated enough! :)

Thanks! :)

[Aroura]

Hi there Shara! Was just wondering if you feed Coal once or twice a day? He should be old enough now that you're only feeding him once a day. You shouldn't be worried to take his food off him, leaving food out all day can actually be one of the causes for aggression, so if he doesn't eat it right away put it away and don't offer it again until his next meal. He'll learn!

As for the BARF, maybe instead of offering him kibble and BARF each day you could give him just BARF every 2nd or 3rd day and just kibble on the others? Just a suggestion, but I think you'll also reduce the risk of him not eating his kibble meals completely if you do that as well.

Oh, and just so you know, all our dogs went BARF cold turkey, the gradual change over is just something that some people do, but I don't really think its neccissary unless you have a really old dog or one with an already weak immune system :wink:

[mouseatthebusstop]

I have never fed BARF so I do not know

[Guest Anonymous]

Thanks guys!

Maybe it's time I get my books and info back out and do some more research, I have seemed to forgoten a LOT since I've been feeding Hazel :o

I will think it over, and talk to my 'rents about it, and see if I can handle making up the food and everything like that and squeeze it into my schedual (now that schools back, I feel all overwhelmed again, and so far I've been there only half a day :o :roll: [school buses aren't running from the cold])

Thanks for the suggestions and stuff, I'll let you know what I come up with :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

Im with mouse on this one... I know its Bones And Raw Food but what is it.

what meats what kinds of bones?
totally curious about it

[Guest Anonymous]

RNP - I fed Hazel mainly raw chicken, and beef. I feed in her "Meat/Veggie Mix" usually consisted of half veggies and fruit, and half ground beef, and the occasional time ground turky (although I can't STAND the smell of turky, so I only did that one occasionally). With her food I fed her a couple RAW chicken wings (it has to be raw, if cooked it is more likely to splinter). I also fed her a knuckle bone about once a week or so, but you can feed just about anything. Some people even feed bunnies :o :o I think about the main consumption is usually chicken though because you can get the scraps from the butcher for cheap that he'd be throwing away anyway. Backs, necks, and wings are usually used.

There are some great sites out there as well as books too... One book I totally recomend is "The Ultimate Diet: Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats" by Kymythy R. Schultze.

[Aroura]

Pretty much any type of meat and bones as long as they are fresh. I steer clear from cow bones as a general rule as they are usually not very meaty and also are very hard and carry the risk of breaking teeth. Lamb off cuts are great, as are chicken carcass' and whole rabbits (you may want to gut them first though for risk of parasites). Ox tails are good for small dogs, but larger dogs can choke on them. Generally bones should be big enough that the dog can swallow them whole, which is why ox tails can be a hazard. Chicken necks are fine if the dog knows to chew them and not just swallow them. Turkey necks are great for variety and kangaroo tails are great if you live in Aus or you can get them cheap elsewhere!

As for the Raw Foods bit, that generally covers pureed raw veggies, they must be pureed as otherwise the dogs can't digest the cellulose. Raw fruit is also great for variety and some people add things like honey, yoghurt, kelp, cod liver oil, flax seed oil, apple cider vinager, brewers yeast etc to the diet. Offal is also added and usually makes up about 10% of the diet.

The main thing to keep in mind in variation, which is something no kibble offers. They say variety is the spice of life, well that holds true to dogs too and if you have plenty of variety and plenty of raw meaty bones the nutrients are balanced out over the space of about a week and the dog misses out on nothing.

Its really quite interesting and you can never learn too much. I'll be studying nutrition at uni this year so will be learning even more :wink: Love to learn!