ok, so when the big boy moves in i am considering putting him on a BARF diet (funds permitting but so far looks pretty cheap to do). however i'm terrfied of getting the proportions wrong and giving him an unbalanced diet. i'm reading as much as possible on the internet and am getting hold of canine nutrition books but some first hand tips/recipes from BARF feeders (pref of large breeds) would be much appreciated!

does this sound like a good sort of recipe? http://www.auntjeni.com/barf.htm

Just looked at that link. Personally no, I don't like the recipe as a whole as I have never given mine (all raw fed) honey, apple cider vinegar, oatmeal or flaxseeds/oil. Never given them raw potatoes either, though they have had, on occassion, potatoes boiled and mashed. Tried brussels and cabbage once, my it was windy that day But thats just my opinion, someone else might think its great
Mine have: chicken wings, turkey necks, heart, liver, kidneys, minced chicken/tripe, (tpms), eggs, beef, lamb, rabbit, turkey and fish (usually raw cod or coley) They also have broccoli, cauliflower, sometimes a bit of spinach. For treats or training dried fish skins (sea jerky), apple, banana and pork scrathing (dog kind not for humans)
Menu varies daily but I don't make a big fuss they just get what I thaw out And some food is given in moderation.

Don't stress yourself out about it, its pretty easy once you've got the hang of it

yeah, i did wonder about the raw potato... from what i;ve read it doesn;t sound as if it does them much good...did wonder if sweet pot might be a bit different but guess not.

i'm looking at prize choice, do you know if they are reasonable? a few others have reccommended them

i'm wondering about how long certain things will last (so i can work out money). they have value packs of 40X 454gm do you know how long one of these would last for one dog (he's a big boy) (obviously i;d get different things and alternate, just trying to work it out and see if i can afford it)

The sweet potato mentioned would probably be a 'yam' but still I wouldn't feed it raw, though some might say its ok.
Haven't used Prize Choice, I get all my meat/neck/wings from TPMS but I gather its the same.
They come in 1lb blocks which I think is 454 grams? I have Leonbergers and they have 2lb meat per day (1 lb per meal) along with other things, but I suppose it depends on excercise, weight etc as some will eat more than others won't they? If you start off with calculating 2 per day @ 14 per week then the 40 packs would last....(counts on fingers) a day off 3 weeks
Chicken wings are about £1.20 to £1.40 if you get the value ones from Tesco and theres about 12 in a pack, so thats pretty good (just search for the cheapest)
You'd be surprised how cheap it can be to feed raw although the initial outlay of buying an extra freezer cost me £50 second hand, it means I can buy in bulk.

thats our plan as well. ok, ta for the advice!

Mine love raw potato, they dig them up out of my veggie plot!

see this is why i'm worrying... there seems to be quite a mix of views on whats ok or not...

We recently started giving our puppies BARF diet.We did feed our eldest dog for a while on Barf but he is such a fussy boy.Now weaning him back on.
We give our dogs minced beef,lamb,chicken,rabbit,liver,heart,chicken wings.The butchers I use charge me 25p a pound.I then blitz up my veggies and fruit.Usually a bag of carrots,4 apples,orange bannana,garlic,beetroot,sprouts about 4 or 5,broccoli - not necessary in the same batch a selection is fine.I add a little thyme,parsely.I also buy small packets of organic seeds from Asda.They contain linseed,flax and pumpkin seeds.1 small packet has lasted me 2 weeks.This is then blitzed up.They get a couple of heaped dessert spoons of veggie / fruit mix.About 6-7oz of mince twice a day.I then add either 1 raw egg mixed with the shell or a tablespoon of probotic yougurt.No supplements are given. Try www.barfclub.co.uk.Our puppies have really started to fill out and look good on this diet.They also get a daily bone to chew on.My home looks like an abbatoir.LOL.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/ good group to join - they will answer any questions you may have.
Just a few more for you to look at and to get some ideas:)
http://caberfeidh.com/NaturalDiet.htm
http://www.belamba.co.uk/barf/index.html
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/nutrit1.html
and this one might help decide how much to give: http://www.raw4dogs.com/calculate.htm

Remember all dogs are different in what they like/dislike or can/can't eat. And try and give as balanced a meal as you can

thanks guys thats really helpful. it seems really worth doing and i'd like to make sure i take care of him as well as i can

can you guys reccommend any good books for reading on BARF? i guess of course Dr billinghursts but am going to get that for graduation prezzy as quite expensive book. i'm alos looking at Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Diet (Kymythy Schultz- struck me as my sis calls me kymathy lol) and Raw Dog Food: Making It Work for You and Your Dog (Macdonald). are they any good and if not any tips?

Billinghurst is a good start, but my understanding is that the thinking has moved on a bit since.  Britbarf are good people to recommend current books.  Also, if you look on www.dogclub.co.uk in the 'stickies' section there is an exhaustive list of what is poisonous to dogs or shouldn't be fed - eg avocados, apple pips, turkey skin etc etc. 

So long as the diet is balanced over a period of time, don't panic about having to get everything finely balanced on a day by day basis.

There is nothing wrong with turkey skin per se. When I fed raw my dog regularly had turkey wings from landywoods and turkey legs from the supermarket. It gives some dogs the squits because of the fat content, the same as chicken skin does to some. Nothing wrong with it in itself though I don't think. Ask on the raw feeding groups if you're unsure - some people remove the skin but most leave it on in my experience.

ETA: Found a couple of threads re. turkey skin:

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/48457.html
http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/31695.html

Turkey skin has been linked to pancreatitis.

I take it you didn't read the threads or any of the links contained within. The only link between turkey skin and pancreatitis is an indirect one in so much that it is very high in fat, the same as chicken skin and countless other foods.

so i'm good to feed turkey skin as long as their isn't to much of it?

i've noticed the turkey legs they have in tesco and was thinking they would make a good meat and bone meal portion (still need to work out exact amounts etc but i figure one with veg etc makes a decent meal)

A couple of times a week as part of a wide variety of foods will be fine imo.

Mine loved the Tesco's turkey legs Only stopped raw for the time being as trying to work out allergies - will hopefully be going back to it!

seems like a lot of bone to meat though in them. if say the next meal had little or no bone in it would that work out ok do you think?

I always fed the raw meaty bone meal in the morning and then the mince/tripe/fish/egg/offal etc meal in the evening. So he would have had one of those turkey legs in the morning for breakfast, and then tripe and fish for dinner..something like that!

ok thanks terrified of getting the bone proportion wrong!

Sure you'll be fine A few more links for you I just found in my faves..

http://www.rawdogranch.com/rawdietbasics.htm  - this one has the basic percentages that I followed. Lots of helpful links on the left including a 'how much to feed' guide (lots of people feed by eye, but I found it helpful to initially work the amounts out).

http://www.justamere.com/newsletter/rawfeeding.asp

http://www.rawlearning.com/

There is also another yahoo raw feeding group based in America which I've found to be much much more active than the Brit one.

thanks, you guys are being a big help

btw, i have not found anywhere mentioning it but can i feed lung? (i've a friend who used to work at a halal butchers who can get me some)

Yes, it counts as offal though so not too much! Not sure if you have seen the treats in the pet shop called "puffed jerky"? They are pieces of air-dried lung. Most dogs seem to enjoy lung

ok cool, thats good then. i wouldn't want to give him to much offal anyway, he's not great on rich foods (though thinking livercake sounds like a good training treat)

don't stress about feeding BARF as someone suggested on here a good book to start with is Ian Billinghursts.  A good way of knowing what ratio of meat, bone, offal and veg to feed is to imagine the animal which has been killed in the wild,  the dog would normally go for the stomach contents first (digested grass/fruit/veg) and the amount of offal from each animal is a small amount compared to the amount of meat and bone! 

Zarah
I stand corrected! 

thats a good (though slightly yucky lol) way to think of it, ta

Another good book is 'work wonders' by Tom Lonsdale.

I think the thing about turkey skin is in regards to the dogs who get plain food throughout the year and then Christmas rolls around and they get a big bowl of turkey with all the trimmings,then an hour later they're rushed to the vets with a bout of pancreatitis or colitis,and of course vet asks what dogs been fed,answer, Turkey! This is where i think the myth of Turkey= Bad comes from.