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Previous Next Up Topic Dog Boards / Feeding / Feeding BARF?
By scottishmal Date 31.03.03 12:28 GMT
Hi guys,

I know it's been a well discussed subject before, but I'm looking for some advice and thought I'd bring up the issue again.

Moro (my malamute) is now 9 months old, and for the last couple of months has been
being very picky about her food. She has been eating Large puppy science plan from 8weeks and has done very well on it (except for the
wind!!)

When she started getting picky with her food we decided to mix raw egg through it which she loves, or she'd get tuna or pilchards mixed in.
She ate this for awhile then started eating less and less again. Now she gets rabbit or sausages (as a special treat) chicken wings are really what she gets most often, although we have bought her natures diet cooked food (which she now turns her nose up at).

So i guess what i'm really looking for is some advice that she is getting enough nutrients. She eats about 1/2cup kibble in the morning
with an egg, and at night she either gets 4-5 chicken wings or 1 cup kibble, egg and tuna and a carrot for afters. She used to eat 2 cups of
kibble in the morning and 2 cups at night. She is very lean, vet says she is very muscular with very little fat on her. She is exercised
roughly 2 hours weekdays and 4 hours weekends.

Is she just trying her luck with holding out for the good food? That aside I think i've decided to feed her BARF from now on, she does seem
healthier, coat better etc. but am worried about feeding the right quantities. I know you can get books but I think I'm going to have to go
mail order as can't find any in the bookstore. Any advice on good books/recipes etc very welcomed.

Thanks
kirsty

P.S Sorry this kind of rambles on :-)
By caronanne [gb] Date 31.03.03 16:06 GMT
Hi Kirsty

I too posted the same thing last week and a very kind lady called Melody helped me, there is a web site called barf world (the link is in the list of previously discussed barf postings) she also sent me to Amazon for the book, which I have ordered, it is called give the dog a bone. I have used Amazon many times and they are always reasonably fast and good value.

Let me know how you get on as I am currently having the same problems as you, having tried many varieties of food I am stuck with feeding tinned meat which I hate as this does not body the dog up in any way and although he seems healthy enough it I feel that he is not getting everything he needs.

Good luck with the book search and I found the barf world site very interesting.

Bye for now.

Caron
By Malakai (***) [gb] Date 31.03.03 16:14 GMT
Sounds fine in quantity. I feed my males roughly the same amounts and I'm considering changing completely to Barf too since Kodi (7 months) is having problems changing from puppy to junior complete. I've currently got a small bag of James Wellbeloved that all four dogs are turning their noses up at!
Joan
By theemx (****) [gb] Date 02.04.03 17:42 GMT
If i were you, id get hold of a copy of 'Give your dog a bone' and also 'grow your pups with bones' both by Dr Ian Billinghurst.

Whilst the weight of your dog seems fine, lean being preferable to fat, i would question if you are giving perhaps a little too much exercise to a dog who has not finished growing yet. Even when he has acheived his full height, his skeleton is still hardening, and probably wont be fully mature until he is over 2 years old. This does depend on what sort of exercise you are giving your pup. He is going to be a large, adn fairly heavy dog, when fully mature, which wont be until he is over 2 years old (im not talking mental maturity, im still waiting for all 3 of my crossbreeds to reach that!). Playing, training and swimming will be more beneficial, and less harmful to his bones and muscle growth than lots of running and walking. Also make sure you let your pup tell you when he has had enough! Or if he is the kind of dog that will go on until he drops down from exhaustion, keep an eye on how much he is doing. little and often is the key.
There is evidence to suggest that a lot of the skeletal disease in dogs is more down to management, ie feeding and exercise than it is to genetics. By this i mean, whilst a dog can be genetically more likely to suffer from hip dysplacia than another dog, feeding and exercise are what will cause it to occur, or not.

I would cut out the kibble entirely, you want to be feeding 60-80% raw meaty bones, and the rest is vegetables, offal and cottage cheese, eggs etc.

To feed vegetables, you need to blend them up to a 'pre chewed' consistency with a food blender, if you do a big batch once a week, you can freeze it, which i find saves money.
In the veg mix i feed, i use carrots, apples, sprouts, basil coriander, parsley, cabbage, fruits, tomatoes, nuts, mushrooms, celery, avocadoes, olive oil, and i somtimes add some minced beef/pork to it, and also garlic, and brewers yeast. I make enough of this to feed three mid sized dogs for a week.

For a dog the size of a mal, i would have thought that probably a couple of tablespoons full of that a day, with some fish for breakfast, and then chicken wings for dinner would be fine. You can also feed chicken carcasses, necks, backs, lamb ribs, lamb shanks (recreational not a meal!) and occasioinally add some liver, kidney, heart, and if you can stomach it, brains!

It goes without saying, or it should, that whilst dogs CAN digest bones, it makes sense not to leave them alone with any bone! just in case.

Em
By mac [gb] Date 02.04.03 19:02 GMT
Kirsty

We changed our mal over to BARF at about 5 months old, she’s now 18 months , now we don't have any problem getting her to eat she lays next to the table and cries while we eat and jumps to her feet as soon as I move my chair to go and feed her, we did feed her on kibble but had to add things to it to get her to eat it, she only has raw now. I have read that it's not a good idea to mix kibble and raw as they get digested at different rates if you can change over completely it’s better than half and half. Our mal has a visibly better coat better teeth, no more plaque, and a better appetite.

As suggested the best thing to do is read the books by Dr Billinghurst , there is also a MAL- Barf discussion group on Yahoo "BARF-MALAMUTES@yahoogroups.com"
There has also been discussion about barf and sibes/mals on the sib club site if you search under the bulletin board -http://www.siberianhuskyclub.com/phorum/list.php?f=4

If you want to speak to a breeder who has experience of barf speak to Lorraine Le Fevre at -http://www.kegluneqsleddogs.co.uk/ she has mals and sibes on barf and has done so for some years now

Hope this helps

Neil
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