Updated w/raw chicken video!! BARF

After all of the years of issues I've had with my dogs and cancer we decided to switch Gino to the BARF diet a few months ago to see if we could make sure he's just as healthy as he can possibly be. My aunt's breeder has advocated this raw food diet for years, but it always seemed too complicated and like it would be tons of work so we never really tried it and have always fed the girls high-quality commercial dog food. Once our last Giant Schnauzer, Ezree, died at the age of 6 from intestinal cancer we made the decision to have all our future dogs on as natural a diet as possible. And while I'm not saying the commercial dog food caused her cancer, I am saying that losing a dog like that is a sad and terrible thing to experience and I want to do everything in my power to promote my pet's health.

I have some familiarity about how the BARF diet works and what types of food to feed the dog. My friends Kelly and Fernando have had their Giant on the diet ever since they got her and they were a great source of information. They even belong to a raw food co-op. I also read several articles about how to transition a dog from commercial food to the BARF diet and noticed there was a lot of debate about weaning slowly versus going cold turkey. For Gino we tried cold turkey and after a day of some confusion on his part about what this gigantic turkey wing and chicken gizzards were doing in his bowl, he took to it without any problems.

As for the cost and convenience factors we haven't really noticed any major changes in our routine other than I stop at the grocery store more frequently to pick up his dinners. I spend a little bit more each month on food, but it's not really noticible. I try to shop for a variety of raw meaty bones and other meats. When we first started the diet I noticed that the cheapest meat was pork ribs, but they are so super fatty I don't like to buy them anymore. Now we buy pork neck bones, lots of chicken, and whatever other stuff is on sale. We also had some questions about exactly how much to feed him, but it's mostly been by trial and error and I think we've got a good idea of how much he should eat. This week we've also introduced vegetables to his diet and he LOVES eating his carrots for breakfast. Changing to the BARF diet has made me feel really good about taking care of my dog - he literally flies down the hall at dinner time and is so excited to eat. If you're interested in doing this for your own dog feel free to send me an email with any questions you have. I'm not an expert on the diet, but I should be able to answer any questions, or point you in the right direction.

*6/3 - post updated w/a picture of his raw chicken dinner and extreme bone-crunching, close up video of him eating it. Enjoy!!