22 Feb 2008 02:16:37 | Jennifer Bryant
BARF stands for Bones and Raw Food. It is a diet for dogs that
has received a lot of attention over the past few years, but
should you feed it to your dogs?
The BARF feeding regimen actually consists of throwing a raw
carcass (usually chicken) to your dog and letting him eat it
bones and all. The thinking behind this concept is that dogs
used to eat raw food like this for thousands of years in the
wild. Many are praising the multitude of benefits that the BARF
diet provides.
The problem that I have with the BARF diet is that dogs have
also been domesticated for thousands of years. They have not had
to feed themselves in packs such as wolves and coyotes do for a
long time because of the relationships that they have
established with man. Man has traditionally fed their dogs
leftover scraps from dinner that has been cooked long before the
commercialization of bagged dog food.
Dog’s bodies have adapted over time to a convenient lifestyle of
being given cooked foods. Today’s dogs can get Salmonella
and E. coli poisoning it’s just that they are more resistant to
these bacteria than their human counterparts. However, the corn
and wheat that are added to bagged dog food have not ever been a
source of a dog’s natural diet in history. These ingredients can
be triggers for allergies and other ailments.
If you decide that the BARF diet is right for your dog please
take caution. Dogs that have weakened immune systems will be
much more likely to become ill when eating raw meat. Try to find
raw meat that is fresh and comes from a source that you can
trust. Also small fragments of bone can be swallowed and their
sharp ends can pierce the stomach or intestinal walls. Too much
bone may also cause constipation.
This article was written to supply general information about the
BARF diet. The following book can give you additional
information to help you make an informed decision about whether
to feed your dog the BARF diet: THE BARF DIET .
About Author :
Jennifer Bryant breeds American Pit Bull Terriers and builds
websites in her spare time. Bryant’s Red
Devils
