Labrador Retriever Dogs Blog

It used to be simple to feed your dog. You would buy some kind of dry dog chow and throw in some table scraps. As veterinary science became more advanced, veterinarians began to study nutrition. They realized that, just as for people, diet has a big impact on overall health. It became clear that grain based, processed dog food was not adequate to support a dogs health. There are now many high quality, meat based dog foods available with no artificial colors or fillers.

Now, another type of diet is becoming more popular. It is the BARF diet. This refers to bones and raw foods, or biologically appropriate raw food. The person behind this trend is Dr. Ian Billinghurst. Proponents of the BARF diet believe that, as dogs are descendants of the wolf, dogs will benefit from eating the way wolves eat in the wild. They believe that wild animals thrive because they do not eat processed food.

The BARF diet consists of 60% raw, meaty bones, 25% meat from organs, such as kidney, liver, tripe and brains. They also include fish and chicken carcasses. 15% of the diet is made up of vegetables and grains. In order to make sure the dogs get all the nutrients they need, proponents of the BARF diet supplement this raw food with oils, such as cod liver and flax seed oil, as well as vitamins, kelp powder and yogurt. I do not quite understand why, if this diet is so superior to high quality, commercial dog foods, there should be a need to add supplements. I doubt the healthy wolves in the wild supplement their diet.

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It’s probably not too surprising that many of us take our dogs health for granted. We probably don’t mean to do it. It just kind of happens by accident. We expose them to things or feed them food with ingredients that we wouldn’t eat or expose ourselves to. We rush out and take our vitamins, eat healthy food do things like giving ourselves a liver cleanse. We then turn around and feed our dog food with questionable ingredients or even expose them to second hand smoke. It’s just a matter of becoming more aware of what we are exposing out pets to. After all, we want them to live a long and health life. So think about it next time you are shopping for pet food or taking your dog in public or even buying them a toy. Read the label and think about exactly what you are giving them.

All Natural Dog Food 

Commercial dog food is a great convenience for busy caregivers. You want the best for your companion animals, but with a bewildering array of foods and claims to choose from, how do you decide what's best for your animals?

Standards For Dog Food Ingredients

The commercial dog food industry is huge and extremely profitable ($25 billion a year in revenue worldwide). While manufacturers may appear to have the best interests of your companion animals at heart, they are generally more concerned about their stock prices and bottom lines. This may be especially true of commercial dog food manufacturers owned by large, diverse, multinational parent companies. What this means to you is that if an inexpensive ingredient is available to replace a costlier one, many companies will make the substitution to save money. A few companies pride themselves on their "fixed formulas," meaning that they always use the same ingredients. This may be good … if the ingredients are of acceptable quality to begin with.

Healthy Dog Food System 

Dog food may be labeled as "complete and balanced" if it meets the standards set by a group called AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials. These standards were formulated in the early 1990s by panels of canine and feline nutrition experts. A food may be certified in two ways: (1) by meeting AAFCO's published standards for content ("Nutrient Profiles"), or (2) by passing feeding tests or trials. While most researchers agree that feeding tests are superior in assessing the nutritional adequacy of a food, clinical experience as well as scientific studies have confirmed that even foods that pass feeding trials may still be inadequate for long-term maintenance. Also keep in mind that the standards set only "minimums" and "maximums," not "optimums." Commercial foods are designed to be adequate for the average animal, but not all foods will be suitable for an individual animal's variable needs.

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It actually sounds kind of gross, but BARF is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food. Many health conscious veterinarians are huge advocates for this diet which can completely replace commercially prepared dog food. One of the first proponents of the BARF diet was Dr. Ian Billinghurst who still recommends it today. He believes that it is the ultimate way to get our pets in to optimum health. Many people believe that the BARF diet simulates what your dog would eat in his natural environment.

Many people feel that there are a lot of health advantages to feeding a raw food diet. Many owners who have dogs with problems such as allergies, skin problems, weight problems, and anal gland problems have found that the bones and raw food diet has helped to significantly remedy these issues.

Some of the advantages to feeding a biologically appropriate raw food diet include no consumption of preservatives found in most commercially prepared kibble diets, it usually tastes better to your dog than regular dog food, and in general, muscle mass and body condition improve on a raw food diet. One also often finds that dogs produce fewer stools, eat more slowly, and have fewer health problems. Many advocates of the raw food diet also claim that it is less expensive than commercially manufactured dog food. One of the biggest disadvantages to this diet is that it takes longer to prepare.

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It actually sounds kind of gross, but BARF is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food. Many health conscious veterinarians are huge advocates for this diet which can completely replace commercially prepared dog food. One of the first proponents of the BARF diet was Dr. Ian Billinghurst who still recommends it today. He believes that it is the ultimate way to get our pets in to optimum health. Many people believe that the BARF diet simulates what your dog would eat in his natural environment.

Many people feel that there are a lot of health advantages to feeding a raw food diet. Many owners who have dogs with problems such as allergies, skin problems, weight problems, and anal gland problems have found that the bones and raw food diet has helped to significantly remedy these issues.

Read the rest of this entry »