In 1999 I switched my dogs to the BARF diet. I raised 2 puppies from 9 weeks to adults and also another puppy to 7 months. I attribute the BARF diet to helping extend the life of my dog Endi.

In April 2003 I had my first 100% raw fed litter. Their dam was raw fed from 9.5 weeks of age. The pups were slowly weaned on to ground chicken starting at 3 weeks. Slowly I added in other meats and offal while letting the pups learn to eat whole chicken pieces. Pups had access to mom until 7 weeks when she said, "ENOUGH".

Since April of 2003 I have switched all the dogs to feeding a raw diet using the prey model or whole animal model as the bases of the diet. The dogs are no longer fed veggies, fruits, or supplements. Their diet consists of large very meaty bones from chicken, turkey, beef, lamb and pork. Once per week they also receive some beef/chicken liver, beef kidney, beef/chicken heart, chicken gizzards or (now that I found a source) tripe.

Raw feeding is not difficult to master, but does require some research. I recommend the following raw feeding e-mail lists and the book, Raw Meaty Bones.

Rawfeeding

Rawbreeders

Rawbreeder

Supplier's list

Raw Feeding Websites

Raw Feeding Homepage

What I Feed

This would be a normal week of feeding for my dogs. I feed 2X per day as the dogs seem happiest with this arrangement.

Monday: whole meaty turkey neck AM and PM.

Tuesday: Lamb neck AM - large size for younger dogs, smaller size for old. 1 chicken back PM.

Wednesday: 1-2 chicken backs AM. 1 large chuck of beef brisket per dog in PM.

Thursday: 1 large meaty beef rib AM. Chicken liver, heart, gizzards, and can of sardines PM

Friday: large turkey neck AM and PM. These are lean and skinless.

Saturday: Meaty pork neck AM. Turkey neck PM

Sunday: Turkey Neck AM, Chicken leg quarter PM

This varies, of course. Some weeks I cut up whole chickens, or whole turkeys. I like meaty turkey backs when I can find them. Since chicken backs are practically meatless I will feed boneless meat at another meal (usually in whole chunks). I have found that the dogs stay leaner when feeding more turkey necks. I have been lucky to find very meaty turkey necks. I am looking for a source of other meats as variety is the ideal. My dogs also have access to some wild prey and animal manure.