The Bones & Raw Food Diet (BARF)

A Bones And Raw Food diet or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) is a natural, non-processed, whole food diet for your dog consisting of quality meats, fresh vegetables and natural supplements. BARF recreates the diet your dogs' ancestors ate for several thousand years, just as Mother Nature intended, and the ingredients supply everything a dog needs to lead a happy, healthy and long life.

Dogs go BONE-NANAS for it! The meat used in Doggie Diner's products consists of bone, marrow, fat and organ meats from chickens and turkeys. Fresh raw vegetables are added to provide enzymes and anti-oxidents. Natural supplements are also added such as vitamins and minerals together with herbs seeds and similar products, all of which have life extending and health enhancing properties.

The aim of BARF is to maximize the health, longevity and reproductive capacity of pets and minimize the need for veterinary intervention. The BARF diet is what dogs have eaten for several hundred thousand years and your beloved pooch will quickly become accustomed to eating it. Dogs actually require a bones and raw food diet if they are to become and remain healthy.

Bones offer a perfect nutritional package for your dog's structural health. A raw food diet that incorporate bone matter is providing large amounts of natural glucosamine, chondroitin, collage and calcium. Bones contain minerals embedded in the protein and the fat soluble vitamins A, D and E which enhance the immune system and promote health and longevity. Bones also provide natural antioxidant and anti-aging enzymes.

Vegetables contain important carbohydrates and supply fibre which is vital for preventing and treating certain canine diseases of the digestive tract. Vegetables help with food absorption and prevent problems such as sugar diabetes and pancreatitis. Dogs do not have the ability to break down vegetable matter, so the vegetables need to be pureed in order for the nutrients be to be properly absorbed.

The vast majority of the commercial food eaten by the modern dog is composed of cooked grains. Dogs have never in their evolutionary history (until now) eaten cooked grains and the effect on their health can be devastating.

The cooked grains are combined with a meat meal and then mixed with rendered, highly damaging fats. Aside from the dangerous chemicals they contain, the rendered fats are drastically different from the healthy and essential fatty acids our dog's ancestors ate and included in a Bones And Raw Food diet. These fats do not support healthy growth, nor do they support a healthy life or contribute to a healthy old age.

Added to this mix are refined sugars, loads of salt, chemical colouring and dyes, artificial chemical flavoring and flavor enhancers to make the product look and taste like something it is not. Also blended in are chemical antioxidants (a well known carcinogen) to make sure the product does not become rancid.

Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

Pet food manufacturers will add the nutrients they are legally required to provide, however the cooking process eliminates most of these added sources, making it very difficult for a dog's body to absorb and process these much needed ingredients.

The outcome is that the modern pup obtains his/her minerals and nutrients in a totally inappropriate form. What he/she is getting is GRAIN and lots of it!

One consequence of feeding our dogs this commercial food diet can be a decline in health. Potential problems for dogs include weight issues, bloating, bad breath, poor skin and excessive shedding issues, hip dysplaysia and arthritis, intestinal problems, bladder stones, kidney failure, heart problems, low energy and/or behavioural issues.

When the BARF diet is adopted, most health problems disappear. Specialty diets from other pet food companies are divided into many sub categories — weight control, growth food, dental, puppy, small dog/large breed. BARF consists of top quality ingredients all the time that will fit into every category.

It is important to note that while most health and behavioural problems can be solved with the Bones And Raw Food diet, some problems will not disappear overnight. This is not a program for the impatient dog owner. Dogs who have been on commercial dog food their whole lives can take longer to become sufficiently healthy. And unfortunately, even the best of diets may not be able to change the results of a lifetime of poor quality foods.