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You have decided to bark your dog. Food plans are a good way - especially for newcomers - to establish a routine in your new everyday life. They help you to plan your shopping properly and calculate the quantities of meat and vegetables.
The total requirement must always be adapted to your dog's needs. But what exactly does that mean? How much meat, how many bones and, above all, what fruit and vegetables can your four-legged friend eat? We explain how to create the right BARF diet plan for your dog and which BARF food supplements you must not do without.
BARF food plan for dogs - the right composition
The daily BARF ration should be 2 - 3 % per kg/body weight of your dog, made up of meat and vegetables. The ideal menu should consist of 80 % meat and 20 % fruit and vegetables - minimal deviations are possible. You should not experiment too much so that your dog's gastrointestinal tract can get used to the BARF changeover. To start with, it's enough for your four-legged friend to get used to one type of meat. This will allow the intestinal flora to adapt better to the new diet. After 2 months, your dog's intestinal environment will have adapted and you can vary the meat.
The following composition can help you to put together a feeding plan for dogs:
Animal content (80 % of the total amount):
- 50 % muscle meat with fat
- 20 % leaf stomach or green rumen
- 15 % raw meaty bones or soft bones such as chicken necks and duck carcasses
- 15 % offal - divided into liver, heart, kidney and lung
Vegetable content (20 % of the total):
- 75 % vegetables
- 25 % fruit
BARF - What should be in the dog's bowl?
How much meat with BARF?
Many barf beginners ask themselves at the beginning: Which meat is best for the dog? As a rule, you can feed just about any meat - except pork. Beef, poultry, game, horse or lamb are natural prey for wolves and are therefore also suitable for dogs. The higher the fat content of the meat, the more energy it provides your four-legged friend. So if you have a calm couch potato, you should feed less energy-rich meat. This is because carbohydrates, which are mainly contained in pasta and potatoes, also provide your pet with energy. The main component of the BARF feed plan should be marbled muscle meat. This provides your dog with plenty of minerals and proteins and is also the main meal of the wild wolf.
Why is offal important in BARF?
When it comes to offal for dogs - which is also part of the BARF diet - masters and mistresses don't necessarily go into raptures. Especially not if you are supposed to feed them raw to your four-legged friend. However, the wolf, the ancestor of the dog, feeds on the whole prey animal in the wild. This includes offal and organs. They also provide your dog with plenty of vitamins and minerals. 100 g of calf's liver already provides 300 g of phosphorus, 28,200 µg of vitamin A and numerous B vitamins.
Which bones to feed raw?
Feeding bones is important for the calcium-phosphorus ratio. Soft bones such as chicken necks contain more phosphorus and are easier for your four-legged friend to digest. As a calcium-rich balance, you can feed large meat bones from beef, lamb or even rabbit. However, make sure that you do not overfeed your dog with bones. Otherwise, this can lead to hard bone excrement and cause your four-legged friend pain. A dog's gastric juices are very aggressive and can digest individual pieces of bone very well. If you don't want to feed your four-legged friend bones, you can switch to calcium-rich BARF supplements such as eggshell powder or ground bones.
Rumen and leaf stomach for BARF
The rumen and gizzard are part of the digestive tract of ruminants. For humans, these forestomachs have a very intense and unpleasant smell, but for many dogs they are a delicacy. Both contain important bacteria (probiotics) for the dog's intestines, which contribute to the digestion and breakdown of plant components. Probiotics protect the intestines from inflammation and support the dog's natural intestinal flora. They also contain lots of trace elements that are found in plants. Rumen and leafy stomach should therefore also be part of your dog's barf diet.
Fish for omega-3 fatty acids
Once a week, the meat ingredient can be replaced with fish. This provides essential omega-3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and is a natural source of vitamin D. If you want to avoid feeding fish, simply integrate high-quality salmon oil into the diet - dogs quickly develop a taste for it. Fatty fish such as mackerel, herring and salmon are particularly suitable. Fish should be frozen for a few days before barfing so that parasites such as fish tapeworms and the fish bacteria rickettsia can die off.
Which fruit and vegetables should be barfed?
Fruit and vegetables are part of every barfing diet. They contain important dietary fiber and fibers that are difficult to digest and serve as food for the intestinal bacteria through fermentation. Green vegetables in particular, such as various garden salads, carrot greens, dandelion leaves, spinach and chard, contain lots of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates. But they also provide plenty of phytochemicals, which have numerous health-promoting properties. In addition, the plants consist mainly of water and have a positive influence on your dog's water balance. In addition to fresh or cooked vegetables, you can also use frozen or air-dried vegetables, such as our BARF vegetable flakes or other supplementary flakes. Frozen vegetables are also suitable, but should be fed defrosted. While vegetables make up the larger vegetable portion, fruit should not exceed 8% of the total BARF ration.
BARF supplements for dogs - preventing health problems
BARF supp lements are available for the immune system, bones and joints, skin and coat and many other indications. The extra addition of certain nutrients can be useful when feeding raw food. They contribute to an improved supply of the metabolism and protect against possible deficiency symptoms in the dog. Especially in special situations, dogs have a higher nutrient requirement and need more vitamins and minerals. With a targeted diet, many symptoms can be alleviated and secondary diseases prevented. However, barf supplements also serve as a preventative measure to ensure that the four-legged friend does not fall ill in the first place.
Special situations that require a nutrient supplement:
- Heavy physical exertion
- High activity
- Illness
- Change of coat
- Growth
- Pregnancy
- Increased stress (relocation, travel)
- Change of food
- Diet
However, when feeding your dog supplements, you must be careful to use the correct dosage - a lot does not always help a lot.
BARF recipes - quick and easy
We have put together some feeding plan examples for you. This will help you get started with BARF and adapt the diet to your pet's needs.
Recipe suggestions for an adult dog of 20 kg with 3 % of body weight. Alternatively, this can be reduced to 2 %.
Beef and chicken for the agile four-legged friend
- 240g beef muscle meat
- 100g rumen
- 80g chicken back
- 60g offal
- 120g pureed carrots, zucchini and apple
As a BARF supplement
- 1TL AniForte® Salmon oil
- 4g AniForte ® BARF Complete
Horse and fish for sensitive dogs
- 200g horse meat
- 150g fish (trout, carp, wild salmon)
- 70g horse offal
- 70g potatoes
- 50g beet
- 60g granulated cream cheese
As BARF additive
- 1TL AniForte® Premium feed oil
- 3g AniForte ® Eggshell powder
Conclusion
As you have seen, a BARF feeding plan can be created quickly. Once you have the basics, you can adapt the raw diet to your four-legged friend as the changeover progresses. You know your dog best and know what he needs and what his preferences are. Above all, it is important to provide your dog with all the nutrients it needs for healthy well-being. Observe your dog a little more closely at the start of barfing so you don't miss out on how he reacts to the change. If you are not sure, you can also discuss the diet plan with your vet or veterinary practitioner.
