The philosophy behind using BARF, or the hypothesis on which it is based is that the diet a dog evolved to eat - over many millions of years of evolution - is the best way to feed it. This is the hypothesis accepted by most modern zoos or any zoologist concerned with preserving a species of endangered animal. It is not the theory endorsed by pet food companies or the people they train - and that includes unfortunately - most vets.
If you want to feed your dog BARF, it means not feeding your dog cooked and or processed food. That is, not feeding your dog a diet based on cooked grains, no matter how persuasive the advertising. Artificial grain based dog foods cause innumerable health problems. They are not what your dog was programmed to eat during its long process of evolution.
A biologically appropriate diet for a dog is one that consists of raw whole foods similar to those eaten by the dogs' wild ancestors. The food fed must contain the same balance and type of ingredients as consumed by those wild ancestors. This food will include such things as muscle meat, bone, fat, organ meat and vegetable materials and any other "foods" that will mimic what those wild ancestors ate.
Please note that modern dogs of any breed are not only capable of eating the food of their wild ancestors, but actually require it for maximum health. This is because their basic physiology has changed very little with domestication despite obvious and dramatic changes in their current physical appearance and mindset.
The BARF diet, being an attempt to mimic the evolutionary diet of dogs, must, from a practical point of view, use food that is available from the local supermarket or whatever local or distant source is economically viable. BARF feeders do not have to go hunting or send their dogs out to hunt. That is why BARF must mimic, not duplicate the evolutionary diet of dogs. This is an important distinction.
The BARF feeder will MIMIC as closely as possible rather than duplicate the NATURAL diet of the dog. We are not trying to return our dogs to nature. It is impossible to feed any domestic animal its natural diet, let alone allow it to live under natural conditions. There are grave dangers that go along with the natural diet and natural conditions the ancestors or wild cousins of our dogs live with. They face lack of shelter, starvation, attack by other predators, and the potential for their prey to turn on them during the hunt. They also endure without medical intervention including surgery, vaccination, antibiotics and preventative measures against external and internal parasites. In other words, natural conditions can be deadly! They are not what we want for our pets. What we want for our dogs is a diet and an environment that maximizes health. That means a Biologically Appropriate Diet rather than a natural diet. This is my favourite use of the term BARF - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.
SKIN & COAT
Dramatic improvements in the health of nails, skin and coat is one of the first changes you may notice. Owners new to feeding BARF have consistently commented on the disappearance of persistent skin problems. Accompanying this dramatic change has been a substantial drop in the number of visits to the vet, along with medicated washes, antibiotics, cortisone shots and cortisone tablets. It is exciting for owners to witness the return of their pet's deeply coloured, lustrous, thick and clean coat. We recommend you try "Dr B's Pork Flavour" for allergic skin problems.
ARTHRITIS & ENERGY LEVELS
Pets switched to Dr B's Genuine Aussie R.A.W. PattiesTM consistently show a marked increase in energy levels. Older dogs seem to become young again. Arthritic dogs often show the most remarkable improvements, with enormously increased activity and mobility.
IMMUNE & DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
The Evolutionary or BARF diet has the power to normalise both the immune and digestive system. The result is that allergies often disappear, even auto-immune problems may reduce in severity. A strengthened immune system means fewer infections and a much greater resistance to fleas, and internal parasites. Liver, Pancreatic and Bowel health all improve dramatically.
TEETH & BREATH
Typically, a very high percentage of pets respond with cleaner teeth, sweeter breath, tartar elimination, and healthier gums. This is a common occurrence, without having to visit the pet dentist or brush the teeth.
LEAN BODY MASS
Following only a few months of eating Dr B's Genuine Aussie R.A.W. PattiesTM, pets generally lose unwanted fat and gain increased lean muscle mass. This improves the pet's appearance, it increases the pet's metabolic rate and its activity levels, with the end result being a longer, healthier, disease free life.Important: To maximise the potential of the BARF (Evolutionary) diet to produce health, it must be combined with regular, healthy exercise.
REDUCED STOOL VOLUME & ODOUR
Pets fed dry pet food produce bulky, smelly stools because of the poor digestibility and poor quality of the ingredients, together with the lack of raw bone in these products. Dr B's Genuine Aussie R.A.W. PattiesTM contain only high quality, highly digestible products. This results in dramatically reduced stool volume and the high bone content, results in minimal odour.
DEGENERATIVE DIESASE
Diabetes, Kidney disease, Liver disease, Heart disease, Epilepsy, Inflammatory Bowel disease, Arthritis and many others, including CANCER, have as their basic cause, modern cooked and processed grain based pet foods. By switching your pet to Dr B's Genuine Aussie R.A.W. PattiesTM, you will minimise the chance of these problems developing in a young animal and see a remarkable improvement in a pet already suffering with one of these problems.