The so-called BARFing originally comes from America. The German translation is “Biologically species-appropriate raw feed”. This raw meat feeding has both advantages and disadvantages.
A typical BARF meal for your dog consists of raw meat, undercooked fruits and vegetables, and grains. Sometimes bones are also included.
It is important that the bowl contains all the important nutrients and that your dog receives all essential fats, oils and minerals.
Especially owners of allergy sufferers like to opt for this form of nutrition, as the food can be put together individually and adapted to the nutritional requirements.
Every imaginable source of meat, carbohydrates and vegetables can be used.
What to look out for
But be careful, BARF can be dangerous! Very often the owners fail to create a meal that meets their needs and it is really difficult to combine the nutrients optimally. This often leads to over- or undersupply, which can really have significant consequences for your darling!
There are publications that almost all BARF formulas contain over- or under-doses of nutrients. The most common measurement errors concern the components calcium, copper, zinc, iodine, vitamins A and D. Especially in puppies and young dogs, these nutritional errors can disrupt the growth period and cause damage to the musculoskeletal system.
If, despite the risks, you do not want to do without individual food, the food industry offers you more and more opportunities to put together your dog food individually and with the right nutrient proportions.
Another problem with the BARF method is the risk of infection.
Even if your dog has a much more robust digestive tract than humans, the transmission of viruses, bacteria and parasites via raw meat cannot be ruled out.
BARFing your dog can have both advantages and disadvantages. Anyone who opts for this method needs considerable knowledge in order to be able to care for their dog as required. You can find more consequences of over- and undersupply here .
6 myths about the BARF method
1. The muscles and bones are particularly strengthened by BARFing.
This statement is true in itself, but nowadays every high-quality dog food has valuable proteins and minerals. With the advantage of the coordinated amount of the substances, an over- and undersupply of dog food is completely excluded.
2. The amount of feces deposited is reduced because the nutrients can be better utilized.
The amount of feces gives absolutely no information about the quality of digestion. To a healthy extent, the opposite is true: healthy digestion results from bowel movements, which in turn require a little more digested food residues.
3. Dog food swells in the stomach, which can lead to stomach rotations. Since raw meat takes up a smaller volume in the stomach, the risk is lower.
Nowadays, high-quality, healthy dog food hardly swells at all. Often times, even dogs with empty stomachs had stomach rotations while they slept. However, there are also theories that frequent and severe stretching of the stomach can lead to stomach twists. However, there is still no proven cause for this issue.
If you want to avoid excessive stretching in your dog’s stomach, simply feed small portions several times a day.
4. The added fat and oil ensures a shiny coat.
That is true, when BARFing, valuable fats and oils are administered that support a healthy coat. If you use high-quality food with nutrients tailored to your dog’s needs, you will have the same effect.
5. When preparing dog food, all important vitamins are lost.
Dog food is briefly cooked during production. This process only destroys a small amount of vitamins, but the loss is taken into account and compensated for when creating the recipe.
6. Wolves, as the predecessors of the dog, also eat raw meat.
In itself, this statement is of course correct, but you should not forget that there is a development period of approx. 20,000 years between our domestic dogs and the wolf. So they are related, but still not comparable.
In addition, wolves also ate the stomach contents of their prey, which consisted for the most part of plant contents.
If you should decide for the BARF method, do not do it lightly! In order not to feed your dog sick, you should deal intensively with the topic and get advice from an expert, as otherwise it can have adorable consequences for your dog!
If you want to be on the safe side, you should use food that is also adapted to the individual needs of your dog. All nutrients are definitely calculated here so that every dog consumes the right amount.