Why Raw ? Dogs are 99.9% genetically identical…….
We are a family run business based in Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire. We started feeding our dogs on Raw food – also known as ‘BARF’ (Biologically Appropriate Raw Feeding) approximately 4 years ago, we noticed a significant change in their health, body condition, coats and a reduction in allergies. They absolutely love Raw and the bowls are always licked clean!
Benefits of Raw Feeding include :-
- Raw feeding improves wellbeing with happier, healthier dogs as a result of endorphins released by chewing raw meat and bones
- A raw fed dog will ingest bone as part of their diet, this means the stools (Poo) will reduce down to a firm stool with very little odour, less effort to pass and ensuring natural anal gland emptying
- A diet that is appropriate to their digestive systems and as close as possible to what they might have eaten as wild animals (The PH in dogs stomach’s in much lower than that of humans, meaning that they are designed to process raw meat and bone)
- A dog’s diet should comprise of an 80/10/10 ratio; 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% offal. 5% Of the offal should be liver. This is known as a BARF diet (biologically appropriate raw food).
- Raw is fed at 2-3% of the ideal adult weight, puppy amounts are at the bottom of the page (this is just a guide as all dogs are different, some will need more and some will need less).
- You should be aiming to feed at least 5-6 different Proteins Lamb, Ox, Duck, Chicken, Pork, Venison, Rabbit, Turkey etc. REMEMBER variety is needed to cover all nutritional needs.
- Aim to introduce a new protein each week until you are feeding a good variety. Once you are feeding a good variety, you can include Oily Fish, Raw Eggs and whole bones. (Please supervise your dog when feeding whole bones)
Raw food will come from us frozen, so you will need to consider freezer storage space, freezing keeps the nutritional value, kills harmful parasites and also preserves the meat (so no preservatives)
The amount to feed depends on several factors including weight, breed, age, environment and activity levels.
As a general rule for adult dogs, raw is fed at 2-3% of their ideal weight – e.g. a 10kg dog should eat roughly 200g-300g per day.
Puppy Feeding Amounts:
1-2 Months 10% of present body weight per day.
2-3 Months 9%
3-4 Months 8%
4-6 Months 6%
6-9 Months 4%
9-12 Months 3%
12 Months + feed as adults 2-3%
This is only a guide as all dogs are different.