Same as people dogs need different daily nutritional requirements and need to be fed on a balanced diet to stay healthy and in good condition

Opinions are divided on what food is ideal for dog's diet and although most commercial food may be convenient they lack many of the vital components which form the foundations of healthy diet  

All our dogs including puppies are fed on natural homemade diet

  

This is an article I wrote for the FOCC when I was asked to sum up my experience of feeding my dogs the BARF diet:

"I have been feeding my dogs BARF (I will call it BARF as I don't want to confuse the issue but when I started there was no name for this diet) even before I was aware of the ”Billinghurst way”
I will try and sum up for you “My way” which I same as Dr Billingurst call the common sense way of feeding dogs
Please note that I am not an expert on BARF and don’t religiously follow the Billinghurst way
I merely want to tell you about my experience with BARF without going in depth to the Protein, Fat, Calcium, Supplements and percentages issues
We have more than enough books to explain this in detail
The Barf diet (Dr Ian Billinghurst)
Give your Dog a bone (Dr Ian Billinghurst)
Grow your Pups with bones (Dr Ian Billinghurst)
Raw Meaty bones (Tom Londale)
Canine Nutrition (Lowell Ackerman)
Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats (Kymythy R Schultze) and many more

There is a simple explanation for why I started feeding my dogs BARF
20 odd years a go in Slovakia (for those who don't know that's where I am from) there were no such things as complete dry food or dog food in tins and all that rubbish...

Being a member of the Kennel club, Newfoundland breed club, Dog training club and all around knowing all the right people (my at the time boyfriend’s father was a butcher It was also good to know people at the slaughter house at the nearby farm and a very good friend of mine worked in the dog section at the local prison)
So there was never shortage of fresh meat and bones or cheap rice, pasta and oats or fruit and vegetables
I always believed that the right diet for a dog is the one which would consist of as many of the whole foods similar to those eaten by it’s wild ancestors as possible
When I feed my dogs I imagine what they would eat in the wild (not that Tico could survive in the wild )
They would probably catch them selves nice juicy animal (maybe rabbit or deer or some kind of bird)
This animal would consist of approximately 60% meat and 40% bone depending on the species) and in this animals stomach would be lots of green vegetable matter already nicely pulped
If I was talking in percentages I would say that 60% of my dogs diet is raw bones and meat about 20% fruit and vegetables and another 20% is rice, oats, crushed biscuits (not something Dr Billinghurst would approve of)
This will vary from day to day as I don’t try to feed my dogs complete balanced meal every day
I use my own experience and judgment and try to give wide variety of meals just feeding what the good old butcher provides and what hides at the back of the fridge
My dogs get 2 meals per day
In the morning they get plain meaty bones and in the evening they get my yummy home made meals

Now days I mostly feed chicken ( Carcasses, wings, backs…) because chicken bones of all meaty bones are the softest thus the safest and easiest to digest but most importantly are the most nutritious
And also because I get them free from my Butchers :-)
In addition I will feed anything I can get my hands on from beef, lamb, pork (not so much as it is too fatty but they enjoy the odd pig feet) to whole fish or canned tuna or sardines and also kidney, liver, tripe, mince meat… EVERYTHING RAW!
With regards to the fruit and vegetables I will put them through the juicer (sometimes I will drink the juice )so all fruit and vegetables are pulped as dogs can’t digest large bits of vegetables
I use mainly green leaf vegetables but also carrots, parsnip squash, beans, broccoli, spinach… and all kinds of fruit and berries
I use maybe 3-4 different fruit and vegetables in one meal
I will also add pretty much everything I can use including the leftovers from our dinner (of course I wouldn’t feed the poor things something like chicken vindaloo)
I avoid giving dairy products as they are high in proteins and probably not a natural food for dogs but sometimes I will give white yogurt or cottage cheese
My dogs enjoy having the odd egg or two including the egg shell
I don’t use supplements as such for as long as my dogs are in good condition and health but I will add oil to most meals either olive or flaxseed but vegetable will do as well

The fact remains that I have been feeding this diet to my dogs for many years, I feed what I am comfortable with and I feel very happy with the results and for as long as I feel this way I will carry on feeding my dogs BARF “My way”