The Bones and Raw Food Diet is not a fad or a new-fangled diet, it has been around for many years. In fact, most people fed their dogs this way prior to the advent of the commercial pet food industry. This diet makes such perfect sense that it is surprising that it is not more widely practiced in the US.

One of the chief ingredients in most commercial kibble is grain. In the wild, neither the dog nor the wolf would eat much, if any, grain. They would eat mainly small animals such as rabbits—bones, skins and all. They would also eat the contents of the animal’s stomach, which would likely consist of vegetable matter. To mimic this, the BARF diet consists of raw meaty bones and pulped or ground vegetable matter.  Makes perfect sense, right?  Additionally, the dogs are given some supplements, such as oils and vitamins.  These are added to ensure a balance and because dogs today are subject to more hostile environmental pathogens than their wild ancestors. The ideal is not to try to feed a balance meal every single day, but to ensure the dog gets a balance over about a two week period.  This also makes sense—the wild dog could not have had a balanced meal everyday, but over a period of a week or two would have had a bit of everything it needed. Even we humans do not get a balanced meal every day!

Another reason to adopt the BARF feeding method is the questionable control that goes into the production of commercial pet food. The industry is rife with horror stories and there is little regulation. (See the BARF Links for more information on commercial pet food).   It is not just a matter of the commercial food not being nutritious.  In many cases, it can be downright harmful.  When a pet owner is feeding a bones and raw food diet, he can be sure of exactly what his pet is receiving.