A DOG’S DIET

Raw dog food diets can be controversial when discussed among dog owners. But the growing popularity of such diets which contain, raw meat, bones, fruits, and vegetables — is most certainly rising.

Greyhounds and sled dogs have long eaten raw food diets, whereas the practices of the family in orientated pet, the Spaniel for instance, is a more recent idea. The raw diet was proposed in 1993 by Australian veterinarian Ian Billinghurst. He called his feeding suggestions the BARF diet, an acronym that stands for Bones and Raw Food, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.

Billinghurst stressed that adult dogs would thrive and excel on an evolutionary diet based on what dogs ate before they became domesticated: Raw meaty scraps on bones and vegetables. Grain-based commercial pet foods, he contended, were quite harmful to a dog’s general health.

Many veterinarians out there disagree on this, and so does the FDA. The risks of raw diets have been documented in many studies published in an array of veterinary journals.

Potential benefits of the raw dog food diet include:

• Shinier coats
• Healthier skin
• Cleaner teeth
• Higher energy levels
• Smaller stools

Potential risks include:

• Threats a dogs health from bacteria in raw meat
• An unbalanced diet which may damage the health of a dog if given for an extended period of time
• Potential for choking on whole bones, break teeth or cause an internal complication