The BARF Diet

The Barf Diet (Raw Feeding for Dogs and Cats Using Evolutionary Principles) is not the end all-be all of BARF books, but it is an essential addition to your library if you have any interest in dog/cat nutrition.  Serving a BARF diet to your dog is NOT for everyone. It requires a fair amount of research and a mentor to guide you through the trial/error phase of feeding your dog this way. This book and Give Your Dog a Bone: The Practical Commonsense Way to Feed Dogs for a Long Healthy Life  are the primers to making or considering a switch to this type of diet. They are essential books for those interested in raw feeding.

What is a BARF diet? BARF is short for Biologically Appropriate RAW Food, also known as Bones and Raw Food.  BARF supporters  hold to the attitude that dogs (as well as cats) should really be provided for based on their evolutionary requirements. Basically, a BARF diet plan consists of high quality meats, organ meat, bone, fat, whole grain products, and vegetables plus fruits--foods that the forebears of cats and dogs would definitely have discovered normally in the wild.

Before 1930 most dogs were regularly being provided a BARF Diet program because that was readily accessible from the family dinner table. Additionally, mass produced processed dog food had not become common as it is nowadays. The  BARF Diet movement with regard to dogs closely parallels our revelation that McDonald's french fries are in no way a healthy food. If a processed food diet is unhealthy for humans, then it follows that a highly processed food diet is even more harmful to our canine companions.

The BARF Diet is flying in the face of Big Bag Refined Dog Food Manufacturers. These companies have a corner on the marketplace. There are few studies up to now validating the merits of the BARF Diet and numerous reports by Dog Food Companies touting the benefits of manufactured kibble.

To be fair, some Commercial Dog Food Manufacturers are now hard at work attempting to make upgrades to large bag canine foods. It is much easier these days to find Omega-3 added or whole grain and meat based pet foods on pet retailer shelves.

If your dog has a hypersensitive stomach, diarrhea, foul smelling feces, tooth rot, itchy hot places, and/or ear microbial infections, we suggest choosing a natural and organic, chemical free, hypoallergenic dog food, packed with  healthy proteins, nutritional vitamins, digestive enzymes, minerals, and Omega-3 fish oils. . Make sure you read the labeling and pick the least processed food.



Dr. Ian Billinghurst is a Veterinary Surgeon. He received a degree in Veterinary Science with honors from Sydney University in 1976. He is also an author, lecturer and a pioneer in the field of nutrition for dogs and cats. Dr. Billinghurst's first ground-breaking book Give Your Dog a Bone was published in 1993. This book has changed the thinking of tens of thousands of pet owner's worldwide. More importantly, it has improved the health and longevity of their dogs. Many of his readers now look to Dr. Billinghurst as THE authority on feeding pets a more evolutionary appropriate diet. Some say that Give Your Dog a Bone has become their nutritional "Bible."

Give Your Dog a Bone: The Practical Commonsense Way to Feed Dogs for a Long Healthy Life 

by Dr. Ian Billinghurst
This is the book that got tens of thousands of people taking a very hard look at how they have been feeding their dogs, and coming to the conclusion that a commercial diet is by far from the best choice, and in fact raw, natural foods are the best choice for dog nutrition.

The Barf Diet (Raw Feeding for Dogs and Cats Using Evolutionary Principles)

by Dr. Ian Billinghurst
LOADED with information on how to give your dogs/cats a more "natural" diet. For those who still don't question the food your vet gives you, take a look at those kibble ingredients