20 Oct

BARFing to Save Bucks

This is a special post by Julie Fletcher, our guest blogger this week.

As a dog owner, I have always faced the decision of which food is best for my best furry buddy. Dry or canned, this vitamin or that grain base, and so on. It can be quite confusing to find just the right balance of nutrients to keep your friend healthy and happy.

Last year my newest addition solved my doggy dilemma for me. Bob is a beagle who refuses to touch dog food of any sort. It really does not matter how many vitamins, minerals, bones, or vegetables the manufacturer has put into the mix, Bob says, “No way.” My wallet is thanking him for that, too.

You may wonder how Bob turning his sensitive nose up at all of his food saved me money. In trying to get him to eat, I found that he preferred what our family was having for dinner over any dog food I could have purchased. Scraping plates and pots into his bowl eliminated the need to spend any extra money whatsoever on his diet.

For some this may sound like an easy out. It may also seem that Bob is not receiving the proper nutrition. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Dogs are often classified as carnivorous, though they are actually opportunistic eaters. In the wild a canine will eat many things that we as humans would never, ever think of giving to our pets. If you think of your dog as a scavenger and hunter, which he is, try to imagine the foods a scavenger ingests.

Not a very pretty visual, hum?

We have all had to remove our dogs from what we consider unappetizing. Be honest with yourself and you will probably remember a time when you caught your dog sniffing or maybe even eating faeces.
Ugh! Personally that is not something I would give to Bob, not even as a supplement. (Kidding! Don’t send me hate mail over poo supplements, please?)

The domestic dog is not as far removed from the grey wolf, its’ ancestor, as we might think. Over the past 140 years or so, dogs have been bred into at least four hundred different breeds from an original forty ‘bred’ by nature. All of these dogs still have their basic hunter/scavenger instincts intact. Because of this, proponents of a special diet, known as the BARF diet believe that raw foods are best
for a dog’s health.

The Bones and Raw Foods (BARF) diet consists of mainly raw meat with no cooked additives. BARF users maintain that cooking destroys the vital nutrients that dogs need. High heats do destroy vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in food, even humans are aware of this in their own cooking. Processed canned and dry dog foods are cooked at high temperatures, thus causing the need for extra added nutrients.

The BARF diet and another Raw Foods diet have been debated over for the past few years. Both are very similar in the fact that they both provide raw meat for doggy diners. To be perfectly honest, there is no real difference between the two diets, though supporters of both will sometimes argue the fact. The major differences between the diets only come into play when taken on an individual basis. Some dog owners with both diets may add supplements, some may not. Others may use whole
bones, while others use ground bone. The choices go on and in, infinitely.

Now you are probably thinking I have lost my ever loving mind. Raw meat? If dog food is expensive, then is it not even more expensive to feed full fledged meat to a dog? Ok, ok, hold on. I am not telling you to go out and buy your dog a thick cut steak. Not even a rump roast, though I am sure he would appreciate it if you did. The catch to using this diet and doing it with a huge savings is to work smart.

By working smart, you will save yourself an average of several hundred dollars (or pounds) per year. While I cannot tell you your exact savings, it can be estimated at around $500 (usd) for a mid-level
product. Increase that to nearly $800 (usd) for a premium food. Using your bean and being creative in your doggy diet adventure will significantly reduce that number to a big fat zero.

Yes, I am saying you can feed your dog for free if you play your cards right. Take a moment to visit your butcher or local grocer. If you have a large dog, visit several. Heck, visit all of them in your area
if you have a really big dog. Ask what they do with their trimmings and waste. If the waste is just tossed out with the garbage, ask if you can have it. I recommend taking a lot of plastic bags with you to double bag anything that is kind of sloppy. Don’t worry; your dog will not mind sloppy meat. Some may just prefer it.

Do not make any stops on the way home if it is a warm day. Trust me.

One home you can decide what to do with the meat and fats. If you have a smaller dog you may want to chop or coarsely grind the meat and fat together. Larger dogs will like a coarse cut. Do not throw out the bones, dogs love bones. Before we go further, I need to point out that raw bones are not as dangerous for dogs to chew and eat as cooked bones. Cooked bones tend to splinter into sharper slivers. Do not feed your dog cooked bones of any kind. Even a dog that has been eating
them for years with no effect could suddenly develop a perforated intestine.

If you would like, you can freeze the meat to use at a later date. It is a good idea to have plenty of frozen food on hand. Just be sure to bring the food to room temperature before feeding it to your dog.

For feeding, all you need to do is place the raw meat in your dogs bowl. Some dogs really enjoy a whole chicken to them, so if your butcher has some he cannot sell, be sure to take them, too. Do not
bother deboning or removing the skin. Most dogs in the wild do not bother, so neither should you. If your dog is a fan of vegetables, put some of his favourites in along with the meat.

Now that we have discussed how making your own dog food will save you hundreds per year, let’s get cooking!

Doggy Leftover Stew:
Any left over meat, 1 cup chopped, do not drain.
1 cup beef broth
1 small onion, sautéed (if not already in the leftover meat)
2 eggs, beaten well
1 can of mixed vegetables
2 cups cooked oatmeal

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Just warm, do not overcook.

Let come to room temperature, and then serve.

Doggy Casserole
1 cup boiled poultry, chopped
½ cup cooked brown rice
½ cup boiled mixed vegetables
3 to 4 Tbsp unsalted chicken broth

This week’s new discount codes: