The Dangers of the BARF Diet

You've surely heard on many occasions that natural food for dogs — yes, the kind made with raw meat, bones, offal and so on — is the healthiest option for any dog. Even we at SoyunPerro recommend it on many occasions.

But that doesn't mean it's free of dangers. In reality you need a fair amount of experience to put it together properly, which is how you reduce the possible risks of getting it wrong. Let's look in detail at the main dangers of raw BARF food and what we can do to avoid them.

Don't miss: Our verdict on Dogfy Diet

The Drawbacks of Natural BARF Food

Don't be alarmed by what we're about to tell you, since these are dangers present in every type of dog food. But you need to know about them so you don't make these mistakes and harm your dog. Knowledge is power, so here we go.

Lack of Nutritional Balance

Many people think that adding a bit of meat, some fruit and vegetables and perhaps some dog-friendly carbohydrates such as potato, sweet potato or rice is enough for their dog to eat healthily and happily. It will eat happily, no doubt about that, but not healthily, since it isn't a balanced formula.

A dog doesn't need to eat a balanced diet every single day, much like a human, but it does need to do so consistently. In other words, if it doesn't get all the calcium it needs today, it will have to get it over the next few days. That's why it's essential to have a minimum grounding in canine nutrition and to know how to put together balanced recipes that guarantee our dog is being properly nourished.

Risk of Contamination

You've probably never stopped to think that your dog can pick up parasites or bacteria present in plenty of raw meats, even those intended for human consumption. We think that since the dog descends from the wolf and the wolf eats everything raw, there's no problem. A big mistake.

Numerous parasites can attack our dog and infect it, causing serious health problems. The same goes for an endless list of bacteria present in raw meat and fish, among which are some very well known ones such as Salmonella and E. Coli.

Digestive Difficulty

Dogs' digestive systems don't work the same way as humans', and that's why digesting raw meat, bones and fish can make for very heavy going. This increases the risk of gastric torsion.

Once again we fall back on the idea that the wolf eats everything raw so nothing should happen — a serious mistake. The dog does descend from the wolf, but that was thousands of years ago and its digestive system has changed over time, adapting to a more varied diet that's easier going than raw meat itself.

Dental Damage and Obstructions

Dogs can indeed eat bones, but not just any type of bone. This is a mistake that causes many dogs to suffer dental problems, and not only that: also intestinal obstructions that can even be fatal.

You have to know very well what type of bone you're giving and what size. Otherwise, the best approach is to grind them completely (without cooking them) to add to the BARF food.

High Cost

We always insist that feeding our dog well shouldn't cost more than feeding it the best of commercial kibbles. Yet many people don't know how to shop properly, how to make the most of seasonal produce or how to put together balanced recipes with it.

That's why many people end up giving up on natural BARF food when they realise the cost is far higher than they had imagined.

How to Avoid the Dangers of Natural BARF Food

There are several options worth considering to avoid all these possible dangers when feeding our beloved dogs, for whom, obviously, we always want the best. The first of them is to get some training in canine nutrition, take a few courses in BARF feeding and, once we know what we're doing, try putting it together ourselves.

The second option, more convenient and also safer, is to let other natural food experts do that work for us. More and more companies are doing exactly this: they put together different natural food menus and send them straight to the customer, frozen so they don't spoil. That way we can simply go on feeding our dog safely and without risks.

Among all these companies making natural BARF food, we always single out Dogfy Diet, a company that genuinely takes canine nutrition seriously. As well as offering different menus with a wide variety of ingredients, they do things properly. Let us explain.

Dogfy Diet lightly cooks the natural food, to eliminate possible pathogens (parasites, bacteria and so on) and also to make it more digestible. That way our dog is safe on those fronts. They also grind the bones completely to prevent choking or dental problems and, as you'd expect, doing this as a wholesaler means they can do it at a far lower price than it would cost us. So they offer excellent value for money.