Originally posted by micki76


I do have one issue with the BARF diet. (please do not take this as a criticism if you feed or want to feed this way)
The reasoning for this diet is that dogs have eaten raw food in the wild, and we should take them back to a more natural way of eating and that this is far healthier for them (producing better coats, etc.) correct? Well, people ate raw food too at one time. Should we go back to eating raw food? Not me!! I’m sorry, but the reasoning for this diet doesn’t hold water for me. I think dogs have been domesticated for long enough to be used to eating their food cooked.

JMHO
Actually that's not quite it. Yes, humans ate raw before we learned about fire and cooking. But our bodies are very very different. It is about those differences, not simple history. And no, I don't run around speaking of 'wild dogs' nor do I feed BARF. But I do feed raw food and I do agree that it is the ideal for most dogs, physiologically it is their true diet (that which is raw and simulates a prey animal). But I also feed cooked.

BTW it costs me more to feed my 2 small cats (7.5 lbs and 11 lbs) commercial food than it does my Great Dane (130 lb growing skinny pup) on a home diet. But cost shouldn't be the deciding factor, there is a lot of initial work and there is greater effort required on a continual basis.