About Us

BARF is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or sometimes also referred to as Bones and Raw Food.

All the produce that we use is sourced from respectable suppliers that also supplies the major chain stores. We prepare fresh BARF on a weekly basis which means our clients get a product that is as fresh as possible.

BARF is not just a single product. It is of the utmost importance to remember that it is in actual fact a programme, which needs the variety to enable the system to absorb the broad spectrum of nutrition needed. Skin, skeleton, health in general does need variety to be really super healthy. This is why it is imperative that the client ensures that a supplier completely understands the needs of dogs also during specific periods in their lives and would be able to guide people correctly.

While dogs are generally the same, some of our domestic dogs have more specific needs than others. Toy breeds for example mature much sooner than the giant breeds. We realize that certain times in a dog’s life calls for certain adaptations in his diet and are able to confidently advise clients with problems.

We have been feeding BARF since 1998 already and have never looked back. When we started all those years ago there was nobody feeding their dogs this way and initially therefore we were advised by Dr Billinghurst – especially regarding certain health issues. For the first few years we only fed our own dogs this way – all of them. Imported stock, brood bitches, stud dogs, lactating bitches, weaning our pups and feeding our veterans. This was done in the face of huge opposition and harsh criticism from vets, dog owners, and breeders, until the effect on our own dogs became apparent. Only then did we venture into the market. In recent years others too have ventured into the market, but we were the first to produce and sell our BARF products as it is known today!

We use fresh fruit and vegetables. This is minced into a fine pulp. We do not however mix in supplements because some dogs have allergies to certain of the supplements and in fact some could be downright dangerous at certain times in a dog’s life. We also do not use much of the vegetables which could cause a gas build up such as cabbage and cauliflower. We use no onions, no grains – i.e. rice or pasta – as this is not a biologically appropriate food for dogs, causing problems, and only rarely do we use garlic – again due to health issues with which certain dogs are plagued. We use no raw legumes. Up to 4 raw eggs per week added to the food is also fine. Personally all our dogs get one big raw meaty bone daily, but this would depend on the dog entirely. His condition, his teeth, his weight, his skeletal issues if any.

We are not to keen on feeding fish as this not a true biologically appropriate raw dog food. Different cuts of the chicken are minced up together with the bone content of that specific cut. It is of the utmost importance that the dog eats the bone as well as the meat. Each cut has a different set of nutrients and qualities. We pack and freeze our products into 500 gram size sealed and labelled packets.

Serving is really easy: just dish the required amount of food into the food bowl and there you have it, don’t discard any of the juices as these contain a myriad of nutrients. TIP: Before serving, just add a dash of warm water and mix well to make the food softer, to bring to room temperature and to release the flavour. Do not however, make it a soggy soup.

Too many people have the wrong idea about feeding meat – there is a falacy which states that feeding meat will make the dog more aggressive/kill sheep, chickens, etc – this is absolutely NOT true. That all depends on other issues in the dog’s make up and has nothing to do with the meat he eats!

How much to feed also depends to a large extent on each individual dog. We advocate feeding the adult dog no less than twice a day to try and help prevent the dog from bloating.

As a guide: An Adult/mature dog usually needs between 2% and 3% of his/her body weight per day. A pup is weighed weekly, a chart is kept and then around 7.5% to 10% of the body weight is what he/she should get, divided into the number of meals he/she is fed daily. When the time comes to increase the food intake a week later, do so slowly to help prevent dangerous growth spurts – phase it in over a period of 2 to 3 days.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions – we are happy to help.