BARF for Puppies—Why It's the Best Diet
We’ve all been there: a puppy is about to move in, and you’re trying to figure out the best way to feed him. That’s exactly the question we’d like to answer for you, because it’s always a hot topic for us, too.
The first question that always comes up is how and when a puppy can be transitioned to a BARF diet, assuming it hasn’t already been fortunate enough to receive a species-appropriate diet from the breeder. After moving into its new home, a puppy should still be fed its usual food for 1–3 days to help it adjust. Then it can be transitioned to a diet consisting of 80% meat and 20% cooked carrots, based on its food ration. If this goes well and the puppy loves its new food, gradually introduce the remaining components of a complete BARF meal—such as raw meaty bones, organ meats, tripe, and omega-3 fatty acids—in 3–4-day increments, and then rotate the protein sources and vegetable varieties weekly.
It’s important not to switch new food ingredients (especially proteins) daily, to give the puppy time to get used to them (oral food tolerance) and to develop a taste for them. Protein sources (meat) are rotated every 14 days and can be combined with the different types of vegetables.
A dog is considered a puppy until it is 4 months old. By then, it has settled in well and has come to love its new diet.
The second question that often comes up is whether BARF can meet a dog’s nutritional needs. Of course it can, as long as you stick to the prey-based feeding principle and adjust the portion size based on regular weight checks of your growing dog. The nutrients contained in a BARF meal do not need to be analyzed down to the gram, because nature cannot be calculated. Since the nutrients in this feeding method are unprocessed and therefore unaltered (not destroyed by manufacturing processes), they are bioavailable and optimally accessible to the growing organism. Additives (synthetic preservatives, colorants, nutritional supplements) and ingredients such as low-quality proteins and a high carbohydrate content found in industrially produced commercial pet food are not capable of providing this.
With a BARF diet that includes an increased feeding amount (5–7% of body weight) for the puppy, we also meet the increased calcium requirements for bone growth. There is no need for additional supplementation with eggshell powder, bone meal, or seaweed calcium!
Our feeding recommendation is as follows:
20% raw meaty bones from small animals with soft bones (chicken necks and wings, rabbits, turkey), average calcium content of bare bones approx. 7,000 mg/100 g
10% raw meaty bones from large animals with hard bones (horse, goat/lamb, beef), average calcium content of pure bone approx. 14,000 mg/100 g
If we alternate between feeding bones from small and large animals, we arrive at an average of 15% raw meaty bones, which is correct according to the prey-based feeding principle.
Photos by C. Nothelfer 2019 – BARF feeding for a 6-week-old puppy
A sample calculation: A 16-week-old puppy weighing 10 kg with a target weight of 25 kg requires a daily feeding amount of 600 g (6% of 10 kg):
| 20% vegetables (120 g) | Approx. 49.2 mg | P 42 mg | |
| 80% meat (480 g) consisting of: | 50% (240 g) chicken muscle meat | Approx. 28 mg | P 509 mg |
| 20% (100 g) tripe | Approx. 100 mg | P 200 mg | |
| 20% (100 g) chicken necks | Ca 1,542 mg | P 1,415 mg | |
| 10% (40 g) offal, e.g., liver | Ca 2.8 mg | P 144 mg | |
| Total calcium (Ca) | 1,722 mg | ||
| Total phosphorus (P) | 2,310 mg | ||
The calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is 1:1.34 (prey-based concept)
According to tables (NRC 2006), an adult dog requires 50–80 mg/kg of body weight of calcium and 75–100 mg/kg of body weight of phosphorus. Compared to our BARF-fed puppy, who receives 2–3 times the amount of calcium and phosphorus per kg of body weight, this diet is therefore sufficient for the main growth phase between the 2nd and 6th month of a young dog’s life. The BARF feeding amount for an adult dog weighing 25 kg is calculated as 2–3% of its body weight. Thanks to the larger feeding amount based on the prey-based diet, our puppy also receives the increased nutrient requirements without affecting the protein content. He gets the same natural food as an adult dog, just in a different quantity. The question of whether the food is low- or high-protein is no longer relevant here, because the quality of the proteins is what matters most: high-quality muscle meat as the main ingredient of the food, rather than plant-based (e.g., grains) or low-quality animal proteins (e.g., chicken feathers).
It’s also important to consider that not only does the right calcium intake play a role in healthy bone growth, but so does how the calcium is incorporated into the growing bones. Vitamins A, D3, and K2 are needed for this: Vitamin D3 acts as a “calcium carrier” for absorption from the intestines, while vitamins A and K2 ensure its incorporation into the bones. These vitamins are found in sufficient quantities in a species-appropriate and varied diet.
Finally, the most important point: For a puppy, we do not need starchy foods such as wheat, pasta, rice, or potatoes—neither as a source of energy nor for satiety. These starchy foods promote unnatural growth in puppies and are poorly utilized by the metabolism. The fat content of a BARF diet for a healthy puppy or young dog should be at least 15–20%, because our dogs can meet their entire energy needs through fat. Unlike a starch-rich diet, this does not lead to accelerated growth.
We at Team Dr. Ziegler are happy to assist you in creating a BARF nutrition plan and help you implement it effectively.
By the way: A heartfelt thank you to Ms. Christiane Nothelfer, who provided us with the beautiful photos of her puppies for this blog post. It was a tremendous pleasure for us to see how “naturally” these puppies developed, trusting in nature.
Do you already have an adult dog and are interested in how to switch it to a BARF diet? Then our next BARF article, “How Do You Switch a Dog to BARF?”, is just what you need.
