My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

My Leonberger has recently started this new diet. It is called the B.A.R.F. diet(weird name I know) All he eats is slightly cooked meat. If not slightly cooked then just raw. The reason he is on this diet is because he had a seisure a couple of few months ago. We took him to the vet and then we put him on the barf diet. Ever since we have put him on this diet he has been scratching himself and biting himself. Could the change of diet have anything to do with it? He bites himself in the same places. He has hair loss in those places and they are red and irratated. Especially on his tail. We stop him whenever he bites or scratches himself. (we scratch it lightly for him just to make sure its not a real itch) He also has scratched himself so hard that his nipples have turned black( at least we think it is because of him scratchin) Does anyone have any advice? I don't want him to seriously hurt himself.

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

A BARF diet does not consist of only raw meat. There are many good books out there to read. Indeed, the choice of books on this topic can be overwhelming. I personally like Natural Nutrition, The Ultimate Diet by Kymythy Schultze and Raw Dog Food by Carina MacDonald.

BARF is not complicated nor time-consuming but, again, is more than just raw meat. I agree with the previous post that the skin condition could be a result of lack of needed oils. It could also be an indication of intolerance to a specific protein (meat) you're feeding.

Please educate yourself on this subject. You owe it to your pet and yourself! The books I listed are inexpensive,easy to follow and fun to read....and I'm sure other people out there have their favorite resources as well.

Good luck! I personally believe these BARF-type diets to be a better choice for me than the commercially available foods.

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

feed a high quality dry kibble... TIMBERWOLF is good ,, so is CANIDAE...... these foods are fit for human consumption...

ps.. sounds like fleas your dog has,,, tis the time of year you know

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

He may not be getting enough oils in his diet and his skin could be drying out. B.A.R.F. is a great product, but check back with your vet, you may just need to add some additional good fats to your dog's diet. It could also be a sign that he isn't tolerating the new food so well, but again, your vet would be the best person to ask about that.

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

Putting a dog on barf can be sometimes stressful for a few weeks. 2-4 max!!

That's when the body starts getting rid of toxins.

My dogs have always been on raw.

It's probably the best thing one can do for their dogs.

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

your dog may have food allergies, dogs allergies show up in skin issues such as scratching hair loss also frequent ear infections. they can start having allergy symptoms at any age.

My dog is now on a special diet... how do I know if he is taking it in well?

If he is eating *only* meat, then that is a totally unbalanced diet and very unhealthy. Here is just one example of many of an imbalance in nutrients.

Minerals often need to be balanced with each other in a dog's diet to work well. Giving too much of one mineral and not enough of another can affect growth and cause other problems in the body. Balancing takes some study to do it right. http://b-naturals.com/Feb2006.php

閳モ啑ust one example of an imbalance: too much phosphorus (from meat) and not enough calcium (from bones, yogurt, egg shells).閳ャ劉鈧問f calcium is deficient in the blood, the body will withdraw some from the bones to insure enough calcium is in the blood stream for regulation of the heart muscle. Bone can lose up to 30% to 40% of its calcium before a deficiency becomes apparent.

His skin problems, just may be from a mineral or vitamin deficiency in the diet you are feeding.