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BARF stands for Bones and Raw Food. It is a diet for dogs that has received a lot of attention over the past few years, but should you feed it to your dogs?

The BARF feeding regimen actually consists of throwing a raw carcass (usually chicken) to your dog and letting him eat it bones and all. The thinking behind this concept is that dogs used to eat raw food like this for thousands of years in the wild. Many are praising the multitude of benefits that the BARF diet provides.

The problem that I have with the BARF diet is that dogs have also been domesticated for thousands of years. They have not had to feed themselves in packs such as wolves and coyotes do for a long time because of the relationships that they have established with man. Man has traditionally fed their dogs leftover scraps from dinner that has been cooked long before the commercialization of bagged dog food.

Dog's bodies have adapted over time to a convenient lifestyle of being given cooked foods. Today's dogs can get Salmonella and E. coli poisoning it's just that they are more resistant to these bacteria than their human counterparts. However, the corn and wheat that are added to bagged dog food have not ever been a source of a dog's natural diet in history. These ingredients can be triggers for allergies and other ailments.

If you decide that the BARF diet is right for your dog please take caution. Dogs that have weakened immune systems will be much more likely to become ill when eating raw meat. Try to find raw meat that is fresh and comes from a source that you can trust. Also small fragments of bone can be swallowed and their sharp ends can pierce the stomach or intestinal walls. Too much bone may also cause constipation.

This article was written to supply general information about the BARF diet. The following book can give you additional information to help you make an informed decision about whether to feed your dog the BARF diet: THE BARF DIET .