Top Ten Feeding Tips for Cats & Dogs!

Always feed enough quantity to keep your dog in peak weight condition. If they’re getting fat, feed less, if they’re getting thin, more; regardless of what it says on the feeding guide.

Ribs should be able to be felt, but not seen. Anything other than this is fat or thin. Do not kid yourself.

Treats should not be processed food. Yes, they may like the little biscuits in the shape of a bone or a sausage roll, but they do not do them any good. Treats should be apples or carrots or baked liver. If they don’t want them, then you have to think how hungry they must be?

Feed twice daily for adult dogs. For young pups, feed three times daily until mature, then cut down.

Food combining, where we separate protein from carbohydrate, is difficult to do in all but greedy dogs. Don’t worry. If you're feeding a good, varied, Barf diet, then you're so far ahead of all the other diets on the market, that whether you food combine or not is a small thing. If you can, do, if you can’t don’t worry.

Some dogs do well with a fast-day once a week or once a fortnight.

Variety is the number one thing to think about. If you feed a variety (of meat and vegetables), the body will get all the nutrients it needs if you’re feeding meat, fruit and veg as part of a Barf diet. Go by fruit and vegetables colour – try to vary the colour every few days. Why do you think food is colour-coded anyway?

Older dogs may need less meat and more bulk in their diet – this means less work for the kidneys and liver and more mins and vitamins to keep their older metabolism in good shape.

If you have a dog who loves one type of food, but hates another, then feed them together so they cancel out. My dog, Linus, loves banana, for instance, but hates broccoli. A careful balancing job makes sure he gets his fare share of greens by hiding then with banana.