Stacey~

When I used to feed BARF a few years ago, it actually called for pasta, rice
and other grains like soaked oats. Now they are saying no grains (do they
consider potatoes a grain?), and I think I know why. In working closely with
Darleen at Purely Pets, we do see an awful lot of pets with systemic yeast.

Grains and sugars (anything ending in -ose, which is why ingredients
containing lactose are not a good thing to be fed each meal either) feed the
yeast. Yeast is pretty much present in us and all of our animals, but when
we fall ill, if we are eating a diet that contains a lot of these foods, it
will fuel the yeastie beasties which will colonize and health problems will
probably result.

It sounds like you have your dogs on a very good routine, but in light of the
link between grains and systemic yeast, perhaps the grains should be mostly
avoided. Or perhaps you want to take it on a situational basis, ie. if your
dog starts falling ill, that will be when you pull the grains. How many
meals do you feed? I find that if I feed more often it's easier for them to
keep the weight on.

That is a great testimonial that you have regarding Rocky, though! I
recommend BARF feeding for a lot of ailments because you just cannot
duplicate the health benefits any other way due to the natural occurring
enzymes in the raw foods. I just joined another BARF list and hope to learn
more of the ins and outs of it, though I am feeding about 2 BARF meals per
day and the other two either home cooked or occasionally a commercial stew
type of food.

Cat Donnelly
NW Arkansas