BARF Feeding, Raw Food and Natural Diets

Many Siberian husky, malamute and sled dog owners choose to feed their dogs natural diets of Bones and Raw Food (often known as BARF diets). Those who do are usually more than happy to testify to the many positive changes they have seen in their huskies' health and general well-being. It has been suggested that dogs often seem to enjoy these types of foods a lot more too.

The most visibly obvious health benefits of raw feeding are the shiny coats and sparkling white teeth of dogs fed on such diets. In the longer term dogs fed on raw diets are generally seen to be healthier in that they require less veterinary treatment, especially in their later years. Dogs on a raw diet may also be less prone to nutrient deficiencies (such as ZRD as is common in huskies).

While huskies and sled dogs often do well on complete foods, they do seem to thrive on raw diets, and benefit especially from the inclusion of certain types of natural foods.

Switching to a raw feeding plan does require some background reading, although this is a lot less than you might think. It need only take a couple of hours to grasp the basics in order to get started.

Rather than attempt to give a full account of all the basic information here (which would take up a lot of space!) we recommend that anyone considering feeding their dog a raw diet invest in one of the excellent books available on the subject. These give a comprehensive overview of what is involved in raw feeding, as well as more information on its many benefits.

Give Your Dog a Bone: The Practical Commonsense Way to Feed Dogs for a Healthy Life by Dr Ian Billinghurst is a good starting point for anyone who wants to find out more abaout raw feeding. Other titles by the same author are Barf Diet : For Cats and Dogs and Grow Your Pups with Bones: The BARF Program For breeding Healthy Dogs And Eliminating Skeletal Disease

Tom Lonsdale has also written two very useful book on the subject; Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones and Raw Meaty Bones Promote Health


We would recommend that you invest in at least one of the above books, even simply for interests sake. Many husky and sled dog owers who read such books find they (and their dogs) gain much from doing do, even if they decide not to make a complete switch to raw feeding.

There are many points of interest to be noted, and owners often find helpful ideas to supplement their dog's diets and improve their health with a few natural additions to kibble diets.