About us
FAQ
Why feed your dog raw?

Raw, fresh frozen food is best for your dog's health. Users of raw foods have known this for a long time, see it in their dog and academic researchers are now also pointing this out. It stimulates the intestinal flora (Sandri et al. , 2017 ), it gives your dog a nicer coat (Hielm-Bjorkman et al. , 2013) and it makes for healthier teeth (Liesegang, 2016).

Moreover, at Barf Buffet we only use ingredients of exceptional quality, no waste, and you can immediately see that in the reduced stools of your dog.

In addition, it is very tasty, and makes your dog wag its tail unseen during his meal, a direct indicator of appreciation by your four-legged friend.

In the end, it is without doubt the most natural food: without heating the proteins, without preservatives, without flavourings and without colourings.

Bone or no bone?

Would you like to use your bone (from BARF BUFFET® Turkey Carcass) as a source of calcium in your dog's meal or would you like to get the required calcium from the BARF BUFFET® VitaMin?

Bone from turkey carcasses has the advantage of being a completely natural product. Many BARF users swear by this 100% natural approach. We grind our turkey carcasses with our smallest possible knife in order to minimize the risk of injury in the esophagus or stomach.

Nevertheless, caution is advised when using bone, especially for smaller breeds as well as for dogs using raw meat for the first time. In any case, we recommend starting raw food users first go with boneless recipes and only after 1 month of feeding start using raw recipes with bone. Owners of smaller breeds (adult target weight <5kg) are recommended not to serve BARF BUFFET® Turkey Carcass.

In addition, we know that the intake of calcium from bone is not the same as that of calcium from BARF BUFFET® VitaMin, which means that dogs will sometimes absorb more calcium from bone, sometimes less. Therefore, we advise against the use of bone anyway for puppies (for whom a correct absorption of calcium is essential) and for other dogs for whom it is essential to get the correct Calcium / Phosphorus absorption.

Advice: Regardless of what you do, in case you wish to use bone, we recommend that a maximum of ¼ of the recommanded daily allowance consists of BARF BUFFET® Turkey Carcass. In addition, the use of bone is not recommended in small breeds (adult target weight <5kg), puppies and dogs that have been on raw food for less than a month.
Veggies or no veggies?

Would you like to add fruit and vegetables (from BARF BUFFET® Veggie) to your dog's meal or would you like to go for a pure meat meal?

Fruits and vegetables are a natural source of carbohydrates, crude fibre, vitamins (A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B8, E, K, ...) and minerals (Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, ...). These nutrients are essential for your dog's development. In nature, the wolf finds most of them in the stomach contents of its prey and it is therefore essential that your dog gets his portion of fruit and vegetables from time to time.

Some owners often want to give 100% meat. This is possible, as long as you don't forget to add some fruit and vegetables once in a while.

Advice: In case you wish to add BARF BUFFET® Veggie, we recommend that a maximum of ¼ of the recommanded daily allowance consists of BARF BUFFET® Veggie.
Which animal protein source?

The BARF BUFFET® range contains various meat mixes, all using a unique animal protein source. Most of the products we use come from local slaughter houses and cutting plants and were suitable for human consumption before being used in our production.

Momentarily we have three meat mixes:

  • BARF BUFFET® Chicken Mix: consists of 75% muscle meat, heart, skin and liver. This mix is easily digestible and ideal for active dogs.
  • BARF BUFFET® Beef Mix: consists of 32% heart, 30% rumen, lung, liver and fat. Thanks to the presence of rumen, this mix stimulates your dog's intestinal flora and is extremely tasty.
  • BARF BUFFET® Horse Mix: consists of 37% tongue, 31% muscle meat, lung, abdominal fat and liver. This mix is ideal for dogs with a food allergy.
Advice: Unless for some reason your dog needs one meat mix above the other, we recommend that you vary as much as possible between the various meat mixes. For example, horses are rich in alpha linolenic acid, beef is rich in iron and chicken is rich in linoleic acid. Mixing in this case ensures the optimal balance.
How is a dog's recommended daily allowance (RDA) determined?

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of nutrition for your dog is determined by 3 factors:

  • Your dog's activity level
  • The calorie content of the raw materials you wish to use
  • The target weight of your dog

The table below shows the RDA (in grams) in 3 different scenarios.

Example: If your dog has a target weight of 20kg, an average activity level and you wish to serve him a meal consisting of ¾ meat and ¼ fruit and vegetables, his recommended daily allowance is 540g. However, suppose that the same dog is rather a domestic dog that eats only meat, then 380g will suffice.
How much premix should you give your dog?

The amount of premix you should give, expressed as % of the daily recommended allowance of nutrition, depends on whether or not you use bone and/or fruit and vegetables. Barf Buffet® VitaMin contains calcium as well as various vitamins that are naturally present in fruit and vegetables. If you do not use bone, it is obvious that you should use more Barf Buffet® VitaMin.

The % to be added can vary from 1.20% to 2.60% and is shown in the table below.

Example: Above we have seen that for a dog with a target weight of 20kg, an average activity level to whom we give a diet of ¾ meat and ¼ fruit and vegetables, the RDA is 540g. Suppose we don't use bone in our ¾ meat, then we should use 1.6% premix. On an RDA of 540g, this means 8.6g, which comes down to 2,2 scoops (of 4g)

 

To make it easy for you, we have created a simulator that is easy to use. Test it and let us know how it works!

Can you administer BARF BUFFET® to puppies?

We do not recommend to feed BARF BUFFET® to puppies, because a correct intake of minerals and vitamins is critical for the development of the puppy. The implications in case of an incorrect composition of the daily diet is too great in these puppies. We would therefore like to refer you to the complete, raw, fresh frozen foods from Wolf's Menu (www.wolfsmenu.com) or Jolipet (www.jolipet.com) for an adapted, complete diet for puppies.

Can we work without a premix?

A large number of experienced BARF users work without a premix. You will also find more about this in the available literature on the Internet. These users assume that, just like for a wolf, everything is present in nature to feed the dog. The condition is that more than 5 different animal protein sources should be offered on a weekly basis, including white meat, red meat and fish.

We currently do not have these animal protein sources in our Barf Buffet® hamburger range. We would therefore recommend using BARF BUFFET® VitaMin if you would only feed your dog according to the BARF BUFFET® system. For more information about the recommended amounts we refer to our Barf Buffet® simulator.

Can you use the BARF BUFFET® sausages in the simulator?

Not at the moment. The different BARF BUFFET® meat mixes in hamburger form are composed in such a way that they are easy to use in the simulator to achieve a complete diet. However, we are working on it and in time it will also be possible to take the sausages with us. Keep an eye on this website for updates.

How to make a recipe based on BARF BUFFET® sausages complete?

The BARF BUFFET® sausages are a supplementary food, which means that the sausages are not complete on their own. However, BARF experts know that by mixing 5 animal protein sources on a weekly basis, including white meat, red meat and fish, you arrive at a complete diet.

See below the number of animal protein sources per BARF BUFFET® sausage :

  • BARF BUFFET® Chicken Beef Sausage (1kg) > 3 animal protein sources: chicken, beef and salmon (derived from salmon oil);
  • BARF BUFFET® Turkey Sausage (1kg) > 2 animal protein sources: turkey and salmon;
  • BARF BUFFET® Lamb Turkey Sausage (1kg) > 3 animal protein sources: lamb, turkey and salmon;
  • BARF BUFFET® Duck Sausage (1kg) > 2 animal protein sources: duck and salmon;

For example, by serving BARF BUFFET Chicken Sausage and BARF BUFFET Lamb Turkey Sausage during 1 week, you give your dog 5 different sources of protein in 1 week, including white meat, red meat and fish.

Can you use BARF BUFFET® beef tripe in the simulator?

The BARF BUFFET® Beef Mix already contains beef tripe. In this sense, it is not necessary to add beef tripe separately as part of a full-fledged diet. The BARF BUFFET® Runderpens was therefore developed for owners who from time to time want to give their dog a piece of beef tripe as a snack. Consider it a Yakult for your dog to stimulate his intestinal flora.

How to deal with raw food: feeding safely?

Fresh frozen food is a natural, organic product that contains life. This life finds its origin in not heating our animal ingredients during our production process. Because we do not heat our ingredients, the quality of our animal ingredients, our raw meat, is extremely important. Day in and day out, we do our utmost to buy our ingredients locally as much as possible, from suppliers with whom we have a good relationship and in whom we have confidence. This is the only way we can guarantee the quality of our products.

And not heating the food holds many advantages for dogs. It ensures that our food is full of natural vitamins and that our proteins are not denatured. What's more, it makes our fresh frozen food extremely tasty for your four-legged friend, without the need to add flavour enhancers. It also gives owners the opportunity to see what's really in the food.

In addition, unheated meat contains bacteria (like all raw meat, including that for human consumption). Many of these bacteria promote your dog's intestinal flora, as confirmed in 2017 by an academic paper from the University of Udine (1).

This increases the resistance of the dog and the nutrients in the food can be better absorbed. For healthy animals these bacteria are not pathogenic. In people, especially young children, the elderly and people with less resistance, these bacteria can lead to problems. It is therefore advisable to take the necessary precautions, just as with raw meat for human consumption:

  • Keep the cold chain after purchase at all times and put the food in the freezer as soon as possible upon returning home;
  • Always defrost the food in the refrigerator (approx. 12 hours) or in the hot air oven (20 min. at 50 °C), never on the kitchen table;
  • Wash your hands before and after feeding;
  • Always clean the feeder afterwards with disinfectant;
  • Throw any leftovers in the garbage can;
  • Never let your dog lick your face after he or she has eaten;
  • Always pick up excrement with a glove;
  • Keep small children away from raw foods;

These are obvious actions when we handle raw meat for human consumption, and so they apply equally to our animal feed. However, if you wish to kill all pathogenic germs, it is advisable to heat the feed to its core above 65°C for at least 1 minute, preferably in the oven. If you opt for heating, you will lose some of the advantages associated with raw food, but it is still much better than giving your dog only inferior food that has been processed under high pressure and temperatures above 200°C!

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@barfbuffet.com.

(1) SANDRI M. etal, Raw meat based diet influences faecal microbiome and end products of fermentation in healthy dogs, BMC Veterinary Research, 2017