The 3 Pillars vs BARF

The world’s two most noted raw feeding contributors are Australian veterinary surgeons Doctors Tom Lonsdale and Ian Billinghurst. The latter is credited for coining the B.A.R.F. acronym which, depending on who you ask, stands for either Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food.

Both of these guys have published books, Lonsdale with Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones and Billinghurst with Barf Diet for Cats and Dogs.

Raw According to Tom

Dr. Lonsdale who advocates a raw meaty bones “prey model” style diet, indicates the following three points as the pillars of his RMB diet;

Cornerstone 1:

Carnivores need the chemical ingredients (nutrients) in broadly the same quantity, quality and frequency as is found in the prey of free living carnivores. (For instance the progenitors of Dogs – Wolves, Cats – Wildcats, Ferrets – Polecats.)

Cornerstone 2:

Carnivores need the physical texture of their food to closely match that of their free living carnivore progenitors. The simple reason being that it’s the physical form of the food that governs the quantity, quality and frequency of teeth cleaning and the correct regulation of passage of foodstuffs down the intestinal tract.

Cornerstone 3:

Carnivores, be they domestic or captive wild carnivores, need to be freed from the corrupt and disgraceful yoke of the junk pet- food/veterinary/fake animal welfare alliance.

Different Strokes for Different Blokes

Although Lonsdale and Billinghurst both advocate feeding raw food diets and denounce the big commercial pet food companies, they both take quite different stances on how to go about it. This is where things can get confusing.

Lonsdale asserts that dogs are carnivores which they are (“Dogs are gray wolves, despite their diversity in size and proportion” (Wayne, 1993)), and that they need very little carbohydrate if any at all, while Billinghurst calls dogs omnivores.

B.A.R.F. Includes a Liberal Amount of Veggies

Dr. Billinghurst has been quoted saying;

“Fruit and vegetables are an essential part of a dog’s diet. An essential part, not an optional part. Meat is optional, fruit and vegetables are not.” (Canine Nutrition—A Point of View 1988).

This statement is quite contradictory to what wildlife research biologist David Mech says in relation to what wolves eat;

“Wolves usually tear into the body cavity of large prey and…consume the larger internal organs, such as lungs, heart, and liver. The large rumen is usually punctured during removal and its contents spilled. The vegetation in the intestinal tract is of no interest to the wolves, but the stomach lining and intestinal wall are consumed, and their contents further strewn about the kill site.” David Mech – Wolves: behavior, ecology, and conservation

Sidenote: Gray Wolves and domestic dogs both belong to the same genus (Canis Lupus), both are of the Order Carnivora and their DNA varies by at most 0.2% – Wayne, R.K. Molecular Evolution of the Dog Family.

One BIG difference in the two approaches to raw feeding is that Dr.B is approaching things from a commercial point of view, he’s got B.A.R.F to sell!

“This approach to commercialising Evolutionary Nutrition has been attempted on a number of occasions but has never succeeded on a large scale because of the cost of production and practical difficulties involving storage and distribution and problems associated with enticing dogs (or cats) to eat all of the day’s prescribed components.”  – From the FAQ section on Dr. Billinghurst’s website.

I would agree with him that emulating a “Lonsdale style” raw meaty bones diet commercially, could be difficult if you were a company trying to do that. For the Billinghurst B.A.R.F. diet, ground meats with cheaper vegetation added would seem like the way to go. I believe he does recommend RMBs in addition to his diet to address the periodontal issue, but you’ll pay more for pre-packaged raw than you would if you shopped at your local butcher or watched for sales at the supermarket or farmers market. Or you could do a little of both, which is what I do.

If you’re already feeding raw or you are considering it, would you choose the “prey model” approach or the B.A.R.F. approach?

1. The Raw Knowledge: A Starting Point
2. New Research Reveals Dogs Prey on BARF. Say What?
3. What is BARF?

Tagged as: b.a.r.f., barf diet, ian billinghurst, prey model, raw dog food, raw meaty bones, Tom Lonsdale