Get in touch with greentripe.com. Although it's not listed on their web site yet, they have a new product at $.80/pound (frozen in 2-lb packages) that's a mix of green tripe, beef meat, fat, and gullet/trachea (a source of chondroitin). Dogs love it, it's good for them, and it doesn't smell so bad that you can't feed it indoors. I mix it with Sojourner's Dog Food (www.sojos.com) and some veggies, although with green tripe the veggies aren't as important.

I've found the little Clorox wipes to be a good way to keep my counters sanitary when feeding BARF.

BTW, I found that my dogs don't tolerate chicken parts (I used backs); it gives them diarrhea, ground up or not. My trainer had the same experience; other people in our Sch club have no trouble.

Thanks,I''ll look into the food!

Does anyone know the answer to my germ questions? This is very pertinent to my being able to proceed with the barf diet.

Hi Jeannette,

While I don't have an answer to your question about germs, I can tell you what I do. Mind you, I don't have children...I'm just a neat freak!

I live in an apartment buildingso feeding outside isn't possible for me.

After preparing his meals, I just wash the counter with a bit of dish soap. I'm one of those people who change their dish cloths every day because they gross me out.

I watch him eat since I always supervise bone chewing and eating. He will pull his chicken wings out and place them on the floor before eating them. When he's finished eating, I just wash the floor in that area plus 2 feet around.

To give him a recreational bone, I have an old comforter that I lay out and he has been taught that he is not allowed off it with his bone. Once he is finished with the bone (usually my decision, not his LOL) I wrap up the comforter and bring it straight to the washing machine.

Hope this helps. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm afraid that I have no idea how long bacteria would be viable in a dog's mouth so I have no answer for that question.

Natalie

http://vegamalinois.tripod.com

I don't know if this will help you since it may not be an option, but this is how I set myself up when I started feeding BARF to my two dogs:

I have a sink in my basement laundry room, which is off the garage. I was given an old refrigerator and I put it in the garage. I keep the meat in there (mainly 10-lb. packs of chicken backs). I keep two very large plastic containers in the fridge - one for the defrosted meat and one for the batch that is defrosting (it takes a few days).

I keep dish soap, lysol spray and antibacterial handwashing soap at the downstairs sink for cleaning up. I feed the dogs in their crates, which are in the basement, and leave them in there for about 20 minutes (takes them 2 min. to finish eating), then let them outside for 5 or 10 minutes to run around and do their thing. I think letting them run around in the grass would probably give them a chance to lose some of the germs.

I don't have children, but if I did, I think that I might use a paper towel dipped in very mild bleach solution to wipe my dogs' paws and muzzles after they eat.

Remember kibble and rawhide carry unsafe bacteria too. I doubt BARF is worse.

Look in the phonebook under meat wholesalers. I can get almost any kind of meat I could want from the wholesaler in my city. If you find one that is not close enough, call them and ask who they sell to that is near you - then you can contact that retailer and have them order it for you.

To find a BARF listserv for your area (or your breed or your dog's health problems or whatever), just search the internet. Here is a link to a list of listserves that has lots of regional groups, but that is probably not all of them:

http://www.geocities.com/~lyncamp/diets.html

Jeanette,
When I fed BARF, I simply followed the same sanitary procedures for food preparation that I would if I were preparing a chicken dinner for my human family. As far as the floor goes, just a damp mop with bleach water solution should be fine. You shouldn't have to worry about it if you just practice normal good hygiene.

As far as kids, I have never had a problem. I frequently fed my old dog recreational bones when my kids were little, and never ever had an issue with it. It's always a good idea for people to wash their hands after handling any animal, regardless of what the animal eats, and if you have your kids wash up before they eat, they should be fine. I would imagine that you don't allow the dogs to lick the kids on the mouth anyway, so I don't see a big risk.

Small kids are already at a risk of infection, just by their nature. They're always touching things and putting their hands in their mouths or rubbing their eyes, or not washing their hands after using the restroom. The kinds of hygiene that you teach your small kids should include proper hygiene with the dogs, as in no tongue to face contact, washing hands after petting dogs, or after dog licks hands, etc., REGARDLESS of what you feed the dogs!

This is by no means scientific information, just my experience.

An update omn KENAI now 6 months old.I've been feeding whole chicken i get at costco for .89# and green tripe from greentripe.com i feed him in his run so no concern about germs and when i find turkey whole for under .99# i just hack it up and give to him frozen or thawed which ever seems right at the time. Frozen gives more time to chew it. He seems to eat what he needs and not any more, unlike labs that gorge until they bloat.

To answer the bacteria question,
Most food pathogens can stay viable for long lengths of time in less than ideal situations. If you feed your dog meat that was contaminated with high levels of these bacterium, there will likely be viable "bugs" on any surface the food touched, including salvia which with my dog manages to adhere to his paws, muzzle, sometimes the top of his head, and on the wall of my laundry room where he likes to wipe his face. If your children touch a contaminated area and then give the bacteria a opportunity to enter their GI tract, the risk of infection is high. The only really viable method to minimize this risk is too minimize the risk of large quantities of pathogenic bacteria in the food you feed to your dog.

What ways are there to do large quantity disinfection? I've heard something about grapefruit, anyone out there know what that's about?

I think you're thinking of grapefruit seed extract. I've heard it has disinfecting qualities, but I never quite trusted it.

Thanks, I can't see how it(grapefruit seed) would kill any bacteria.If so, wouldn't it be more mainstream knowledge???