Vegetables are an important part of the plant-based portion of your dog's diet when BARFing. Feeding vegetables as part of the nutritional mix offers various benefits for your animal, which we will introduce to you in this article. For example, fruit and vegetables help with digestion and provide important vitamins as well as other minerals and nutrients.
Vegetable BARF is good for food processing in the body
By regularly BARFing your dog with vegetables, you are helping him to digest and process his food: especially fiber-rich vegetables, such as lettuce, help to loosen the stool and thus prevent the formation of hard stools that are difficult to pass. When giving vegetables during BARFing, it is important to prepare them properly beforehand: you should either puree the vegetables or finely grate and steam them. The reason for this is that dogs lack the enzyme needed to break down the cell walls of the vegetables. The prior processing breaks down the cell walls to such an extent that the dog can process the BARF vegetables well and utilize the nutrients they contain. Important: The same applies to feeding fruit.
You can use our BARF calculator, among other things, to determine how much fruit and vegetables you should put in your pet's bowl. You don't have to use the exact figures every day, but you should make sure that the average value of around 30 percent plant-based content, divided into three parts vegetables and one part fruit, is achieved over a longer period of time. For convenient, time-saving feeding, you can of course use various fruit and vegetable mixes or ready-made BARF or the BARF vegetable flakes from our BARF shop in addition to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Vegetables for BARF: also suitable as a snack
If you BARF with vegetables, you can of course also use fresh vegetables as a crunchy snack for your dog. Carrots or green asparagus, for example, are very suitable for this, as they can be given raw and unpeeled. White asparagus, on the other hand, should always be peeled and cooked first. If your dog likes the crunchy raw food snacks, you can feed them regularly. However, bear in mind that the nutrients in the vegetables in this form are less easily processed by the dog.
Which vegetables should not be BARFed?
Some types of vegetables are not suitable for feeding your dog. These include raw, unpeeled asparagus and raw potatoes. You should also avoid giving your dog eggplant, avocado, grapes, unripe tomatoes and raw onions, as well as large amounts of garlic. Otherwise, you can try out different types of vegetables - test which types or mixtures your animal likes best. Even meat-free days to ease digestion can be accepted and well tolerated by your dog with a portion of pureed fruit and vegetables. Ultimately, it always depends on what is best for your animal.
