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I just lately accomplished the skilled uncooked feeding course supplied by the Billinghurst Institute. This assessment will cowl the next to assist pet dad and mom make an knowledgeable determination about enrolling on this course:
- Abstract of the course
- Who the course is for
- The curriculum coated within the course
- How lengthy the course is and the way lengthy it took me to complete the course
- How the course compares to those supplied by the Feed Actual Institute
- My key takeaways from the course / the adjustments I made to my canines’ weight loss program
- If the course is for canines or cats
However first, let’s discuss Dr. Ian Billinghurst
Who’s Dr. Ian Billinghurst?
I’m assured that most individuals within the uncooked feeding neighborhood know Dr. Ian Billinghurst, an Australian veterinarian with over forty years of expertise and a proponent of the uncooked meals weight loss program for pets. He’s primarily identified for advocating the Biologically Acceptable Uncooked Meals (BARF) weight loss program for canines. He authored a number of books on pet vitamin, together with “Give Your Canine a Bone” and “The BARF Weight-reduction plan.” Billinghurst advocates feeding canines a weight loss program that resembles what their ancestors would have eaten within the wild, emphasizing uncooked meat, bones, and greens. His work has had a major influence on the pet meals trade and has led to elevated consciousness of the advantages of uncooked meals diets for pets.
What’s the Billinghurst Institute?
The Billinghurst Institute was established in 2023 to offer schooling and coaching to make it simpler for individuals to boost animals that dwell longer, more healthy lives via vitamin. Its admirable imaginative and prescient is to transition 1,000,000 animals to a fresh-food weight loss program by 2030.
At present, the Institute affords two programs, weekly ask-me-anything type classes with Dr. Billinghurst, and shortly, the Institute might be providing enterprise classes.
- $297 – Course 1: for pet dad and mom
- $797 – Course 2: pet professionals with certification (what I took)
The Billinghurst Institute will quickly supply a course in enterprise classes, which can cowl tips on how to conduct consultations, handle electronic mail lists, arrange a enterprise, and extra.
Course contributors may also interact within the month-to-month Q&A classes with Dr. Billinghurst at no extra value.
Who is that this Course For?
Though these programs can profit all pet house owners and professionals, I believe individuals who need a easy path to feeding canines and cats a uncooked meals weight loss program will love this course. This course resonated as a result of I do not consider uncooked feeding needs to be sophisticated. I should not stress out making an attempt to verify I’ve accounted for each macro/micronutrient as decided by the NRC or AAFCO.
Whereas I respect the significance of stability, I consider there may be multiple approach to meet a canine’s dietary wants.
For my part, the next pet dad and mom can profit from this course:
- open to new data
- excited by studying from Dr. Ian Billinghurst
- making an attempt to get previous the concern of feeding their canines a uncooked meals weight loss program
- pet professionals who wish to assist shoppers enhance their pet’s weight loss program
When you go into this course with an open thoughts and belief that the knowledge will all come collectively, it’s possible you’ll discover this is a wonderful funding.
Abstract of the Billinghurst Course
The skilled uncooked feeding course is designed to teach pet house owners, veterinarians, and pet professionals about the advantages of feeding a uncooked weight loss program to pets.
The course covers matters such because the historical past of uncooked feeding, the ideas of the Biologically Acceptable Uncooked Meals (BARF) weight loss program, the dietary necessities of canines and cats, sourcing and making ready uncooked meals, feeding practices, and troubleshooting widespread points which will come up when transitioning to a uncooked weight loss program.
Members study in regards to the significance of species-appropriate vitamin and the way a uncooked weight loss program can enhance pets’ well being and well-being. The course goals to offer complete data and sensible expertise to help people in efficiently implementing and sustaining a uncooked meals weight loss program for his or her pets.
Billinghurst Course Curriculum
The next record was taken from the course. Whereas I used to be taking it, I might have appreciated extra particulars for every half/subject. Finally, I simply fell into the groove of the course and went with it.
- Orientation
- Pre-Course
- Half 1 – Uncooked Fundamentals
- Half 2 – Potential Risks of Uncooked
- Half 3 – Diet – An Evolutionary Perspective
- Half 4 – Evolutionary Meals for Cats and Canines
- Half 5 – Sensible Uncooked Feeding for Canines
- Half 6 – Uncooked for Cats
- Half 7 – Skilled Uncooked (for uncooked feeding advocates)
- Half 8 – Uncooked Wrap Up
How Lengthy is the Billinghurst Course?
The skilled course has ten elements. Every half comprises a number of matters that common quarter-hour every, for a complete of 203 classes and quizzes.
There’s quite a lot of data, which might be daunting; I made it via just a few matters of Half 1 a number of months earlier than I accomplished it. Once I returned in the summertime of 2024, intending to complete the course earlier than August 17, I wrapped up the rest (197 classes and quizzes) in twelve days.
I discovered it useful to set the velocity to 1.25 and multitask, listening to the course whereas doing different actions. The course begins slowly, however I discovered the knowledge realized within the first few elements to be precious, lending to my confidence that I’m appropriate in my option to preserve uncooked feeding easy.
Billinghurst Course vs. Feed Actual Course
The Feed Actual Institute programs centered extra on stability, masking the macro and micro vitamins wanted in a canine’s weight loss program, whereas the Billinghurst Institute course takes a extra fundamental path to feeding our canines. Lots of the matters in each programs align; nonetheless, the programs these organizations supply aren’t apples to apples.
For instance, the Feed Actual Institute programs helped me perceive the advantages of assorted vitamins and the way they work together. The Billinghurst Institute course gave me the arrogance to feed my canines with out leaning on a recipe, spreadsheet, or software program. I’ve by no means agreed with the stress to stability each nutrient and fats in a canine’s weight loss program – via this course, I really feel extra assured that I’m assembly my canines’ wants just by feeding them recent meals.
I did admire the audio supply of the Billinghurst course, because it allowed me to pay attention whereas doing different issues. This made it simpler to get via the course and join the knowledge from every half to get the entire image.
My favourite moments within the course had been when Dr. Billinghurst jovially dismissed lots of the beliefs we’ve adopted within the uncooked feeding neighborhood, equivalent to:
- 80 10 10
- Weighing our canines and feeding a share of that weight.
- Treating the center as muscle meat and never an organ.
- The requirement for a number of secreting organs.
- Balancing a canine’s uncooked weight loss program primarily based on AAFCO and FEDIEF pointers.
For my part, uncooked feeding shouldn’t be sophisticated. We don’t want a level in canine vitamin to feed our canines. Granted, dropping a pound of floor beef within the bowl and calling it good isn’t applicable, however mixing that floor beef with rooster coronary heart, liver, and wings and including some pureed greens to imitate the abdomen content material of prey could also be applicable for a lot of canines.
The perfect a part of the course was a meal prep demonstration by Dr. Ian Billinghurst, which was extra easy than my course of.
Takeaways from the Billinghurst Course
I realized a number of methods to simplify and enhance a canine’s weight loss program. Dr. Billinghurst did a terrific job streamlining uncooked feeding with a uncooked pyramid that helps us visualize tips on how to put collectively a meal.
Different takeaways embrace:
Reducing the bottom combine. I puree and freeze greens from my backyard for my canines. I’ll scale back the bottom combine to ½ cup and blend my pureed greens into my uncooked blends. It will make uncooked feeding simpler and reduce the associated fee by lowering my dependency on a base combine.
I can cease trying to find extra secreting organs. I’ve mates who’re homesteaders and provides me the organs. I primarily get the center (a muscular organ), liver, and kidneys. Typically, I’m in a position to rating the spleen as effectively. I am glad with this selection.
Feed extra uncooked meaty bones. Canines can eat a weight loss program excessive in uncooked meaty bones and stay in good well being. Final yr, I started feeding a meal of uncooked meaty bones a number of days per week. I’ll return to this weight loss program, feeding extra poultry toes, necks, and backs as a result of they’re the simplest RMBs to supply affordably, and my canines do effectively and do not expertise constipation with this weight loss program.
Add extra veggie combine to Zoey’s meals to deal with arthritis irritation. I’ve added extra leafy greens for weight reduction up to now however fully ignored all the opposite advantages. Leafy greens are excessive in antioxidants and comprise calcium and Vitamin C for bone well being and Vitamin A for eye well being. They help the intestine and immune system and scale back power irritation. I started changing two ounces of meals with my selfmade vegetable combine.
The ratios are only a guideline. I’ve at all times identified this, however it’s good to listen to it from Dr. Billinghurst, who repeatedly reminds us that the chances are fluid as a result of what we add to the bowl and the way a lot we feed our canines is dependent upon every canine.
Veterinarians are educated to diagnose, not stop. With the rising prices of veterinarian providers, I finished taking my canines in for annual blood work, selecting as an alternative to belief the weight loss program to work, concentrate on my canine’s intestine well being and immune system, and know my canines. I am going to now go to the veterinarian when there is a want.
Billinghurst Course: Canines vs. Cats
Whereas Dr. Billinghurst does talk about canines and cats, I consider this course could profit canine house owners extra. This can be my bias as I went into this course to discover ways to enhance the uncooked weight loss program for my canines. I did study extra about cats, together with:
- why their urine is so concentrated
- extra data on the influence of kibble on a cat’s well being
- particulars on the distinction between canines and cats on the carnivore spectrum
Last Ideas on the Billinghurst Course
The course began slowly, however as soon as I elevated the velocity to 1.25 and commenced listening whereas doing different actions (strolling, gardening, mowing, and many others.), it glided by rapidly, and I completed the course in twelve days.
The Billinghurst skilled uncooked feeding course gave me the arrogance that I am heading in the right direction with my canines’ weight loss program.
Learn Extra About Uncooked Feeding Programs
