Raw Chicken Bones for Dogs

[sjpersonal]

I have two dogs one a pure Male Brindle Pitt whojust turned 7 and a mixed Female who is 12. My pitt has always had a sensitive stomache, he is my sickly child. Almost everything gives him an upset stomache. Every other dog that I have had has been able to eat any and everything but not my baby boy:)

Anyway I plan to start both of them out on a Raw Food Diet, meat and vegetables. But I have some questions.

How important is Organic for dogs
Can they eat Raw Chicken Bones
Should I add Raw Veggis to the Meat

Any help would be wonderful as I would really like to eliminate some of the pills that my dogs are takeing for arthritis, skin allergies etc.

Thanks

[Mary Kay]

I'm not really "in the know" but think there is a raw diet for dogs called BARF. Maybe google that, and just raw food for dogs and you'll probably come up with more answers than most of us could give you.

Best of luck, and good for you for trying to help those dogs.

I do know that chicken (splintery) bones are controversial. I've always kind of figured though, that a dog "in the wild" would be getting birds here and there....

Mary Kay

[lynnc72]

Hi SJ,

> How important is Organic for dogs

Only if you can afford it. Free-range, grass-fed is important for the proper amount of Omega 3's. It can be expensive so most opt to supplement with salmon fish oil or feed fish high in Omega 3's (salmon, sardines, mackerel, etc).

> Can they eat Raw Chicken Bones

Absolutely! My Lab crunches through raw whole chickens, bones and all. Cooked bones are dry and brittle, so never ever feed cooked bones to your dogs. All raw bones can be fed, except weight-bearing bones of large animals like cows and deers. All bones on a pig are edible for medium to large dogs.

> Should I add Raw Veggis to the Meat
No. There is no need to feed veggies to a carnivore.


These groups are a wealth of information on species appropriate feeding for your dogs.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawChat
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawMeatyBones

Best of luck,
Lynn

[sjpersonal]

I'm not really "in the know" but think there is a raw diet for dogs called BARF. Maybe google that, and just raw food for dogs and you'll probably come up with more answers than most of us could give you.

Best of luck, and good for you for trying to help those dogs.

I do know that chicken (splintery) bones are controversial. I've always kind of figured though, that a dog "in the wild" would be getting birds here and there....

Mary Kay

Thanks Mary Kay,

I did check out Barf but they are selling their product and I live in an apartment so their is no room in my fridge for a large amount of meat. I will probably start off with the patties but would like to give them chicken every so often.

Thanks again:)
Sondra

[sjpersonal]

Hi SJ,

> How important is Organic for dogs

Only if you can afford it. Free-range, grass-fed is important for the proper amount of Omega 3's. It can be expensive so most opt to supplement with salmon fish oil or feed fish high in Omega 3's (salmon, sardines, mackerel, etc).

> Can they eat Raw Chicken Bones

Absolutely! My Lab crunches through raw whole chickens, bones and all. Cooked bones are dry and brittle, so never ever feed cooked bones to your dogs. All raw bones can be fed, except weight-bearing bones of large animals like cows and deers. All bones on a pig are edible for medium to large dogs.

> Should I add Raw Veggis to the Meat
No. There is no need to feed veggies to a carnivore.


These groups are a wealth of information on species appropriate feeding for your dogs.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawChat
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/RawMeatyBones

Best of luck,
Lynn

Thanks for the information, it is expensive to try to feed myself organic so I was just curious and chicken is usually pretty cheap, I will also try the patties from Kirbys in Los Angeles. They have a lot of raw food options but I can use Chicken for a backup or a change. I would just like them to be able to live without all of the medication for skin allergies and arthritis. I have chosen to have fur babies instead of human so I am doing all I can to keep them alive, safe and healthy.

Thanks again
Sondra:)

[blizzardfrisbee]

I feed mine organic can food--from Only Natural Pets- in the morning with some cooked chicken and at night raw chicken leg. They love it! Breakfast and dinner are exciting to them!!

[lynnc72]

Thanks for the information, it is expensive to try to feed myself organic so I was just curious and chicken is usually pretty cheap, I will also try the patties from Kirbys in Los Angeles. They have a lot of raw food options but I can use Chicken for a backup or a change. I would just like them to be able to live without all of the medication for skin allergies and arthritis. I have chosen to have fur babies instead of human so I am doing all I can to keep them alive, safe and healthy.

Hi Sondra,

You've made a good decision to feed raw. I've read that it will improve their health. Feeding raw patties is OK, but it won't clean teeth like meaty bones does.

I started my dog on whole chickens for the first month, then slowly moved on to bone-in pork butt when it went on sale. All pork and chicken bones are edible. I generally spend less than $1 per pound on food by watching for weekly specials at local grocery stores. I buy all natural meat without enhancements like salt or broth injection.

After only 2 months, her breath improved drastically and doggy smell is almost gone. Her poop is much smaller and less smelly. She often gets complimented on her white teeth.

Lynn

[Mary Kay]

Oh sorry, I ddidn't know BARF was a brand---thought it was a system of feeding raw to dogs....

And that makes sense about feeding raw chicken bones vs cooked (splintery) ones!

And as far as veggies ---wouldn't a dog get veggies etc that an animal had eaten? I thought that most animals would go for whatever was in their prey's stomachs as well.

Mary Kay

[lynnc72]

And as far as veggies ---wouldn't a dog get veggies etc that an animal had eaten? I thought that most animals would go for whatever was in their prey's stomachs as well.

"Wolves are often observed to begin feeding on large prey by
tearing into the body cavity to pull out and consume the internal
organs. The large rumen is punctured during removal and its
contents spilled and left. The vegetation in the intestinal tract is of
no interest to wolves, but the stomach lining and intestinal wall are
consumed

The idea of wolves eating and needing the stomach contents of
prey is promoted by commercially influenced misinformation to
support their omnivore labeling of dogs. The more industrial byproducts
that can be used in commercial dog food, and the more
food that must be consumed on a daily basis to meet bare survival
and energy needs, the greater the profits."

Mech, L.D., and L. Boitani, eds. 2003. Wolves Behavior,
Ecology, and Conservation. University of Chicago Press: Chicago

[Mary Kay]

Aha! Thanks.

I just thought of something: I belong to a raw-milk herdshare, and the farmer who supplies us also has bones and dog food. I think it was $2.50 lb. Weston Price has organized herdshares all over the county, so I'll bet you could get some good/relatively cheap/grassfed etc meat from one of their farmers. I know they have a site where you can punch in your zip code to find a farmer near you. Sorry no time to look it up.

Just a thought.

Mary Kay