Hi All

I have got some lamb rib bones for robbie this week from my local butcher and he cut them up for me as i ordered a whole lamb rib, he got about 6 sections out of this it worked out about £3.50 so not sure if this was the right sort of lamb bone i got as he said lamb is very dear at the moment and i also got chicken wings at the time from him, i have weighed them out and they don't weigh as much as a chicken wing as i have been giving him 125g of chicken wings for breakfast and then 125 g or mince for evening meal, it looks a lot of lamb rib bone to weigh 125g so not sure if i should give him this much at a time.
We have recently changed homepaths and the new vet has said to give him chicken wings and lamb rib bones alternate days for breakfast then minced meat for evening meal she has advised to introduce 1 protein at a time and see how he goes as too much too soon will be too quickly to spot an outbreak.
I have looked for different meat suppliers as i don't like prize choice meat blocks as the meat seems quite watery, the free flow mince from price choice is okay but they don't do all the meat varieties like the blocks which is a shame, any other ideas of meat suppliers that are good, she feels natural instinct meat especially the complete variety isn't the way to go and she would like to see him predominately not on chicken which i know wasn't good but at the time his skin was so bad we had no choice.

Thanks

TPMS - great quality and excellent service

Ditto!  TPMS for us too :-)

Thanks do you have to place a big order with this company? Any ideas with the lamb rib bones as to whether i have got the right 1's or not, the butcher said they were lamb rib bones but didn't seem to get much for my money and like i said need quite a few of these to make up half of his daily allowance of meat so don't think i have got the right 1's, as for the chicken wings 2 of these for his breakfast and then mince meat for his tea are working well, just that i need to get different meats now to introduce slowly.
On raw feeding do you have to have a different meat variety for each day of the week or can you repeat meat varieties? Is a mince meat meal of say rabbit enough or should i add something else to this for an evening meal, still learning sorry!!!
Anyone heard of raw to go as to what they are like?

I can't believe how much your butcher has charged.  The one I use is around 50p a lb or kilo (not sure which) but I can get a massive bag for a couple of £.  I ask for neck and ribs and get the neck with the ribs attached.  They doesn't appear to have much meat on them but poochies love 'em.  My staff often just eats the ribs and I cut them up singly for her but my rott chomps the whole thing.  I am guessing that for a westie you would be feeding maybe 3 rib bones and the meat with them.

I thought it seemed expensive but then i know lamb is dear at the moment, he ordered a rib of lamb in and cut it up for me but i only got about 6 bits out of it each weighing 125g as i have bagged them up and put them into the freezer, they have got some meat on them but i still thought it was expensive, i am still feeding the 250g per day split into 125g breakfast and evening meal as i am trying to gain him so weight.
Seems a lot of lamb rib bone to feed him though, the chicken wings work out around 2 for breakfast depending on how big they are he loves these though and crunches them up nicely.
Just need to find a good mince meat supplier.

I get all my bones for free, just pop into the farm shop and they give me the remains of whatever they are butchering at the time, this week we got some cow ribs and some lamb neck and ribs.

I use Landywoods for my mince, I know some people have had a problem with them but I never have, deliveries on time, meat very good quality and best of all they are really resonably priced !

We get lamb ribs from our butcher.  It's sold as 'stewing lamb' or 'belly' (which you can also buy without the ribs attached, bit we buy it whole).  Not sure of the exact price because we buy in bulk (feeding 2 very large dogs) but reckon it works out at no more than £1.50 per kilo. 

hamish75, I wonder if it was so dear as it was ordered in for you.  I get what is left from other people's orders and find it really cheap.  I buy chicken wings from asda as they are much cheaper than the butcher.

Do you think he gave you rack of lamb?  This is an expensive cut and harder for him to prepare.

I buy breast of lamb and I found this quote which describes it well  "Breast of lamb is a strange joint which is pretty nearly inedible unless you have this recipe. It is the bit of the sheep they don't include in expensive lamb chops because there is hardly any meat on it. It is a thin strip about 2 feet long and 6 inches wide and includes a big wedge of fat at the top and the lower part of the ribs back to the belly."   and you can read the rest of the recipe  here.  This cut is still pretty cheap but you may need to fight off the older generation who may be outraged at you feeding it to a dog.  Sssshhh don't say it out loud.

If you are going to order from TPMS the minimum order is £40 or 40lbs.  I have 3 dogs so defrost 5lbs of meat a day and tend to combine varieties, inc tripe, each day for my convenience.

I have just got my first order from raw to go. The meat seems really good quality, I ordered a few of each variety to see which my dogs preferred. It has a proportion of bone in and so can be used as a complete diet, but mine have chicken carcases for breakfast and mince for evening meal. They have never been healthier - shiny coats, clean teeth and amazing amounts of energy. And firm 'kickable' poos !!
It comes in individual 1lb bags so it's easy to defrost the amount you need.
I would highly recommend them

I get all my lamb bones for free from my butcher, they get thrown away other wise and they have to pay to get the bones taken away, so they see it as me doing them a favour, they even give me lamb hearts at cost price....I love my butcher.
I use DAF raw meat it is sold in boxes so you have to buy a whole box.

The Dog Food Company do lovely meaty bones, at 32/lb. :)  http://www.thedogfoodcompany.co.uk/products.html

The lamb bones you get from the butcher have these got any meat on? The 1's i got have got meat on them aswell. Do you just give these on their own as a meal or add some other meat with them? Sorry still getting used to this raw feeding and not sure if i am feeding enough or not, i am currently trying to weigh each meal to 125g but find the lamb rib bones don't really weigh much so need quite a few of them which makes me wonder if i am feeding right or not.

I use rawtogo as well and really impressed with the product and service. 

It doesn't sound like you got the same as we get. 3 or 4 lamb ribs (as we know them) is adequate for my Rottie  X whose meal would be 2-3 times as much as for a Westie, I would guess.

Do you get yours from the butcher what do you ask for are they rib bones or breast of lamb bones? As i got rib bones and they had some meat on them but i am having to give him 2 of these to make up the amount.
I am currently having trouble getting the amounts for each meal?

Yes, it's the breast of lamb 'on the bone' (I've seen lamb breast in the supermarket with the bones removed).

Whats the difference between lamb rib bones and breast bones? Not sure what i need to ask for very confusing!!! I need to up his bone content thats why i was feeding chicken wings for breakfast but have been advised alternate mornings to give him lamb bones aswell, will the breast bone be enough bone to make up his bone content if the bones are softer?
Sorry to sound so stupid but just don't know what i need to ask for, just want to make sure his bone content is enough to keep his pooh's nice and firm.

Have a look at this link: http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/the-meat-guide-lamb

If you scroll right down, you'll see pictures of all the various cuts of lamb.  The lamb breast (about 4th up from the bottom of the page) is what you're after.  Does that look like what your butcher gave you?  You'll see from the picture of the sheep at the top of the page that it's the cut that comes from the belly area.

HTH?

I mentioned it on your other thread but I wonder if asking for lamb spare ribs might get what you want. Tell them you need them for a barbecue for a guest who can't eat pork. There are (or used to be) some Halal fried chicken type places in London who sell barbecue spare ribs that are lamb, not pork.

I wouldnt worry about which it is I would just feed lamb as it comes not mince so he gets the chance to chew thoroughly. Its is his reaction to a different protein that you are looking at and as long as he get bone from somewhere be it chicken or lamb it doesnt matter.
It doesnt need to be an exact science just watch what comes out the other end If too hard give more meat if toosoft more bone if ok you are getting the balance right. RMB is a balance thing over a period of time just like you and I not a daily worry
Keep at it you will get there

I tend to feed lamb bones then give some meat soon after, dunno if it's true or not but I've always believed that the meat (if the bones haven't been that meaty ) helps to digest the bones more thoroughly.
I don't give my lot bones every day either, I give them every second day, if you feel your not providing enough calcium you can always use ground egg shell mixed into his meat, 1tsp to 3 pounds of meat is the right proportion I think.

Hi

Thanks for the pic yes that looks like what i got from the butcher, i have phoned round local butchers today but they have all quoted £3.50 per kg for lamb breast on the bone so not anywhere near as cheap as some of you buy it.

I think a lot depends on if the butchers do their own butchery or buy meat in already butchered.

My butcher buys in whole carcusses and does all his butchery in-house. So they get the breast of lamb in and cut the meat off, to sell as a boneless rolled roast, the boney bit is then surplus to requirements and ends up in the bin, ready for the bone man to come and collect to dispose of. I have a bagful of the lamb rib bones and always put a donation in his charity box - usually £1, so a lot cheaper than £3.30 a kilo!

Most of the butchers down here don't seem to have bones  left over they seem to order in as you want it, most of them were telling me lamb bones should never be fed to dogs as they splinter is this right? I told him that i had been advised to get lamb rib bones for a raw feeding diet but they were saying that lamb bones are too fragile and splinter which will cause the dog to have serious problems but surely thats wrong isn't it as i know a lot of people on here feed the lamb bones

Hamish.

Do you have a Waitrose near by, one has just come to the island and when I was last there managed to get free fish heads, you could try asking for bones as they were very helpful. Good luck.

Any COOKED bone is likely to splinter and cause problems, but RAW should be fine. I prefer feeding lamb bones to chicken bones as I often see shards of bone coming out the other end when I've fed chicken wings. I never see a trace of bone with lamb ribs, just nice firm, kickable poos.

>most of them were telling me lamb bones should never be fed to dogs as they splinter is this right?

When you opt for a raw food diet you need to be prepared to hear this type of advice.  Butchers are rightly cautious and have no idea whether you are taking good advice, or are preparing to feed cooked bones to your dog.  I must admit to being pleased that they don't just give bones out willy-nilly as there are a lot of people out there who genuinely wouldn't know right from wrong with regards to feeding.

The best advice when shopping for your dog is not to cause alarm and do not disclose exactly who/what you are buying for.  Don't contradict or argue if it can be avoided as you never know what numpty might be stood behind you in the queue and they may get the wrong end of the stick.  Raw feeding is an excellent way to feed a dog but it isn't for everyone and shouldn't be undertaken without good research.

You've had a lot of advice recently about this type of diet but I sense you still have a lot of questions and concerns, not least about which cuts of meat or type of bones.  You cannot hope to gather all the answers here as there isn't enough time or space so I strongly recommend you to get some books from the library and do some background reading.  My immediate concern about this type of diet for you and Robbie is that as you are keen to solve his anal gland problem you could easily feed too much bone.  You need to truly understand his nutritional needs before you start tweaking the diet for problem solving.  Try looking for books by Kymythy Schultze and Tom Lonsdale for starters.

I had the same rigmarole when I started getting bones from my butcher about bones splintering, yes it can happen, but rarely does, the way I look at it is a dog has just as much chance of choking on a piece of kibble or raw hide chew than having problems with uncooked bone, I had to fish so many slimy bits of raw hide out of Spuds throat I stopped feeding them, just make sure you never feed the weight baring bones and you'll be fine. I'm sure I also read that dogs who get bones tend to develop stronger stomach acid to deal with the bone.

What do you mean by not feeding weight baring bones?

Basically the legs, bones that take the body's weight. Non-weight baring would be things like ribs, necks, wings.

Does that mean drumsticks and thighs are out then?

> Does that mean drumsticks and thighs are out then?

No - because birds have different bone structure to mammals (in order to be light enough to fly). Their bones are less solid and if I remember rightly have a honeycomb-like structure inside to give strength.