HI
I have been reading what you have been saying about a raw diet, I find it very interesting the pros and cons. I have 2 Samoyeds (which we rescued) which are so dear to me, the last thing I want to do is to endanger them by feeding them a raw diet sharp bones ect. But I do wan't them to have a longer healthy life, Sasha is nearly 3 and she has very bad teeth, this diet is supposed to help this.plus lots of other ailments.
I have just taken a raw chicken drumstick from the fridge cut off the meat, the dogs loved it. I then crushed the bone with a pair of bull nosed plyers and bent it, there were sharp pieces of bone like razor blades sticking out, I can now see why people have said about ripping stomach linings.
My questions are. 1, how safe is it?.2, what quantity of bones should I feed a 18kg Samoyed?. 3, Where do you get the bones from I live in Hampshire in the UK?. 4, How much does it cost?.

Thank you for your help.

Hi have you seen the BARF website? It has a good page on your questions& you can order the book. If you want to make it easier for the dogs to eat raw chicken whack the leg/wing with a hammer to crush it a bit - the sharp edges came from bending/twisting the bone, and you should supervise feeding as Im sure you do with two lovely big dogs tucking in!Have fun.

I don't feed BARF - but there is a very good reason why drumsticks are not part of it (as you have discovered) drumsticks are weightbearing bones - therefore they have to be very dense (or the chicken would fall over!) and as such are prone to splintering......... When I feed bones they are usually either uncooked lamb ribs or beef marrow bones - which are so dense it's almost impossible for a dog to break it down into sharp splinters. Don't forget also that a dogs digestive system works a lot quicker than ours, and the stomach acids disolve a soft bone within minutes.

When raw feeders talk about not feeding weight bearing bones we are discussing those of large, older animals such as beef. Turkeys and chickens are weeks/months old and their legs are perfectly safe to feed as are any other part of the body. I regularly feed my dogs Turkey drumsticks which weigh 750 gms each which they take 2 minutes to devour!

Marrow bones are great as recreational bones to suck the marrow out of as are beef shin bones; but once stripped I take them away.

My dogs eat lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, duck, pork, goat, rabbit raw. As well as raw liver, heart, kidneys and eggs.

Only a fool would say that this method of feeding is entirely risk free but neither is kibble, toys, etc etc; Dogs have died swallowing all sorts of things. I have raw fed for nearly 3 years and know others who have done it much longer and have never had an incident.

All I can say is that firmly believe this diet is the best I can give my dogs and I would never return to commercial dog food again. In particular with a dog I rehomed last year his health problems have disappeared. He used to have chronic ear infections and is allergic to soya, wheat, potato, oats, beef, maize; feeding the natural way means I can avoid all these products and he has had no infections since and he has put on weight. Both my dogs teeth are sparkling, breath fresh, coats shiny, and they have energy plus for all the activities they do and I believe have a strong immune system.

HTH

Allyson

i thought it was dangerous to let dogs eat chicken legs etc. because of the bones!

Cooked bones are dangerous because they splinter; raw bones are not so, after all, what foxes, wolves, coyotes, dingos et al eat in the wild. No bone is completely safe but then no kibble is either! :)

Firstly, dont feed weight bearing bones...

Chicken wings, carcasses, necks, Turkey necks, Lamb ribs, all great meal items..... recreational bones (those that you will remove when the meat is all gone) are Lamb shanks, any very large bones that cannot be broken down, swallowed etc.

The important thing with older dogs, who are not used to real food, is to take it a bit slower. There are a range of reactions you will get when presenting a raw meal to an older dog.
Some will look at it in disbelief, run off with it, hide it, play with it, etc, some dogs will refuse point blank to eat it, some will take your arm off!

Most, in general need to be taught to chew the bones properly, id start with chicken wings, hang on to one end with a pair of pliers whilst the dog chews the other end.
Dont remove the meat from teh bones, as its not just the bones that clean the teeth, its the fibres in the meat as well, also, the meat surrounding the bone will protect from splinters whilst it is digested.

Dogs that have been fed a commercial diet will need a chance to develop stronger stomach acid, so build up the amounts of bone slowly....

Your dogs will rapidly learn (as mine have) that crunching a chicken wing once, adn then swallowing it whole is NOT a wise idea, and they will then be sick. Because the bones are still covered in meat, this is not harmful, and your dog will doubtless eat the wing again (sorry, yucky but true), dogs are fantastic at sicking up anything that is too big to go through the system!

Go for it!

EM

hello all
there is a fantastic book that dedicates itself totally to feeding raw meat's and veg it's called give your dog a bone by Dr Ian Billinghurst good read tell's you the pro's and con's how to start and young and old dog's diets i feed my standard poodle on raw meats such as whole rabbit's including gut's and all only when less than an hour old (the rabbit)chicken wing's lamb breastbut i do avoid offal and large beef bone's as they usually belong to the older cattle my boy thrive's on it although i do have problem's with him eating chicken legs whole without chewing and the above is correct in saying they instantly throw it up but proced in eating it again but chewing it but my boy wont learn the first time he's just a greedy boy
give the book a go it will be well worth it
hope it help's
louise