Am I being completely thick but are raw eggs ok to give your dogs?  Does it do them any good and does anyone know if there are any benefits.

Its just I dropped one on the floor the other day and both boys went mad for it so thought it might be nice to add one every so often with their food.

They are very nutritious, I give them to my dog as part of a BARF diet. :)

Kath.

Give them shell and all. Must say I find it amusing to give it whole and watch them deal with it, they also peel oranges, aren't I a mean Mum, the depth I will sink to for a bit of entertainment. ;)

Zymi peels oranges  and also will eat whole eggs but Cava and Una break the shell and lick out the good bit, then Zymi comes along and eats their shells too :D

May be daft but I like to give my lot something to think about, I hide carrots around the field too so they have the pleasure of finding them, and roll tomatoes across the yard to get them hunting.

Mine like carrots and tomatoes too esp Zymi.

We're changing our pup over to a BARF diet as she absolutely loves it. She has eggs occasionally and takes great delight in throwing them up in the air so they smash onto our stone floor, then she proceeds to hoover up everything, shell included. I think I remember reading somewhere that they should have the shell as long term it can cause certain deficiencies if you only feed the yolk (not entirely sure of this though as I can't remember where I heard it)

I think you are confusing shell with the white.  Another of those old wives tales :D 

The egg shell is full of calcium which, when ground, is fully available to dogs, whole it normally just passes through :D  People have often believed that feeding raw eggs is harmful but that was in the days when many "invalid" foods recommended lots of egg whites without giving egg yolks.

Biotin (one of the water soluble vitamin B complex also known as Vitamin H) is an essential nutrient which can be bound by avidin, which is found in raw egg white. This binding prevents it's absorption from the gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately egg yolk is so high in biotin content that biotin deficiency does not occur when whole raw eggs are fed. So, whilst biotin deficiency is a potential problem - in reality it is unlikely to be seen in dogs unless they are fed an extremely imbalanced ration that is predominantly egg white. In raw fed dogs liver and kidneys also provide plenty of Biotin.

Hope that clears up any misunderstandings.

Don't think I was confused, I give them whole because it is a bit of a challenge to the hounds and they enjoy crunching them up, matters not to me if the shells are available as nutrition as I give eggs as a treat and in addition to the complete food they have anyway, same thing with the fruit and veg they have, more an entertainment than a food.

I was replying to ice cosmos who appeared to be confused with the issue over shells and yolks ?

Can anyone explain why, if my dogs help themselves to chicken and goose eggs they eat the whole thing (I know this as they produce the evidence the next day) whilst if I give them a whole egg they leave the shells?

Christine

If they help themselves it is prey if you feed them it is food ;)

probably trying to hide the evidence if it is booty :D :D

Not confused, I just remembered hearing something mentioned. Thanks for all the info you gave  :)

don't mean to sound like a complete idiot but what is a BARF diet ?????

Emma

Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw feeding, it was an acronym devised by Dr Ian Billingshurst; those of us who do not 100% subscribe to him prefer to use the term raw feeding.

........ and those of us who still think of "barf" and "to vomit" as being the same

~~
Going back to eggs - at one time (think of Ms Curry) eggs had a bad press because of salmonella but now all flocks have (should) to be tested if eggs are sold  - even if you only sell a few eggs at the gate

and where would you find details of what to feed tohme ?

I know that you are an expert with food, so who better to ask  ;)

Emma

Best places to gen up on the info:

The ultimate diet for dogs and cats by Kmythy Schulze, The BARF diet by Dr I Billingshurst, Give your Dog a Bone by IB, Raw Meaty Bones by Tom Lonsdale, join the Yahoo Britbarf site

well wasn't quite expecting this response but thanks guys.  I have started feeding them to the older Border Collie as he went off eating his breakfast - I think he had got bored - so he now has a raw egg with it and loves it and nutricious as well - what more can I ask for

Would try the odd pilchard in tomato sauce some mornings and may be tuna on others, raw mince beef or even a little tripe if you can cope with the smell, I can't. Oh! just remembered grated cheese goes down well too.

Our Staffs adore poached cod - God, they sound terribly spoiled!  They get it when it's reduced in Asda :)

Cheese is a major favourite - we get them to eat tablets by putting them in cheese!  Oh, and tuna, eggs (scrambled - found that out when Benny was pregnant).  They have incredibly sensitive stomachs, though, so we have to be very careful in what we feed them.  They only ever get very small amounts of "treat" food as mentioned above - just in case anyone thinks I feed my dogs absolute nonsense!  And, thinking it over, they really ARE terribly spoiled :)

don't we all spoil them.  I wouldn't have it any other way!