Do the raw marrow bones smell?  I was thinking about getting some for my two but OH said won't they smell, won't they carry germs etc? - One of the reasons why I am not sure about barf is because I don't think feeding raw chicken is safe (we would never touch pink chicken let alone raw) so just wondering if those of you who feed barf have a bit more info on just feeding raw bones (to chew on not for immediate consumption) before I trot of to the butcher.

Many thanks in advance.

Kelly

Anyone?

They smell after a few days in the garden, certainly. But that's when they seem to become more popular! Typical! :D

Lovelly thanks, well I am sure they will love them and I think I may just get them to have in the garden / kennel that way OH can't whinge ;)

I dont make a habit of eating raw chicken either, and im sure no one else on here does.

But your dog is a dog, not a human, and is perfectly designed to eat raw meat, chicken included!

Em

Hi Kelly,
I have recently given my newfie puppy marrowbones-she loves them.
They do smell though and her paws get the marrow on and are smelly too-the flies are also attracted to them...
She also loves to bury them in my flowerbeds for consumption at a later date!!
Sarah x

Sounds like my staffie, He buried one somewhere in the garden over 2 weeks ago. I still haven't managed to find where it is but I'm sure he will in a few months time!

when flynn was a pup he used to bury his dinner (chicken wings) then bring them in two days later covered in dirt,him covered in dirt & eat them!
never did him any harm!!!!

No Em, a dog is no more designed to eat raw meat than a human. I always wonder why raw feeders don't feed themselves raw too.

You mean wolves, foxes etc are eating food they aren't designed to eat?

i was abit wary of giving my pup a raw chicken wing but she loves them shes had a few now and is fine :-)

Wolves, dogs and humans are all ominvores. Wolves just haven't discovered fire. Raw fed wolves and dogs are just as likely as humans to get bacterial infections, pancreatitis, bone splinter and impaction injuries and disease due to dietary imbalance as raw fed humans would be. Even if - and its a big if - the canine digestive sytem were better designed to deal with a raw diet than your own, there is nothing natural about the raw diets promoted here. If you want to feed your dog like a wolf you need to feed whole carcases as well as worms, grubs, roots and rodents. Feeding frozen bits of chicken waste is in no way comparable.

>If you want to feed your dog like a wolf you need to feed whole carcases as well as worms, grubs, roots and rodents

Just like they do when we're out walking, then! :D

Of course dogs are designed to eat raw - just look at their teeth :)

I eat lots of raw things :D

You could eat raw meat just as well as your dog though without the long canines you'd have more bother catching it. But I'll bet you don't eat raw frozen chicken waste.

I have the disgusting habit of eating raw liver and any steak cooked more than extremely rare is overdone :)

No - you're quite right.  I'll give the raw frozen chicken waste a miss :)   I don't see any reference to anyone else feeding frozen chicken waste though apart from you

What are chicken necks and wings if not chicken waste?

Have you never had chicken wings? Very popular food - you can get them in Tescos. They even do them prepared for the barbecue. Chicken necks make excellent stock and soup. Neither are waste products.

Totally agree - chicken wings are great.  So why frozen?  I don't eat frozen anything unless its ice cream. 

I think most people thaw them out before they feed them to their dogs. Though of course in Arctic regions the wild canine population would eat frozen carrion - and sled dogs are often fed frozen meat.

As a kid, I had a habit of eating raw bacon and raw sausages.  That'll be raw intestines too then. :-D  In fact I'm still partial to an odd nibble now...... anyhow, I can see everyone's point of view on this one.   We don't feed raw, we used to years ago but than was when we slaughtered our own cattle.  To be honest, I don't trust the modern meat supply for raw feeding in this country any more than the pet food companies.  JMHO at the moment... always subject to change...... I like to keep an open mind...... :-D

Going back to the original topic, is raw marrow bones as easy to get these days?  I heard some butchers stopped giving them out for dogs due to BSE?  or am I barking up the wrong tree?

The bone ban was lifted a couple of years ago.
:)

Thanks JG, I didn't know that :-)

Does that mean we can get T bone steaks again?  I haven't seen any of them in the Supermarkets for years???

You may have more luck at a decent butcher's shop rather than the supermarket. The variety of cuts is usually much more varied.

Edit: Ooh! I just found this! Yes, those steaks should be freely available! I hadn't realised the ban was lifted so long ago - nearly 6 years!

Crikey..... me neither, where have I been living?  Doesn't time fly; it seems only yesterday when we had all the controversy about BSE and meat on the bone.  I'll be off to the butchers at the weekend... yaaaahhhh....:-D

Yukkkkkk-i couldnt think of anything worse-maybe raw egg though....
Cant stand liver and my steak has to be well done-sorry

Ooh yes, steak has to be bleeding when you eat it. Otherwise it's as tough as leather.

Yeah, steak needs to be just seared closed on each side, toast barely pale brown, and scrambled eggs just barely set. OTOH, bacon needs to be crispy! :-D

>bacon needs to be crispy!

Noooo... much nicer raw, :-D especially the rind :-D

Nooooo scrambled eggs just barely set are all slimey ......... yuk!!!!!

I have mine so rare that a good vet could revive it :D

Mine prefer their chicken 'waste' (I assume you mean chicken poo?) fresh. I've never heard of anyone freezing it ... still, it takes all sorts!

Don't give Flynn ideas - he'll be having me harvesting and freezing him a supply of 'horse apples' - he-he!

:D

Please tell my dog this wondrous news - he is obviously doing something wrong :D He has eaten raw for nearly 6 years now and has never been to the vets because he is ill. I can't remember the last time that he had runny poos - probably only had them once or twice in the six years that we have had him (younger dog has been similarly healthy for all her three years) :D :D

Daisy

9 healthy dog years is hardly enough to say that raw feeding is safe. Especially for a fad that nas no - nil - nada - zilch - evidence of benefits. You've been lucky so far.

So you recommend that I stop ?

Daisy

As JG says Daisy, they are your dogs and it is your choice. You have to balance the alleged benefits against the proven dangers yourself.

I think that it is actually proven benefits in my dogs case :)

I feed my dogs what I choose (I feed a raw diet, not BARF) like all dogs owners. The fact that they are very fit and healthy is enough for me. They eat their food with gusto and never refuse it or leave anything. I have not read anything that is proof that what I feed my dogs is any more dangerous than processed food. My vet is perfectly happy with what I feed - all he is concerned with is the fact that I have healthy dogs.

Daisy

So errrr, what have canines been eating for their entire existence, barring the roughly 60 years complete/tinned food as been around for?

Yes, the odd cooked scrap humans bunged their way, but more than likely they have been eating raw for FAR longer than they have been eating cooked food for!

Em

They have probably been eating human scraps for 2000 since they decided to throw in their lot with man.

But that is neither here nor there. They LIVE a great deal longer now.

So... you never eat salad?

Dogs have evolved over millions of years to eat raw meat amongst many other things. You don't see wolves lighting up a barbecue very often do you? You probably wouldn't eat COOKED intestines, eyeballs, testicles, brain etc... but what do you think they put in tinned dog food? It ain't fillet steak let me assure you! Nice, convenient, cooked and prepacked dog food has only been around less thyan 100 years. Dogs have been domesticated for at least 15,000 years - what do you think they ate in the previous 14,900 years?

Anyone who doesn't want to eat cooked eyeballs, intestines, testicles and brains shouldn't eat sausages :D  Mmmmm

Does someone want to e-mail Japan and tell them that they really ought to be cooking their sushi?? :D

>what do you think they ate in the previous 14,900 years

Whatever the people they were choosing to live alongside threw to them :)  Which for most of that time, prior to the days of supertrimmed meat would have been stuff left over after we cooked it.  In truth I think dogs, being the great opportunists that they are, thrive just as well on raw or the cooked that they have been used to for just about as long as we have :)

See what Isabel said. In addition dogs are living far longer than they did 100 years ago. Why is that if they are all being poisioned by complete foods?

Advances in veterinary medecine perhaps?

Certainly better veterinary care and better general care have played a part, but if complete foods are poisioning our dog sit's still odd that they are living a great deal longer.