O.k I admit it - I'm a wimp. Was in the supermarket today, picked up a pack of raw chicken wings, put them in trolley, then wheeled back and put them back! I keep thinking my dogs would love them but have a little voice in my head saying "chicken bones..bad! chicken bones..bad! Your dogs will choke!" I know from what I've been reading on here that, that is unlikely as, uncooked, they are quite soft? So how do I get over this fear and go get the darn things? Can anyone reassure my neurotic mind that my little doglets will survive and enjoy the treat?? :D :D

Thanks all

Linsxxx

Mine have been eating raw chicken wings for years without problems :D

Daisy

Pity, it's a lovely way for them to keep clean teeth, and what a treat for them too!
Go on do it....I only braved it after my confidence was boosted from the posts here and am so glad I did, not half as glad as little Jack though!
Karen ;-)

I can't even WALK the aisle with chicken in because I can't watch dead birds! Let alone consider buying....

Oh Hebeboots!

I think most of us were like you thinking will they like them will they eat them - will they choke - will they get stuck ........

But you just one day take the plunge and never look back!

Mine have been raw fed for about a year now and they love it - not only do they have chicken wings but carcusses and other larger breast type bones - a whole range of different bones which they love and do very well on.

When I look back to those first chicken wing they had well 2 scoffed them, 1 prodded it and was totally unsure what he was supposed to do, 1 swallowed it whole (and promptly back up it came - then it got crunched :)  My old Irish girl even munched hers (but liked to take a bit longer due to lack of teeth!)

Initially the chicken was a once a week treat which became two to three times and then I went totally raw!  It took a couple of them time to work up to bigger bones but now they all happily munch the larger bones.

Go on you can do it!  They will LOVE IT!

My pups start having chicken wings at 5 - 6 weeks old and never had a problem

My boys had them from 8 weeks and although I only feed half raw now they still get them every other day ontop of their dinner :)

Yes a wimp :D

Have a go as you will have a few goes thinking 'Oh my goodness they are going to die ' then you will enjoy seeing the love of how they enjoy chomping on them

you can always hold one end to make sure they chew it properly.

>So how do I get over this fear and go get the darn things?

Your dogs whole make up and physiology is designed to rip,tear and digest raw meat and bone.Whether we are talking about Fifi the pampered chihuahua,or princess the shih-tzu,or max the great dane,makes no diff,as they are all carnivors and all have the same digestive systems.In my honest opinion raw bones shouldnt be classed as a treat,but as a staple part of every dogs diet.We,in this modern convenience world of ours are trying our hardest to move our dogs away from their natural diets and push them onto high grain,preservative laden un natural commercial foods.... at our dogs expense :(

getting off my soap box now

I have been giving my dogs rmb's for 20 some years and have never encountered any problems. Some people when first giving chicken wings joint them into smaller pieces and bash them with a mallet,eventually working up to whole unsmashed wings.
You dont say what breed you have,but for smaller dogs chicken necks are a good starting point until both dog and owner get used to bones.

Having large breed myself I was afraid to give them anything they could swallow whole, which they did the first time but it was brought straight back up and munched :rolleyes: even now I give them one at a time just in case they think they have to eat them fast before someone else pinches them. For the puppy I have held onto it for a while till she knew she had to chew, and I've also bashed them with the hammer if I haven't felt happy giving them. But it is something you get over, and the dogs do love crunching on them :) Chicken necks are good if you don't fancy giving the wings right now, but it does make up a part of my girls' diets' so they get both :)

>I have been giving my dogs rmb's for 20 some years<

How did you talk your mom into letting throw raw meat around the house as a teenager. We barely managed to convince mine to let the dog in the house! She would have freaked if I had asked for raw bones. LOL though in the end the dog slept with her :-D

>How did you talk your mom into letting throw raw meat around the house as a teenager.

I got my first dog,who i was responsible for,at 15.My mum always fed our dogs rmb's so it really wasnt an issue,and something i grew up thinking was the norm.Commercial food has never made an appearance in my mums house,and probably never will.

>Where do you give them theirs?

I have a special 'bone eating' towel that my dogs automatically go on to when i get the bones out.There they stay until they are finished. I have found giving meat/bones outside attracts bugs and ants.

Ah that helps then. My parents knew nothing about dogs. It would have been really helpful to have an adult who did. My sister and I (who were also responsible for the dog's care at 13 and 15 YO) just had to read books and wing it. We made a lot of mistakes. I would have liked a mentor like your mum or Husky's grand dad. Although now that I think about it she was a farmer as a child. She might not have been so surprised had we asked. :)

Mine love them and their teeth are all beautiful from chewing them.  I haev photos of youngsters as young as 4-5 weeks pulling them around the pen :-)

I'm like you, Lins, I know they'd love them but something is just holding me back.....
(probably the thought of upset tummies and diarrhoea :rolleyes:)

Never had any upset tummies etc :) Can't remember when either of my dogs had the runs - many years ago :) Bones, if anything, have the opposite effect and make the poos fairly hard (and very easy to pick up) :)

Daisy

Thanks for all your replies all, right I WILL go and get some (then keep them in fridge til they go off.. just kidding :D ) and give them to the woofers. O.k next question is do I give them to outside? I was just telling my sister of my plans and her friend chimed in that it would be a bad idea to have raw meat especially chicken in the house on the floor because of bugs etc Where do you give them theirs? I was thinking kitchen as opposed to lounge carpet :D Should they have them outside? Oh I feel like a right numpty brain..

Linsxx

P.s I have bichon frise (aka clouds with legs)

My dog is an Australian Terrier not much difference in size probably to yours....he eats it up so quickly that I have no qualms about where he eats it. It has been known in the kithchen or the lounge, it wouldn't be left in the feed bowl for a second. I have even given them frozen!
Karen ;-)

I give Jasper his chicken wings in his bowl - he takes one out at at time and eats it - he has swallowed them whole in the past but as someone else said on here they do bring them back and chew them! When he has the large rmb he has them in the kitchen on vet bed which is washed immediately he finises!

As long as you treat it like any raw meat and wash your hands, utensils, bowls, floor etc afterwards you will be OK!

I was terrified to give Jasper chicken wings in the beginning so OH used to mince them for him, but since he's been about 3 months old he's had them whole, initially we used to  hold them but we found that made him gulp them down as quickly as possible, he's much better when they are put down and left in his bowl - he realises no-one is going to take them from him :rolleyes:

I haven't tried the whole chicken carcass yet but will do when he is a little older!

Kitchen is much better than lounge carpet too :D :D

Maria :)

.....mmm...that sounds encouraging, Daisy :)

I feed all sorts of raw bones including chicken wings and neither of my dogs have ever had an upset tummy at all.

When I first started mine he was very soft for the first day,but gave him some Yakult to help with his gut flora and he was fine,I dont feed mine outside as he digs up my garden to bury his bones and then a few secs later digs them back up to eat.my dogs favourite is a pigs head he loves it

I was a wimp too but today I felt spurred on by all these posts and so while doing the weekly shop at Sainsbury's I bought a tray of their value chicken wings. After some initial sniffing and licking they crunched them up like professionals and nearly bit my fingers off when giving them to them - Stamford ate the last one in literally two seconds! I'm converted!!!

Hooray , well done to you! No looking back now...
Karen :-)

I did it!! Gave the boys a wing each, Marley ran off with his and got stuck in like a pro, Oscar picked his up and shuffled away grumbling at the others, and Geordi stared at his, then stared at me as if to say "ahem, are you aware this is raw? Yuk its gross, you don't seriously expect me to eat that do you??" to which I repled "yes Geordi, you are a dog, now go and eat it like the fluffy, mini wolf that you are" He carried on staring then started to nibble and nibble, he really started to enjoy it! Then Marley swooped in like a teradactyl, grabbed Geordi's treat and it was gone :rolleyes:

Ah well, he'll eat it quicker next time! :D :D

Well done to you, great news lucky Marley and Geordi..;-)

hehe aren't they funny!  I gave the wee boys the end of a chicken wing yesterday! They really tucked into them and Storm sat there like the big girl she is saying...me me me...the raw bits are for ME!!! lol

Well done

There will be no stopping them now :D

I'm sorry, but I'm still not convinced.  I have, on many occasions, almost put that pack of raw chicken wings in my basket when I hear something that puts me off.  Only today, I discovered that my friend's dog, after eating a raw chicken wing, got it stuck in the roof of his mouth.  If I thought that raw feeding was definitely the best thing for my dogs, I would do it without hestitation, but I am still worried.  I still need a lot of reassuring.  Personally, I think a lot more study needs to be done on the subject of raw feeding and would be more confident if it was much more in the mainstream than it currently is.