Would fresh raw bones be ok to feed if they haven't been frozen and are posted in a polystyrene box? As a friend said she would post me a few bones as i dont want to buy a large quantity. I asked our local butcher for a couple but he said he didn't have any!!  i didnt want to buy any meat as we dont eat meat our selves, so i have a feeling he didn't want to sell me just bones and to be honest i can understand.

So back to the question do you think fresh raw bones would be ok sent by post, as i dont want to make my dogs ill.

What bones are they?  I would always freeze beef (Neospora) but in truth I'd aim to freeze all bones received this way, BEFORE feeding

> so i have a feeling he didn't want to sell me just bones and to be honest i can understand.

I don't buy meat from the butcher but I have bought bones for the dog from there. Maybe they just don't have bones for sale, they may already sell them all on?

I know that beef needs to be frozen prior to feeding to kill a bacteria in it that could be harmfull, but I've never frozen a bone prior to giving it to the dog (I feel silly now as I've not made the connection between 'beef' and 'bone' and the size of the bone I give to the dog they are definately cow bones, I'd just assumed it was the flesh that needed freezing)

Personally I'd not worry about giving my dog a bone that had been in the post for a day or 2, but his digestive system is normal for a dog, ie he can eat really manky things with no ill effect!

> I would always freeze beef (Neospora)

Ahh, so even the bones need freezing. Doh, I am very stupid!!

Do any wild dogs freeze their bones before eating them? They exsist and thrive without a freezer! Come on get real don't panic, I have fed raw meat and bones for 40 years and have never come across any digestive problems. Healthy "natural" feeding creates healthy dogs, at least you are making some sort of effort to give your dogs some sort of "Natural" food.

> Do any wild dogs freeze their bones before eating them?

No of course they dont. Wild dogs kill live prey which is then fresh, but my concern is will the bones after being posted (and i might not get them for a couple of days) would they still be ok to feed?

> Personally I'd not worry about giving my dog a bone that had been in the post for a day or 2, but his digestive system is normal for a dog, ie he can eat really manky things with no ill effect!

Thank you that's all i wanted to know.

Yes, not all wild kills are eaten the same day, a dog will eat carrion and older/rotting food, a 2 day bone will be fine but maybe a bit smelly for the likes of you or me! Do not stress it will be fine.

> Do not stress it will be fine.

ok thanks.

Wee man, Neospora wasn't discovered until the 1980's and it's entirely likely that it didn't exist when truly 'wild dogs' were eating naturally.  Most modern wild dogs are unlikely to be getting access to domestic cattle herds and losses in the wild dog population wouldn't be noticed or monitored closely enough to determine cause of death.

The concept of feeding naturally by no means absolves us from the responsibilities of feeding good quality food whilst observing basic health issue and good hygiene - not least because we generally live in extremely close quarters with our pet dogs  :)

There may be little or no harm in feeding some bones after a few days in the post but equally there is no risk at all in freezing first.  It also solves a storage issue if your dog takes a day or two to enjoy each bone

> Most modern wild dogs are unlikely to be getting access to domestic cattle herds

It's not just found in domestic herds, it's in wild animals too, hare, deer, rhino, zebra, lion, marine mammals, loads of different species

I stumbled over some pics of dogs that had it, horrible :( I thought the 'infection' risk was a tummy upset thingy, not the paralisis (sp?) and the horrific skin problems.

Crikey, I'll make sure I freeze ANY raw meat/animal part prior to feeding it to the dog now!

Info on Neosporosis in wild animals found from here

Mybutcher is fab and I get too many bones if anything.He will freeze them for me then I put the excess in my dog freezer to prolong their life.Idealy they shouldn't be weight bearing bones.Mine prefer pork to beefbones,I was agast when I saw a local store selling pigs trotters for a pound each and I don't get charged anything.I feel guilty as I only give my butcher a tin of biscuits at Christmas.
Going back to the frozen bones though tbh the mankier the bone - the more the dogs seem to enjoy it!

My butcher only gives bones to customers.  They are not for sale but he keeps them for people who are spending in his shop.  Why not buy some chicken wings/carcasses for your dog and while you are in, speak to the butcher and explain that you are veggie but your dogs not.  If he gives you some bones occassionally, you'll buy something when you are in? 

My butcher makes me up dog bags now after speaking to him.

And pet dogs aren't wild dogs - just because they evolved from wolves / wild dogs etc, doesn't mean they still have the same stomach.

For goodness sake LucyDogs, put a sensible head on, our canine friends are natural carnivores, that means their stomaches too!!

No need to be insulting, there are big differences between wolves and dogs, in case you hadn't noticed.

Domestic freezers won't go low enough to kill off neospora.....you need industrial/commercial.

Lucydogs I think if you look the physical make up of a dog i.e. the stomach and the teeth are still pretty much the same as wolves.  They aren't omnivores they are carnivores through and through.

dvnbiker, Thank you!

i am going to switch to raw i have always used commericial foods but now im hearing more about feeding raw im wanting to do whats best for my dogs and this seems to be it !

Well done "ashsbt" . Do the changeover carefully and slowly, you won't regret it and neither will your dogs.