Hi,
  Finally managed to get hold of a load of chicken wings today, so gave each of the dogs one.  Sherrie chewed on hers for a couple of minutes, but Cody's sort of disappeared in about 10 seconds!  Was wondering, is this all right - can't really see how it's going to help clean his teeth if he's not having a good crunch on them, and if he doesn't crunch them up, won't he have trouble with bones sticking in his intestine?  Just wondering how other dogs are with their chicken wings!
  Hilda

My dogs do something similar.  One dog sniffs it, licks it, leaves it, runs back to it when another dog approaches, finally buries it in her bed - never actually eats one. Our eldest dog chews it and eats it properly.  But Madge, well she takes it so gently from your hand but then just swallows it... Less than a second from hand to stomach.  She has never bought one back up nor had a bad reaction.  I now bash them with a mallet to break the bones before giving them to the dogs.
Also my dogs, Bulldogs, have about 5 - 6 at a time.  Not every day, maybe once a week or so.

Hope this helps

Steph

Thanks Steph, that's what I'll do tomorrow then - haven't got a mallett, but I'll give them a bashing with the hammer first! (the wings that is!).
  Hilda

LOL  I would hope that you wouldn't bash the dogs!!

Before buying the mallet I used the blunt side of a meat cleaver type thing (don't know what it's called but I am sure you get the picture)

Steph

Oh okay, so I don't want to be shredding them into pieces!  Do you find it does help with cleaning teeth though? (main reason I got them for).  The dogs have both got like some build-up on their teeth, which won't brush off, and I can't seem to manage the descaler!
  Hilda

I try to keep the wings as intact as possible whilst still breaking the bones inside - if that makes sense.

Mine don't have them for teeth cleaning - they don't stay in the mouth long enough. LOL  My dogs have very large, uncooked beef knuckle bones, I suppose they help keep teeth clean as they actually have to gnaw on the bone.  Well. I think that's what they do, the bones appear to have a few teeth marks before thay are finally demolished.

Steph

Funnily enough, Hilda, I bought chicken wings for our mob today!   Vinnie and Loki took theirs very nicely, and settled down and chewed them thoroughly!  Thor took his - and Beau's, and tried to bury them, so I took Beau's back, and gave it to him again.   He thew it around for a bit, then took it into the corner and crunched it up, very satisfactorily!!

How many wings should an Aussie have, as a meal, or do you just give them as an aid to teeth cleaning??
Margot

Margot - I give my two 2 or 3 for a meal, with some raw veggies and some mixer or rice. Otherwise, they get 1 and I give a little less of their other meat. The first time that I gave one to Bramble, he swallowed it whole, then promptly brought it up. He wouldn't touch them again, until we got Tara and then the competition was just too much and he had to eat them too :)

Daisy

I have heard of some owners of dogs who inhale wings,they grab 1 end of the wing with a pair of plyers while the dog chews away on the other end,what a funny site :D but it could be worth a try until he gets used to chewing on them.

Hi Margot,
    A lot of people give them as part of the meal, but I just wanted them to help clean the teeth.  Cody's sister used to have two a day I think, with some dog food, and has got beautiful white teeth.  Anyway, I might try as suggested by dogluver - hold onto the end of the wing so that it can't be gulped down instantly!!  I only worry that the bones are going to get stuck inside otherwise!
  Hilda

My middle bitch doesnt chew hers as much as the others, not had any probs & been doing it for 3years now. one funny story a group of us went on holiday a few years ago & a friends dog linford ate all his wings in double quick time, 10 mins later they all made another appearance,looking much the same as before he had eaten them,unfortunatley at that point he was sitting next to sky who sort of ate them as they were  coming out! arent they horrible!??
i wouldnt crush mine,needs to clean the teeth, i expect your dogs poos will just have some whole bits of bones in. you could try drumsticks to encourage the chewing,

If you want to use bones to clean teeth then chicken wings would not be the ones to use :D

The are meant to be consumed!  Use what we call "recreational" bones in order that the dog can get valuable jaw exercise and teeth cleaning from scraping off the cartilage and sucking out the marrow and then remove to prevent dogs breaking teeth.

Hi Tohme,
     I know - marrow bones - trouble is, they're not easy to come by round here - the local butchers only has them on a very occasional basis.  Anyway, I'm giving up on the chicken wings - holding onto them didn't work too well!  And yesterday, my dog just swallowed the wing whole, not even one little crunch!  I've got some friends who feed their dogs on Barf diet, so will ask if they can get hold of some marrow bones for us!
  Hilda

It takes time for dogs to learn about crunching bones; they do not chew like us, they have no teeth for that purpose as they are carnivores.  Dogs will either be fine swallowing whole or regurgitate to reacquaint themselves with it, as they would in the wild, and eat it again.

I've been feeding my two wings (amongst other stuff) for the better part of a year now.  When Chelsea started she gulped.  I held onto the wing tip with a closed fist (so she couldnt' accidentally take any fingers off) and told her 'Chew!'.  Once she crunched enough I would let another bit slip through and so on until she had crunched the whole wing to my satisfaction - constantly encouraging her to 'chew' and praising her 'good girl chew'.

I'm trying to get some weight off her and on my other dog so today I gave Chelsea the tips and Savannah the heavier end for a bit of a snack.  I wasn't worried about the tips just going down - so I just gave them to Chelsea.  To my wonderment she took them gently from me and chewed them thoroughly before swallowing!!  That's the first time I've not held it.  I was amazed!! 

So they can learn.  She has obviously known for quite a while, but was used to the routine of me holding them.

It might be worth sticking with for a few more days to see if you can work out a system with your dogs like I did with mine.

Wendy

Hi Wendy,
     Well, I might give it another go tomorrow then!  At the risk of getting my hand taken off!!  Thing is, as soon as Cody sees the chicken wings he goes wild - like he's not been fed for weeks!
  Hilda

Just make sure to keep your hand in a tight fist.  AND make sure that he is 'under control' before he gets it.  Chelsea would be manic, but I wouldn't let her near it till she was sitting and being good.  It took a week or so, but she figured it out.  On the other hand if he really is that excited and you can't get him under control then it's not worth losing a finger:)

Wendy

Hi hilda, have you had more "chewing" success? maybe as they get used to them they will calm down abit????

Hi Michelled,
   Actually, just sending hubby off to the butchers on the off-chance that they might have some marrow bones to spare!!
  Hilda

When flynn was very little he used to bury his wings in the garden, then dig them up 2 or 3 days later bring them inside again! yucck they really were past their best by then! at least it dosent sound as if youll have that problem!

hello hilda,
how are you going withthe chicken wings. First time i gave them to my two, the older one turned his nose up where as the pup dived in eating his and taz's. he did chew the first one but just swallowed the second, it promptly came back up and he had to chew it. Since then he has chewed them carefully, and the older one for want of not letting bailey have his share taz now eats them too. and they appear to love them xx

Hi raffystaffy,
    Well, I've left the chicken wings now - holding on to them wasn't easy, with the dog pulling hard at the other end, and he did start to just swallow them completely whole!  Anyway, managed to get a big marrow bone, which has cleaned his teeth up pretty well, but as they are in short supply round here, I've bought some of the Logic Gel as suggested, so will see how we go with that.  Think it's supposed to help prevent build up of the plaque that makes the teeth look brown.  I remember my vet suggested that ages ago, but I've never actually used it before - got three tubes for £15 from Vetmedic, so not cheap, but if it works....!
  Hilda

Why not try fragaria it is much cheaper :D