We switched our 2 boys to raw from kibble about 6 months ago. The switch came because we were simply exhausted from walking them 3 times a day because they had loose stool (we don't have fenced in yard, so we need to walk them to go to the bathroom). Our vet recommended more fiber in their diet to help with loose stool. This intuitively just didn't resonate with us. Basenji are one of the most ancient breeds of dog… why on earth would more fiber be a solution to their problem (I know the theoretical why, but logically it was counter-intuitive)? We read many sources or literature on the raw diet and thought this would be a good switch for them. Again, they are an ancient breed so moving toward raw foods seemed appropriate and logical. It took that about a month for them to get really accustomed to eating raw chicken quarters, rabbit halves or pork shoulders but now they have no problem gulping their meal right down, bone and all (for those of you who don't feed raw, gulping is a normal behavior and bone is an essential part of the diet). Their digestion issues have vanished and we've even seen marked improvement in their destructive behavior. Two super happy boys now, two super happy Basenji owners!!
Raw bones
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yes there is, so therefor you have to feed them the so called "soft bones"
chicken , duck , fowl , rabbits , hares , calf ribs, goatribs, lambribs, cow cartilage etc not the big cow bones like legs or knees
It depends on your dog too and their chew style. If you feed weight bearing bones (marrow, knuckles etc) you just need to keep a close eye on them.
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Every day I'm getting more and more tempted to try raw… The main thing that held me back before was the messiness and management issues. We don't crate the dogs while we feed them, just separate them in different rooms. I've offered Bowdu raw a long, long time ago and he wouldn't touch it. It may be a different story now...
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What about freezing bones? In that article I found (link in the first post) she mentioned putting them in the freezer, so I did with the other 3 rib bones.
Today I took one out and gave to Gizmo, and I was surprised how easily he could chew this on compared to the first one I gave him that was directly from the butchers.
Should I be worried about splinters after freezing them?
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It depends on your dog too and their chew style. If you feed weight bearing bones (marrow, knuckles etc) you just need to keep a close eye on them.
well they get knees/knuckles here too but we call those the "recreation bones" they are just for chewing not as dinner
I have heard a lot of stories about dogs that try to eat them and loose their teeth with it, so be carefull with it anyway! -
Every day I'm getting more and more tempted to try raw… The main thing that held me back before was the messiness and management issues. We don't crate the dogs while we feed them, just separate them in different rooms. I've offered Bowdu raw a long, long time ago and he wouldn't touch it. It may be a different story now...
a lot of dogs just need to get used to it, and they also will have their preferences, I also have these complete meat mixes in my freezer ( salmon mix / bird mix / meat mix etc ) those are allready grinded and complete, comes in handy in winter when I can not let my dogs outside for a long time to eat and in my house I do not want them to have raw chicken and fresh tripes etc haha
my dogs needed to get used to some food like liver, I cooked it slightly at first and then started to give it raw after they were used to the slightly cooked version, same with heart.here is a list of my dogs and their preferences so you can see how different it can be:
Jenson & Kalusha eat everything but Kalusha does not fancy fish only the salmon mix.
Solar, Smitthy and Cy eat everything but NO duck and they do not fancy goat meat also, goatribs are ok after they have been lying in the garden for a day or two…. ( the ribs not the dogs ofcourse haha ) they do not fancy fish, only the salmon mix.
when I give fish they try to burry it in my couch or roll in it.....no good idea...Barry only eats tripe, cartilage , lambribs, horse meat, cowmeat, fish and salmon heads he does not want to eat chicken or other birds!! when it is in a mix he eats it but not with pleasure haha, raw liver and raw heart neither.
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What about freezing bones? In that article I found (link in the first post) she mentioned putting them in the freezer, so I did with the other 3 rib bones.
Today I took one out and gave to Gizmo, and I was surprised how easily he could chew this on compared to the first one I gave him that was directly from the butchers.
Should I be worried about splinters after freezing them?
I do not know to be honoust….
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Ah, I see you mentioned ribs are "soft bones"…lol, I guess I was overreacting.
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Every day I'm getting more and more tempted to try raw… The main thing that held me back before was the messiness and management issues. We don't crate the dogs while we feed them, just separate them in different rooms. I've offered Bowdu raw a long, long time ago and he wouldn't touch it. It may be a different story now...
That's why I opted for the pre-made raw foods. I know it's cheaper to source things from butchers, but I don't want to deal with the mess. Kananga has a tendency to drag things around, i can't keep him on a towel or anything.
This is the manufacturer I use for his raw food:
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/
They are actually quite local for you since you're in Northern CA. My local pet store carries this stuff and Kananga absolutely loves it. It was about $16-17 for a 4lbs bag of 1oz nuggets (chicken based). 1 bag lasts me about 15-16 days when I feed him raw 1 meal per day (4oz per meal), so it's not terrible expensive.
I actually feed him the raw nuggets frozen because he eats it too quickly when thawed (does a nice job cleaning his teeth :)). It's really easy when you don't even have to thaw it out.
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yes there is, so therefor you have to feed them the so called "soft bones"
chicken , duck , fowl , rabbits , hares , calf ribs, goatribs, lambribs, cow cartilage etc not the big cow bones like legs or knees
This is good info to know. This bone thing can get confusing.
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I have always used the mantra, "no weight bearing bones especially from beef", and so far no broken teeth for us..10+ yrs into it and 6 dogs later..Mine prefer chicken, they crunch really easy and according to my pack..are the most delish..to me they are the most messy..
Nerdy, the softer bones are supposed to get consumed completely, so yes, he will chew through and swallow them, his poop will change too, turn paler, sometimes even white, no worries, just the calcium from the bones.
My dogs get the bones straight from the freezer, especially if they have been outside in the 97/37 degree weather..it works like a puppy popsicle…
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yes there is, so therefor you have to feed them the so called "soft bones"
chicken , duck , fowl , rabbits , hares , calf ribs, goatribs, lambribs, cow cartilage etc not the big cow bones like legs or knees
Thanks for the info Marianne, she has such lovely teeth, i don't want her to break them
While we are talking about bones and raw food, i have read that you should freeze things like chicken wings first to kill any bacteria instead of just feeding them fresh ?
We have not switched to a totaly raw diet yet, just giving some chicken wings a few times a week which she loves. I hold onto them to prevent her choking.
Nerdy i'm sorry i've diversified a bit from the original topic, hope you don't mind but it sort of ties in. -
I have always used the mantra, "no weight bearing bones especially from beef", and so far no broken teeth for us..10+ yrs into it and 6 dogs later..Mine prefer chicken, they crunch really easy and according to my pack..are the most delish..to me they are the most messy..
Nerdy, the softer bones are supposed to get consumed completely, so yes, he will chew through and swallow them, his poop will change too, turn paler, sometimes even white, no worries, just the calcium from the bones.
My dogs get the bones straight from the freezer, especially if they have been outside in the 97/37 degree weather..it works like a puppy popsicle…
Do you give them cut up chicken parts like Maya?
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I the marrow bones are from the beefs legs, they are clean white bones with the marrow still in them. The bones themselves are like kongs, they just hold the marrow…my 2 have never tried to eat the bones...they go for the soft marrow. The bones are not chewed.
Just to explain why I do this for them. -
Do you give them cut up chicken parts like Maya?
I sure do..Moses gets the biggest parts, like drumsticks, the backs or thighs, the smaller dogs gets cut in half thighs or an occasional bach, the necks etc. Otis got a little of everything, but the drumsticks made me nervous so he didn't get those..I rarely feed breast,
I usually get 10 lbs bags of legquartes for $3.90, which is a bargain, if not I order huge 30 lbs boxes of chicken backs from the poultry factory, at about $5..so even cheaper but I have more work for me with those..all that cutting. The backs are good because some the organmeat is still attached, more bang for the buck. -
This is the manufacturer I use for his raw food:
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/
They are actually quite local for you since you're in Northern CA. My local pet store carries this stuff and Kananga absolutely loves it. It was about $16-17 for a 4lbs bag of 1oz nuggets (chicken based). 1 bag lasts me about 15-16 days when I feed him raw 1 meal per day (4oz per meal), so it's not terrible expensive.
Ooh, thanks for the recommendation, Kananga. I just swung through the pet store today – the one I usually go to has the 4 pound bags at $22-$24. I can probably get it a couple bucks cheaper elsewhere. The quail, pheasant, turkey & sardine formulas look especially intriguing.
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I the marrow bones are from the beefs legs, they are clean white bones with the marrow still in them. The bones themselves are like kongs, they just hold the marrow…my 2 have never tried to eat the bones...they go for the soft marrow. The bones are not chewed.
Just to explain why I do this for them.just a small warning here for the people who give marrow bones: make sure that the hole in the bone is BIG so they can not get stuck with their jaw in it!
trust me it happens and you do not want that to happen -
Thanks for the info Marianne, she has such lovely teeth, i don't want her to break them
While we are talking about bones and raw food, i have read that you should freeze things like chicken wings first to kill any bacteria instead of just feeding them fresh ?
We have not switched to a totaly raw diet yet, just giving some chicken wings a few times a week which she loves. I hold onto them to prevent her choking.
Nerdy i'm sorry i've diversified a bit from the original topic, hope you don't mind but it sort of ties in.it is a good thing to hold on to them if they are too greedy, my ibizan pups got their first chicken wings when they were 5-6 weeks and they were so greedy that they did not even chew!!
in that case best thing is to crush the bones somewhat with a hammer before feeding them.By the way I never leave them alone with their food to be sure they do not fight over it or when they get greedy that they do not choke on their food.
When I buy the food I buy a lot in once, most food is allready portion frozen when I get it so I put it directly in the freezer, when I get it fresh like chicken carcasses I give them a meal of that right away and from the rest I make portions and freeze it. I never heard of freezing chicken before giving it, I have heard it from fresh salmon though, it is better to freeze that before giving it because of certain bacterias.
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oh and a general hint for feeding raw: make sure that over the week they eat a "complete animal" so in that case you know the right proportion of meat /bones / organs. The amount of organs ( liver, heart ,
Fresh tripe can be given 3 times a week as a complete meal.
Some people like to give veggies along with the mixes but personally I do not think it is necessary. -
Did I understand it correctly - it is okay to give raw chicken and duck bones(frozen or unfrozen) ?
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i believe the proportions are 80% muscle meat 10% bone 10% organs and you do not have to feed them that everyday, as long as it evens out over the week.
