BARF

nala2012

So I've been feeding my dog raw for the last few weeks and I finally managed to get some meaty bones for her. This morning I put her in her pen and gave her one. She seemed to be eating it but when I went to bring her in I saw the bone still there with all the meat. She can gaurd high value foods but I was able to pick it up and when I offered it to her again she went off and got her ball instead!
Do some dogs not like bones? She loves raw hide chews and eats chicken legs no problem. Maybe its because I gave it to her outside because she's normally fed in her crate?
Also can you freeze bones?

ISDW

Personally I always freeze everything raw that I give to the dogs, including bones, to kill the bacteria. I may not necessarily give the bones to the dogs still frozen, but I've never had any issues with freezing them.

What have you been feeding, if not bones? Are you giving rawhide chews with the raw diet?

nala2012

ISDW wrote: »

Personally I always freeze everything raw that I give to the dogs, including bones, to kill the bacteria. I may not necessarily give the bones to the dogs still frozen, but I've never had any issues with freezing them.

What have you been feeding, if not bones? Are you giving rawhide chews with the raw diet?

I've been feeding chicken legs, mince, chunks of beef, chicken necks, liver and sometimes veg, rice and eggs and also fish. I freeze all the food and defrost as I need it. The bones were fresh that's why I gave her one raw like I was there when he cut them.
She gets the rawhide couple of times a week.

ISDW

I'd still freeze the bones, as I say, I do it to kill the bacteria.

If she's getting bones to crunch on, she shouldn't need the rawhide, and theres been some info posted on here recently about rawhide chews maybe not being what you think they are. Can't remember which thread now, I think maybe it was DBB that was posting about it?

Maybe she's just not hungry today? If she's used to the raw meat, the bones would smell the same to her I'm sure. maybe she's expecting you to strip the meat off for her?:D Were they really big bones? I don't know, sorry, my lot always eat the meat off the bones at least, and have a good old crunch on the bones themselves.

nala2012

She's always hungry, two minutes after finishing her dinner she looks at me for more! And she's definatly not fussy.
I've put the other bones in the freezer so I guess ill try her again the next day and I might feed her in her crate to see if it makes a difference.
Thanks!

DBB

Re the rawhide, yes that was me!
The rawhide u often find in supermarkets and many pet shops doesn't have either a source, or species, written on it. Without wanting to go into too much detail, a huge amount of rawhide comes from southeast Asia... And it is from dubious sources, including their horrific practise of skinning live dogs and cats. So, as long as there is a risk of buying inhumanely sourced meat, which may be dog or cat, I won't be feeding it to my dogs.
Some pet shops specifically sell beef rawhide. Bingo. It tends to come on fine big chunks of different shapes and sizes. I get mine in Jollyes in Newry, would imagine it can be got online too.

Zapperzy

Are the bones from a different animal? When I gave mine a meaty beef bone (I think it was a piece of rib bone) it was his first time getting raw beef, he buried it and dug it up a week later and ate some of it again. :eek: Up to that he'd gotten various cuts of chicken, fish and offal but never beef. Musn't have been as tasty!

tk123

Funnily enough I got some bones (regular butcher never has any) and gave my guy his first one on paddys day - he tucked into it trying to get the marrow out for ages - until he heard/smelled the mashed spuds inside, dropped the bone and barked to come inside!! :pac: I gave him the second bone the week after while I was making up a batch of his meals for the month and the same thing lol - when I was draining the spuds he left the bone to chance begging for a piece! :rolleyes:

nala2012

Gave Nala a bone when she was in her crate earlier and she gobbled it up straight away.. she must just be more comfortable eating inside!