Raw Meaty Bones Oops

[Weily4Life]

Dinner tonight for Fozzy and Greta each consisted of 1/2 chicken back, a chicken thigh with attached drumstick, and broccoli.

Had them seperated by 40 feet in the yard. Greta was having some trouble getting the meat off her thigh and drumstick even with putting slices in the meaty portion. So I held it for her so she could tear the meat off, she was a trouper when it came to crunching the bones. When she started crunching I freed my grasp from the bones.

The problem...I looked over to Fozzy who had been tearing and crunching very well, but then she got to the drumstick and it appeared as though she swallowed it whole . Will she digest this bone, or is there going to be some type of trouble/problems that I should watch for? Has anyone else had this situation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dawn

[hokisteph5]

I did a search of the forums and found this similar thread. Unfortunately, neither of mine have swallowed a whole bone. Chewed up tennis ball yes (Samson), bone no.

[brutus'mother]

The stomach acids should take care of the bone without any problem or if it isn't digested fast enough your dog may vomit it back up for you. Keep us posted!

[Weily4Life]

Thanks for responses. Things look good so far. No vomiting, she has not seemed uncomfortable at all, in fact sleeping right now.

Any idea how long it takes the stomach acids to digest the bone or that I should be on watch for any other problems?

[AngelBunny]

I feed the raw prey model and am just now seeing this.

If Fozzy was going to experience problems you'd likely know by now. No dog with a terribly upset stomach would be sleeping.

I know your dogs were separated by distance, but do you think the fact Fozzy could see Greta had anything to do with how fast she ate??

We're feeding raw to three dogs, our two personal bitches and the male foster.

One dog eats in the front yard with the other two fed on either side of the house. None of the dogs can physically see any of the others. The dog I thought would bolt w/o chewing has turned out to be a very careful chewer. I don't know if this is due to the fact she can't see anyone when she eats or if she just has the good sense to chew her raw before swallowing (something Mox didn't seem to do at all when I fed kibble).

[Weily4Life]

I've been feeding the raw meaty bones about once a week for the last month. Otherwise it has been home prepared which includes raw meat, ground or chopped up.

With the home prepared Fozzy has been usually a gulper, while Greta eats slow and seems to savor every morsel.

With the raw meaty bones, Fozzy has been so good with holding the meaty bone with one foot while tearing the meat off and then always crunching the bone when she reaches that point. Never gulping, so I was completely shocked when I saw her finishing the thigh portion and then gulp the rest (leg, btw the meat was still on the bone.)

Fozzy seemed to be completely focused on her meal and not Greta. But I won't rule that out, maybe just the proximaty???

This was the first time they had the chicken backs. They both ate the chicken backs, prior to thigh and leg. Now that I think about it, wondering if she got tired of the crunching and tearing by the time she got to the leg.

I have to have them both in the back yard so I can supervise them. When it comes to feeding the RMB my hubby doesn't want to be involved . When I told him about Fozzy swallowing the bone and suggested next time he help supervise, he doesn't want any part of it.

I sure hope this all turns out okay, right now I am a little bit afraid of continuing with RMB's. I know the chicken bones aren't that large. I would just hate to have anything happen to either of our girls.

Angelbunny,
You stated, "I feed the raw prey model and am just now seeing this." Are you sayning that any of your dogs ever swallowed a whole bone?

[dilucc]

Hi I always thought chicken bones weren't good for dogs?? I know mine have gotten them here and there and all was ok, but I thought that was a big NO NO??

[brutus'mother]

These are both adult dogs you are feeding correct?

When I started with raw prey model I was scared to death.

I did a lot of research, found a COE breeder (nottweiler but large working breed) that weaned her pups to raw, joined several yahoo groups about raw feeding and became more comfortable as I have gained knowledge.

That being said, I would not feed the smaller pieces of chicken (backs, legs, thighs) to adult rotties. They can fit the whole thing in their mouth at once. I feed mostly venison with some organ meat here and there but I use other critters for bone. I stock up on whole chickens when they go on sale.

My dog caught onto prey model without any problems. He eats half a chicken very nicely and politely! Impossible to gulp because he can't fit the whole thing in his mouth at once. I did coax him at first when he would get down to the last of it to go "easy" and we have never had a whole piece of anything go down unchewed.

Brutus did hack up what looked like the spongy end part of a chicken leg one time, smaller than the size of a quarter. Other than that everything has been smooth sailing with raw.

Good Luck.

In addition, I didn't even think of AngelBunny's advice since I only have one mouth to feed. It does make perfect sense that they may eat a little too fast if they think someone is eyeballing their food!

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by Weily4Life

...Angelbunny, You stated, "I feed the raw prey model and am just now seeing this." Are you sayning that any of your dogs ever swallowed a whole bone?

If any of them have swallowed a whole bone, I haven't seen the dog do it.

We've been feeding raw since June 27, 2007. I've watched them eat in turn to make sure they're chewing and I've never seen the dog I'm watching swallow something w/o chewing. That's not to say one of the other two dogs hasn't done this but since I haven't seen it happen, I don't know.

I have seen the foster swallow pieces of beef that look awfully big to me. Yes, he chewed them but they still look big to me. (But, since they stayed in his stomach once he swallowed them, I guess they were OK.)

My DH is the exact same way as your husband. DH is a big meat eater, but ironically, wants nothing to do with feeding raw. He won't even agree to having their food kept in our kitchen fridge. He won't measure out their food, either. The only way he'll feed is if I put the dogs' food in their bowls and leave it in the downstairs fridge.

dilucc:

We're talking raw. The food we're feeding our dogs isn't cooked. Cooking makes bones brittle, causing them to splinter.

[brunie's mom]

I also think you should keep dogs out of eye site of each other when feeding raw. They do tend to gobble their food and not chew enough if they can see each other.

When I feed raw meals, one dog eats outside (in the dog run) and the other inside...so there is no need to rush and worry .

I've also seen my dogs chew, but still swallow a large piece of meat down...and I always wonder if the meat will come back up....but it never does.

One thing I don't feed is chicken legs, for some reason (it could be the age of the chicken?) the bones tend to splinter and I've had the dogs throw the bones back up. I feed thighs and chicken backs, and chicken necks....but no legs. I grind up the legs.

Gina

[Weily4Life]

Originally Posted by AngelBunny

If any of them have swallowed a whole bone, I haven't seen the dog do it.

We've been feeding raw since June 27, 2007. I've watched them eat in turn to make sure they're chewing and I've never seen the dog I'm watching swallow something w/o chewing. That's not to say one of the other two dogs hasn't done this but since I haven't seen it happen, I don't know.

I guess there would be an advantage if I did not watch them . After all, who is there to watch animals in the wild.

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

I also think you should keep dogs out of eye site of each other when feeding raw. They do tend to gobble their food and not chew enough if they can see each other.

When I feed raw meals, one dog eats outside (in the dog run) and the other inside...so there is no need to rush and worry .

One thing I don't feed is chicken legs, for some reason (it could be the age of the chicken?) the bones tend to splinter and I've had the dogs throw the bones back up. I feed thighs and chicken backs, and chicken necks....but no legs. I grind up the legs.
Gina

I am seeing a theme here, I need to keep them out of eye sight from each other .

What do you use to grind up the legs?

Originally Posted by brutus'mother

These are both adult dogs you are feeding correct?

My dog...eats half a chicken very nicely and politely! Impossible to gulp because he can't fit the whole thing in his mouth at once. I did coax him at first when he would get down to the last of it to go "easy" and we have never had a whole piece of anything go down unchewed.

In addition, I didn't even think of AngelBunny's advice since I only have one mouth to feed. It does make perfect sense that they may eat a little too fast if they think someone is eyeballing their food!

Fozzy is 8 and Greta is 5.

Is that half a chicken for an entire day's food allotment or one meal? It sounds like that would be more than my girls could handle in one meal, unless was able to find some really small birds .

A consensus seems to have been reached feed the dogs out of eyesight from each other. Maybe the next time I will try feeding one first and once she is finished feed the other. I guess I am too much of a mother hen when it comes to the RMB's


AngelBunny, brunie's mom, and brutus'mother thank you for sharing your experiences, help and suggestions. I truly appreciate them.

Dawn

[brutus'mother]

You can always quarter the chicken if half is too much. The idea is you need to feed pieces and parts that are larger than what your dog can swallow whole. If the dog is chewing on a large piece of RMB it is more likely to keep chewing than to stop and gulp it down.

[Weily4Life]

Originally Posted by brutus'mother

You can always quarter the chicken if half is too much. The idea is you need to feed pieces and parts that are larger than what your dog can swallow whole. If the dog is chewing on a large piece of RMB it is more likely to keep chewing than to stop and gulp it down.

Thank you, quartering the chicken makes perfect sense and will be the way to go. DH, Fozzy, Greta and I can all have fresh chicken on the same night . Wings are DH favorite, nothing will go to waste.

[AngelBunny]

The only bones I take away are rib bones once the dog stips the meat, mainly because I don't want a fight to break out if a dog should innocently get too close to another dog's bone left in the yard.

[SigTau66]

I've seen my male swallow almost a whole chicken leg before with no repercussions. I wouldn't be too concerned about them swallowing too large of pieces. Their digestive system is a wonderful thing when it's on a raw diet.