Warning: if you don’t feed raw bones to your dog you may want to skip pictures.
Many of you already know that I try to give my dog raw treats/bones/chews as often as I can. I not only check out the meat section at the grocery store for my husband but also to see what new items they may be carrying for the dogs. Sounds strange right? Especially considering I don’t even eat meat myself, never have, probably never will (though if my taste-buds want to change I am open to it). Well the dogs ended up hitting the jackpot Wednesday night. I went in to Shoppers for Claritin and a colossal donut (or 2), and came out with this….
(as well as the donuts, no Claritin was to be had there)
Incase you can’t tell from the packages, and want to know what I feed my dogs. left top: Turkey Necks, 3 packs of natural chicken necks, 2 packs of marrow bones, and on the bottom We have Beef Tail segments. I also feed frozen tripe patties (stinky stinky) on occasion and chicken wings. I showed some restraint and did not purchase the trimmed chicken backs or the turkey wings I saw. But they will be on the list next time.
“It all looks so interesting…”
” Sure I’ll pose in front of all this raw goodness… see I won’t even drool” (really shocked she did not start drooling)
“You say it’s all for ME?? and wyatt of course..”
Yeah okay so she probably wasn’t thinking all that. But she chowed down on her chicken necks last night, as if she remembered being fed them as a puppy by my H’s uncle (true story, he gave her one.. next thing you know he had given her 6 and I had to stop him because she certainly wasn’t going to)
Maybe I will attempt some photos of them eating some of these items, but there really isn’t much to see. They rotate their head side to side to chew with their back molars, which in turn is one of the benefits of feeding such things. I hate to see the beginning of tartar/yellow stuff at the bases of Luna’s canines. She pretty much gained that characteristic when she turned 3, like I had my first gray hair at 21. And I guess it’s all downhill from there. I’m hoping by feeding her more raw maybe we can get rid of some of it. Or should I just be happy it took that long right?
Anyway, Raw bones not only clean teeth due to the fact that it does not stick to teeth as it’s being chewed but it also helps with digestion. Dogs have to work at this type of food a bit before they can swallow it, and as they do so they salivate and digestive enzymes are boosted which aids in better digestion and absorption (or something like that, I’m, not being very scientific I know). Basically most dogs will process raw very well, which leads to good firm stools, and smaller ones. Who doesn’t love that?
It takes my dogs a little while to get back into the raw groove as I still mostly feed kibble, but a day or two and they have remembered how to chew certain bones up. I keep an eye on them while they eat, but I have never had a problem with raw bones. They figure it out, just make sure they are chewing things enough, or else you may need to bump the treat up a size so it forces them to.
I certainly don’t claim to be an expert about raw, I just know what it does for my own dogs. But if you have any questions about what I feed, or even how feel free to ask. For now I need to go feed the pups, they keep visiting me in my corner and looking up at me…. then going and laying down in the kitchen.
Happy Friday to all
Vizsla Inspiration 
Well done, Anna, for buying your pups all those lovely raw bones. I feed George a raw-only diet, and bones are, of course, a big part of it. I am an active advocate for the Barf diet and have written a series of posts trying to publicise the huge benefits that raw food can bring to a dog’s life. Therefore, I’m always keen to read similar posts from like-minded people, and I really enjoyed reading yours. I’m also a bit jealous that you found turkey and chicken necks, they don’t seem to exist around here. (Maybe English turkeys and chickens are born without a neck? – just being silly, sorry). I hope your pups enjoy their natural chews and I, for one, wouldn’t mind photos of them in action 😉
I don’t have the time or money to do totally raw for the pups… and I really like the kibble they are on. I will look into your posts, I should have linked some,but I don’t usually have luck with linking on WP. That was the first time I saw the chicken necks much less turkey necks there.. they even had trimmed chicken backs. But having done chicken backs with Luna when she was younger I rather not have to deal with them. I think photos might be boring, maybe a video? Glad you enjoyed the post all the same
Before all the experimenting with Bailey’s diet to help with his allergies, he used to get Turkey necks and chicken necks. Turkey necks could be found easily in the grocery stores. Chicken necks we had to go to a special poultry butcher for. They are excellent meaty bones to give and dirt cheap.
Unfortunately we don’t give them to Bailey anymore due to staying away from turkey and chicken. Now he gets raw lamb chops at 14 bucks a lb… spoiled spoiled dog lol I wasn’t willing to stop giving him raw meaty bones as treats though despite the fact that we now avoid the cheaper proteins (chicken, turkey, beef)
Your dogs definitely hit the jackpot with that shopping trip
You are all inspiring me to try feeding Gus raw bones. We’ve always been very interested in introducing them to Gus, but have always chickened out. Once we settle down again, it is definitely something we’ll do!
You all totally should. It does not have to be anything regular or major. When I bother to remember to pull one out of the freezer then they get something around here. Sometimes I will go a month without giving them any again (mainly due to bad memory lol). And sometimes it takes them a while to get into the swing of things. I would think a chicken neck might be the easiest for Gus, all smaller bones as a whole. But you could also give him skin which he would have to work at.. could try a chicken wing and see how far he could get. I just make them eat them on towels and then toss the towels in the wash. So far we have not had a single issue with germs. Or start him on a marrow bone with part of the marrow scooped out so he doesn’t get the full amount at once. Or with more meat on the outside of it. Lots you can do, trying new things is the fun part for sure. And it challenges their brains too. I used to have to hand feed Luna her chicken backs cuz she was not a big eater at all, but she is now, and will whine and drool for meat.
Have a great weekend
Anna
Hey! I must have missed something somewhere… sorry for my late discovery of Luna’s blog. So glad to have followed your link to find this post on raw bones. I’m grateful for the pictures because they will definitely help me keep in mind of what to look out for the next time we do our grocery shopping!
yeah I have huge issues with WP and linking… I have a whole main website which you have probably seen the link to. That has my photo blog, vizsla blog, and portfolio all together on one main page. Glad the pictures help. I might trim some meat off of the tails before giving to Maple as I got the larger sized segments, though they did have smaller ones too. The nice thing about the tails are I believe they are mostly muscle and cartilage which is great chewing material. Chicken necks she probably could handle too snipped in half. Just gotta play around with things and figure out what works.
A
http://www.akginspiration.com
Thanks for the suggestions! Always appreciate your friendly advice 😀
I love this. We’ve played around with raw chicken wings, but I think it is time to graduate to something a bit more tasty. Those turkey necks and marrow bones look delicious.
Hope to meet you and Luna at a Meetup sometime this summer.
Kisses,
Laila
I have thought a lot about switching to raw but it’s just not the right time for us. For one, we have no place to store such goodies. Maybe one day but I like the idea of supplementing the diet every once in awhile. That is something I may be able to do, as a special treat. I have no doubt that Shiva won’t mind a bit!
yes freezer space was a big part of us getting more into the raw. We have a chest freezer here which also helps store meat my husband has hunted some of which the dogs get as well. We were considering buying one from costco for a couple hundred when we lived in the townhouse before. Maybe that’s an option? Either way it’s simple enough to store a couple bones or a pack of necks ziplocked into individual portions. Let me know if you try more with her and her reaction.
Looks like a nice find. I would be careful with marrow bones, I’ve seen more then one dog fracture their teeth on those since they are so dense and bare. I actually found sliced raw knuckles at a grocery store labeled “dog bones”. They has some fat on them and seem to a lot softer then marrow bones and crumble as the dog gnaws on them.
I’m trying to find a place where I can get turkey necks in bulk, my dog loves them and they are great for teeth.
Thanks, these are bones from deer so not nearly as thick and dense usually as the beef marrow bones you would find in the stores. Since having posted this one I am watching them more carefully, and don’t let them eat nearly as much of the leg bones. I still feel the ribs are just fine as are the shoulders. We will work through what we got from the butcher but then probably will stick to the ones I find in the store that are not weight bearing bones.
I am not sure where you are located but I was able to find a 40lb box of chicken backs for my dogs at Whole Foods so maybe you could talk to them. I also trust them to provide a pretty safe product too. My dogs love the necks too too, as well as the wings.
Thanks for stopping by.