Frozen Bones And Does He Need More Variety?

[Guest LauraB]

Can Dillard have frozen bones? We have venison ribs and turkey necks. Does frozen change the digestibility of the bones? Do frozen bones splinter?

We are getting chicken quarters, hearts, gizzards, pork pieces, beef hearts, ground venison, turkey legs and parts, duck backs and eggs. Is this enough of a variety? Treats are hot dogs. Once in a while he has kibble and sometimes rice. He seems healthy, happy. We can see a few ribs and and back bones. Should I try adding some ground veggies? He won't eat any slices of carrot, apple or any other fruit or vegetable. Thanks for your help. Laura

[XTRAWLD]

I like to at least have the bones thawed for them to eat. I think it tastes better?!?! lol Frozen bones I guess last longer but I'd worry more about damaging teeth - that's just me. Easy on feeding too many hot dogs - a lot of hot dogs are LOADED with sodium. As far as adding veggies/fruit, I'm not big on it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to give them any. If I'm chopping up carrots or something for dinner, I give them some, but I don't give them a carrot every day - that sort of thing. I find rice is fabulous for their systems, as is pasta. We have increased the amount of carbs we are feeding our boys because the protein on it's own wasn't doing enough.

 

You'll have a lot of opinions on the matter. Have fun with feeding raw.

Edited January 26, 2013 by XTRAWLD

[RedHead]

Variety is not as important as ratio of ingredients in raw diets (although it looks like you have great supplies!). A lot of people think giving little bits of everything is best, when in fact you have to feed larger amounts of the basics to ensure the dog is getting ideal nutrition. One mistake a lot of people do is base the diet on meaty bones with very little boneless meat. As long as you add a good amount of boneless meat you should be fine (I really like Lew Olsen's diet plan). Heart is a great highly nutritious cheap boneless meat if you can mix that with the ground venison that would be great! Years ago, I used to grind up veggie mixes but not anymore...there was no benefit that I could see. My dogs get a decent amount of table scraps (pasta, potatoes, cooked veggies, soup, kibble).

 

I don't normally feed frozen, but it doesn't change the nutritional content or anything. I have heard cautions that say if a dog chews for long enough their mouth numbs and they might chomp down too hard breaking a tooth. For something quickly chewed like a turkey neck though, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Guest meduza421]

i recently bought mine "raw" bones from the pet store for the first time (frozen). this was for a treat, not regular diet. right now i'm transitioning them from proplan onto the costco chicken/rice but anywho, i asked the owner of the store if the bones needed to be thawed before giving them to the dogs and she said no so when i got home handed them out and they LOVED them. it started thawing and getting quite messy so after awhile i actually threw them in freezer bags to save them for another day. so far, so good!

 

i did see the turkey necks there too - is that just flesh or is there a bone in there for them to chew on? (dumb question?) i want something they can work on for awhile, you know what i mean?

[Guest cdholl]

Sounds like a good raw diet to me! The only side note I have (which you may already know), is no weight bearing bones from cattle ie leg bones. I guess they are too hard and dogs can break teeth on them.

[Guest blueberri]

It's horribly hot here right now, so I give my boy the occasional frozen or partially thawed bone as a kind of popsicle. His favourites so far are the chicken ones (several chicken necks). Likewise, I consider the ambient temperature to determine if I'm giving fridge-cold or room temp meat. No scientific basis whatsoever, but I figure if I'm wanting an ice block, then pup probably is...

 

Otherwise, oh my I would love to be your dog on a diet like that! Hot dogs cause obvious dandruff in our boy (very quickly too!), so I'd consider perhaps using a dehydrated meat, or jerky type product, or even cheese for treats and training. Oh, and remember the green tripe. I am thanking my lucky stars that a local raw food company mooshes up the green tripe and puts it into kinda soft pellets (like thin sausages without the casing). Having had to chop up a huge beef liver when I had gastro... oh my I don't think I could cope with the smell just yet. Sparky however goes nuts over the green tripe! he's never been so excited about mealtime

 

As for veges, I've read they can't get the nutrients unless it's juiced/blended?? My boy loves banana and strawberries, and I have no hesitation giving him a little.

[Guest LauraB]

Thanks for all the help. I have some venison leg bones. Can Dillard have them? Is it only cow weight bearing bones that splinter?

[RedHead]

I have fed venison before...some dogs have loved it, others it has caused stomach issues. I don't worry so much about the leg bones, my dogs don't aggressively chew bones at all, basically they pick the meat off with their front teeth and leave the bones. I feed lamb leg bones and they have to be one of Teague's favourite things ever. So...unless your dog is a voracious chewer (most raw fed dogs are not since they are used to bones) I would go ahead and feed

[Guest blueberri]

Laura: it's not that they splinter, it's that the weight bearing bones of the larger animals are too hard, and dogs that chew a lot can break teeth on those bones. Not sure about venison.

[Guest cdholl]

Laura: it's not that they splinter, it's that the weight bearing bones of the larger animals are too hard, and dogs that chew a lot can break teeth on those bones. Not sure about venison.

That's exactly what I've read also...I've not had any trouble with other weight bearing bones...

[Guest LauraB]

thanks. He had a venison bone. It was long and skinny and had a joint. I didn't try to figure it out. He loved it and worked it for 2 days till I snuck it into the garbage when he wasn't lookiing.

Edited February 6, 2013 by LauraB

[Time4ANap]

Rocket gets frozen leg bones that I have cut into 2 -2 1/2 inch lengths at the butcher shop. All of the bones come from local Amish farms. I don't worry about the hardness since he only works the marrow out of it with his tongue and chews off the meat on the outside. Once that's gone he is done with it. I have never seen him bite down on a bone, only gnawing against it to remove the meat. He's not really aggressive when he does that. i do give them to him frozen, but am always in the room the whole time just in case there is an issue.

[Guest LauraB]

I just got a cow knee joint from the butcher. It had a white smooth knee cap and lots of red looking hard stuff behind it. He cracked the edges of the knee cap abd gnawed the rest. I threw it away because I worried that the knee cap would not break down after he swallowed it. He is fine today. Any idea?