[Dailydrool] raw bones

[Marilyn Bickell]

>>>From: "Cblatz" <Cblatz at zoominternet.net>

>>>... The best bones my dogs like are beef ribs...<<<

Cathy,
Those are the ones I feed. But the long Back Ribs, not Short Ribs. Actually
I have a load of them thawing in the sink right now, along with 16 lbs of
ground tripe, gullet, and trachea mixture that a friend brought to me this
week from the San Francisco Raw Food Co-op.

>>>... love to rip the meat off and then spend a good amount of time gnawing
the bone down...<<<

Sometimes beef back ribs are too fatty, so I usually trim the excess fat off
the ribs, especially the ones I give to Beaver who is prone to Colitis. 

>>>... I usually take the bone away once they start to splinter...<<<

I take the bone away before it starts to splinter. I sit with the dogs while
they pull the meat off, then let them gnaw on the bone for a while, but not
long enough for any splintering to happen, then I just toss the bare bones.

>>>... Or try a whole chicken leg...<<<

Whole raw chicken legs can be dangerous. The bones in legs are too
hard/dense and difficult for some dogs to chew. They're especially not the
best choice for a dog that gulps. When I fed whole raw legs I whack them up
real good with my meat cleaver to break down the bone really well, or I
grind them.
A better choice to feed whole would be raw necks, backs, or wings with the
pointy part cut off the wing and tossed, or ground with chicken legs.

>>>...I never give them the big knuckle bones, either. Too hard (I hate the
sound of tooth on those bones) and also too greasy...<<<

Me neither! They're much too hard on the dog's teeth, and they don't provide
any benefits for the teeth.

Marilyn, Miko (Chasing lizards in Heaven), Bess, RoseyMae, and Beaver
Cleaver, Fort Bragg, CA

"You have gone ahead and nothing is the same, leaving paw prints on my heart
that will always remain."- Tibetan Proverb from Prayers on the Wind.