Eliza Jane Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hello all, I have just registered but have been lurking on this forum for some years. We have a 18 month old mini poodle, Rafe. I want to feed him raw bones to keep his teeth clean but I am having some problems. We started off feeding him chicken wings but he gulps them without chewing and then throws them up. We switched to lamb shanks on the basis that they are too big for him to swallow but he seems to be frightened of them. I try to give him two per week, if I am lucky he will eat every fourth one. When he eats them he really likes them but I have to cut off some meat to start him off and if I don't cut all the way round the bone and it rolls on a side I haven't cut he doesn't know what to do about it and won't touch it. Today I bought a bone from Coles, larger than a lamb shank but with not much meat on it. I thought it might be less daunting than a meaty bone for him. He didn't know what to do with it and to cut a long story short when I went to take him outside I found he had wet himself without letting me know he needed to go out because he was guarding the bone without eating it. He was very upset about this as he is a very clean dog and he also wasn't happy about the bath he had to have! I can't leave him without a meal to make him eat as he won't drink so in this hot weather I have been watering down his meals to make sure he has water. If he eats the bone he always has a drink afterwards by himself. I am giving him small bully sticks I found in Safeway/Woolworths but he seems to chew mainly on one side of his mouth with these so he has one side clean teeth and the other side not so clean. He had very clean teeth when we got him last May (rescue dog) so I don't think he has any teeth troubles. Could I give him chicken thigh bones? Chicken seems to be his favourite meat. I have not given him a chicken drumstick because of the little sharp bone inside. I also haven't tried a chicken neck because he gulps if he thinks he can remotely fit something down his throat. Any suggestions gratefully received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaC Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 what about a chicken frame? takes him a bit to get through, teeth and mouth get a good work out and its large enough he can't swallow it whole? My 19mth old boy eats a chicken frame every night just about ... loves them - we freeze ours and he gets it frozen - increases the time it takes for him to eat it so he has to work at it for longer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliza Jane Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Thanks for the suggestion Fiona. He seems to be worried about the size of the bone so I think a chicken frame might put him right off. Would he be able to break pieces off easily? He gulps if he gets anything he thinks he can possibly swallow which is why I can't give him chicken wings. The last chicken wing I gave him was the whole wing - all the bits of it (if that makes sense) and he swallowed the whole thing in one go. It also came back up in one piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Have you looked at this thread :- http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...p;#entry4278732 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaC Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Thanks for the suggestion Fiona. He seems to be worried about the size of the bone so I think a chicken frame might put him right off. Would he be able to break pieces off easily? He gulps if he gets anything he thinks he can possibly swallow which is why I can't give him chicken wings. The last chicken wing I gave him was the whole wing - all the bits of it (if that makes sense) and he swallowed the whole thing in one go. ;) It also came back up in one piece! you can cut the chicken frame in half if you needed to (I have GSP's so he eats a whole one) ... a lot of the frame is softer bone, cartilage and membrane so it seems to be chewy more than crunchy (well thats the noises that come from my back room) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliza Jane Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Thank you for your suggestions! gsdog2, I did look at that thread before I posted my thread but the suggested bones would probably frighten my boy out of his mind with their size! Fiona, thank you. I will have to try the frames and cut them up. I really want him to have bones for his teeth. It is such a nice change to have a dog that eats raw food - my last dog wouldn't touch raw unless it was a long dead sheep from the paddock or pet mince, neither of which was very good for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wire Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I give mine brisket bone from the butcher, ask yours to cut them into small portions. He can crunch it all up and seems to enjoy them. Also, I get the chicken mince that is all bone minced up where I can mix a few vegies into it. He eats the mince, spits out the vegies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddles Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I buy lamb flaps? these have the ribs inside them, and I get the butcher to cut them up into rib strips? you could give one at a time, and freeze the rest. they are very fatty tho, so you would have to watch the fat content of your dogs diet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottychick Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 My dally girl also has similar problems. She swallows wings whole and throws them back up again - but eventually chews them LOL SHe always looks quite pleased when it pops back up - like "Oh look! THere's another one!!" hahahahaha But I prefer not to have that happen so I tried chicken frames. She found them too daunting but was happy with a half chicken frame at a time. I only feed them bones outside and I never let them sit around with them and "guard" them. If they don't eat em straight away I pick em up and put em back in the fridge. This worked with the girl who was also being fussy about lamb flaps for a while. Once that happened a few times she stopped being fussy about it and just ate em. LOL Also, I have a dally who MUST drink lots of water but doesnt seem keen to. I often give him a huge bowl of water with a bit of milk in it for flavour (he can have milk) and he gulps down the lot. Because he's been starved for a long time he eats anything tho - including water with miso in it. Not every dog will do that LOL But I know of other people who use beef stock or similar in water for their dogs to make sure they get enough fluid in them Are you sure there's nothing wrong with his teeth or gums or even the muscles around his neck???? Especially if he's only chewing on one side? If there was it could explain why he has trouble with a lot of bones and why he got upset while guarding the bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliza Jane Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 Spottychick, thankyou for your suggestions. I can't leave my boy outside - snake season. I don't have a snake proof area for him so he is only allowed outside with a human guard. We get a lot of large brown and red bellied black snakes here plus (large) carpet pythons. He plays tug and chews his bully sticks no problems. I just gave him a gristly piece of meat which he chewed on the side I want him to chew on without problems so I don't think he has any soreness. Because he is a rescue dog I don't want to push him too hard re the guarding, like many rescues he has issues albeit minor ones. He will drink after a bone (when he eats one) or a bully stick but won't drink otherwise so all non-bone food is watered down. This seems to be working so far. Pebbles, thank you for your suggestion. I think I will try chicken frames as lamb flaps are likely to be too fatty for my boy, he is under 6kg in weight so is not very big. Wire, lol at your dog spitting out the vegies. My last dog would only eat home cooked meat and vegies and once she spent ages sucking each piece of vegie to get the sauce off before putting the immaculately cleaned vegies back in the bowl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fox 001 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Hi Eliza Jane don't have any suggestions for you, luckily our boy chews quietly through just about anything we give him. I just wanted to say come visit in the poodle thread and post us some pics of your gorgeous boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Not much to add. Our standard poodle loves chicken frames. Anything chicken really. He never liked beef bones, they seem to hard for him, while lamb flaps are ok. You can also try turkey wings and necks. They are too large to be gulped whole. You can still use chicken wings, but try to freeze them 2-3 together, so your dogs has to chew them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayla1 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Yes mine get chicken wings frozen together too. One of them is a hoover and it seems to slow him down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliza Jane Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Thank you to everyone for their suggestions. Rafe started screaming in pain this morning so went to the vet - verdict ear infection in both ears plus sore throat. The vet said poodles can tend towards tonsilitis so he is now on antibiotics and has had an anti-inflamatory injection. The worst ear is on the side he hasn't been chewing as much so that is probably why his teeth aren't as clean on that side. The vet checked his teeth and they are OK. He hadn't shown much sign of the infection beyond a few headshakes which cleared up when I cleaned out his ears which I try to do weekly. He hasn't had much gunk in his ears. He is more comfortable now, has played for the first time today and is now lying flat on his side in a wide circle of toys I will have to wait for his ears to clear up before I can try some of your suggestions for bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miz J Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 My boxers love turkey necks, they have to chew them. I have to be careful as they can be a pair of piglets and swallow whole bits of bone then hurl in the middle of the night!!!! Can't feed them brisket for that reason. Lamb flaps are great and lamb shanks to. Good luck with the ear problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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