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May 24, 2011

My dog chews the legs for about a minute or two, but then swallows the leg bone whole without breaking it up. Is this okay for her? Will she be able to digest the whole leg bone as it is?

Full Question:
I started my 3.5 month old GSD puppy on a raw diet this Saturday. I fasted her for a meal (so no breakfast) and she got raw chicken for dinner. I decided on a cold turkey approach. I haven't been able to find any chicken backs or necks at any stores nearby, but my grocery store had leg quarters on sale so I grabbed a couple packages of those.

Her first two meal was the thigh part of the leg quarter, plus two spoonfuls of cottage cheese and yogurt. We've been giving her cottage cheese and yogurt pretty regularly since we got her.

Her second meal was two chicken legs. When I watched her eating the legs, she chewed the legs for about a minute or two, but then swallowed the leg bone whole without breaking it up. Is this okay for her? Will she be able to digest the whole leg bone as it is? It freaked me out pretty good seeing her just up and swallow the entire leg.
Cindy
Cindy Cindy's Answer:
I don't like just the drumstick part of leg quarters for dogs any larger than our Corgi. It's not that they can't digest the thing if they swallow it whole; I worry about a choking hazard.

They are the perfect size and shape for a bigger dog to wedge in the throat/airway.

I'd either give your pup the whole quarter so he's forced to chew or switch to the bone in breast that is soft and easy to chew.. I wouldn't worry about the extra meat, especially for a growing puppy. My feeding regime continues to change and evolve as I learn more and find what works and doesn't work for my own dogs.

For my dogs I've gone to a basic prey model guideline. In the average prey animal, the ratio of these parts is approximately:

5-10% organs (1/2 of this amount is liver)
10-15% edible bones
80-85% muscle meat (and the rest of the critter)

I don't have access to a lot of whole animals to feed, so I do what may be called "Franken-prey" lol

I make up a prey animal out of different parts. I might feed beef muscle meat, pork liver and chicken RMBs for one meal. Whatever I have thawed and whatever is on sale goes in my dogs' dinner. I do feed bigger pieces to my gulpers, so they don't choke. Raine and Morgi the Corgi will swallow just about anything whole, Rush and Bravo are more dainty and they chew everything up, no matter how small it is (go figure).

Of course, until your puppy is doing well on just chicken you would not be advised to add supplements or other protein sources or organs. I’d also take the dairy out of the diet unless it’s plain sugar free yogurt with active cultures.

Cindy

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Expert Dog Trainer Cindy Rhodes
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