I was talking to a woman in the park who had a mixed shephard with a really bright shiny coat. We got on the subject of diet and she said that aside from occasional scraps, her dog primarily eats the white rats/ mice her husband breeds in his mouse/rat breeding business <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> . This made my human mind quiver but I know dogs eat things that are much worse. Does anyone else have any experience feeding rat/mouse meat.
I know a lot of raw feeders give their dogs whole rabbits, fur and all. Although it gives me the creeps to think about tossing my dogs a rat (especially since we have a pet rat) it would seem to me that it's a pretty natural food for dogs. My dogs kill squirrels and would eat them if I allowed it. A rat is just a smaller rodent!
I am all for the raw diet, been feeding it for years, but I must admit, I am not real fond of the idea of feeding my dogs meat with the carcuss and all. My dogs work on stock and personally I don't want them to make the connection between live food and what they eat.
I certainly don't believe that feeding my dogs raw meat will make them meaner :rolleyes: or go and kill thier own food for consumption, however, when we start feeding them whole rabbits (fur and all) , whole carcuss of dead calves (it happens), perhaps we are smudging the line with our higher prey dogs?
Was driving home from work the other day and the neighbors gsd was in the front fenced in yard eating a 'killed' deer. (not sure who did the killing). The owner actually raises the deer himself for his enjoyment (not for food).
Will the average house pet gsd go out and kill its meal if fed a whole dead carcus...likely not, but those of us with more of the working dogs and want the higher prey drives....guess I am not convinced it can't happen.
Jeannette Polowski Webboard User Reg: 03-12-2002
Posts: 732
Loc: Hudson Valley of NY
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Cindy,
I come from New Yok City, and rats in the city are definately bigger and scarier that any squirrel !!! UGH UGH UGH!!! I'd swear that I've seen some that are 20 lbs!!!
That said, I would have a hard time feeding a rat to my dogs. However, I have had dogs down at the stables where I kept my horse that would go out and kill rats( I don't think they ate them though) I would see them running around w/ dead rats in their moouths or once in a while they would greet me with one as a present! Again, UGH!!
No one ever said life was supposed to be easy, life is what you make of it!!
Lab rats/mice wouldn't bother me. The one concern I'v had since feeding my terriers raw, is when we go rat hunting, are they gonna start a new tecknique of shake and swallow instead of shake and drop. So far, they haven't had any urges to eat the coons we've hunted. Tape worm is always a possability with wild rats/mice.
Originally posted by Cindy Easton Rhodes: A 20 pound rat!! My corgi barely weighs 20 pounds!! Come down to the swamp lands, a 15-20lb nutria rat is about the norm...they can get up to about 50-60lbs.
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