Some of you know that I have been feeding my 5 month old GSD wrong. I found out from some of you that if I am feeding raw, she needs to have bones because the egg shell and yogurt I gave her did not have enough calcium (not to mention I was mixing the raw meet with Innova dry food).

I was afraid to start with bones because she is teething, but I decided to give it a shot and gave her a half of a pound of chicken wings, partly frozen, and a pound of ground beef to see how she would do.

I put her food down and she grapped the chicken wings and took off and tried to hide behind a table, like I was going to take them away from her or something. I was going to leash her when she came back for more but I decided I would let her eat this first meal in peace and but her bowl outside.

She kept taking the chicken wings out of her bowl and running next to my pond, where there are a lot of plants, and chewed them up like she was starving.


She finished the ground meat and kept siffing around looking for more chicken wings, which I did not give her. She weighs 45 lbs and could use more food, but since this was her first meal with bones, I didn't want to over feed her.

Can I give her things like pork or beef ribs or is she too young?

So you think she just loves bones or I may have given her a calcium deficiency? I have never seen her react like that to any food, even high value treats.

Be careful with wings. They are mostly bone with little meat. It is good that you balanced it with meat, but it is hard to get the ratios down, she is also new to bones, so try to go really slow.

I would advise that you give her a bone in breast or a leg quarter. Better meat to bone ratio and in an easy package. My pup is about the same age and weight and is happily eating a leg quarter as we speak, teething and all. It is the bottom half of the half chicken I gave him for breakfast. He will usually eat about a half chicken a day, sometimes more sometimes less, but about that.

Later you can add in the ribs (harder bones) and play more with other meat sources. For now I may give a lot of beef in one meal and then a chicken back the next with a wing to make up for the lack of bone.

Oh and the crazies - dogs (and puppies!) LOVE bones! It is usually nothing more than that. She loves it!

Thanks Jessica,

Just one thing that I did not understand. When you give him beef for one meal, is there any bones in that meal?

Anna

Yeah, usually, but the beef bones tend to be too hard for the pup to actually consume. I just pick up what he can't eat.

I like to get him the soup bones with a huge hunk of meat attached. He eats the meat and can gnaw on the knuckle part and get a good amount of bone. He can also consume the bones in an "ox tail," but that is about it for beef.

My adult can and will eat most beef bones except the weight bearing bones of the legs.

Keep in mind that you want balance over time. For a pup I want all of my percentages to add up to 100% by the end of a week. For older dogs, over three weeks. So if he gets no bone in one meal, I will give extra later that day, or no organs today will mean more tomorrow. But too much bone in one meal will cause constipation and too much meat may cause loose stools. You end up finding a balance that works for that dog.

Got it!..Thank you very much!

I hope she will start eating the bones out of her bowl soon instead of carrying them off. I hate to have to leash a pup while eating.

Does she have a crate, and if so, feed her in there. That way she can eat in peace but not have the ability to run away from you, plus any clean up (if needed) will be very easy.

One thing I have learned is that for a dog learning to eat raw food and RMBs, chicken backs with the fat removed are an excellent choice for the "beginner". Easily munched bones, nearly the right ratio, inexpensive on the pocket book, and dogs seem to really enjoy them chicken necks are good too.

No Barbara, I don't use a crate. She has a room I put her in when I cannot watch her. I am with her 24 hours a day and I take her with me to work, my moms, my daughter's and the rest of my family most of the time and if it dinner time, she eats at those places also.

Because of my situation, I will need her to learn to eat bones out of her own bowl, no matter where I am.

Thanks for your advise...I do appreciate it!

Peter, I did see the chicken necks in the store but not the backs. I will try the necks next.

Aren't the chicken breast bones the same rib as the back? If so I can get those on sale and freeze them. Everyone carries those.

Thanks!

Bone-in chicken breasts would offer similar quality of bone to a back...but in a much different ratio. Breasts are mostly meat, Backs are mostly bone. With backs, you also get some organ meat attached to the spine. Breasts are also much more expensive. You can always buy whole chickens and cut them up yourself, if you're inclined. Whole chickens are decently priced--half the cost per pound of breasts alone.

As for eating directly from the bowl--It kind of depends on the size of the pieces of food, and the dog's eating habits. I'd suggest you get a mat of some kind (my dogs eat off a large doormat that I can hose off when it gets too cruddy) and teach the dog to stay on the mat with the food. I don't care if a piece of food is taken out of the bowl, but it has to stay on the mat. I've heard of people using a door mat size piece of plastic table cloth or even an old towel to define the eating area and facilitate cleanup.