I am not ready for the raw diet but moving that way fast.

I did add "full wing" chicken wings to the Nurto lg breed puppy chow. Folks told me to feed them whole, which I did until I found a jagged one-and-a-half-inch fragment of what was probably the bird version of a humorus in the pup's poop. It scared me enough I fried up the rest of the bag of wings for my own snacks.

Questions: should I not feed the drumette part of the chicken wing? What other bones can I feed as a supplement (hoping to further curb the rock eating).

I cannot find backs or necks and no marrow bones, knuckles, shanks.

I can find ox-tails, ribs and flat "soup bones" with some meat.
Which would be good for Otis, five month old GSD who wolfs his food? He still has puppy teeth.

Without commenting on the kibble (first 5 ingredients: Chicken, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Bran), I'm not a fan of feeding kibble and raw. Have you seen any of the threads here about the subject?

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=12&Number=249414&Searchpage=1&Main=23968&Words=kibble&topic=0&Search=true#Post249414

and

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=33&Number=248763&Searchpage=1&Main=23947&Words=kibble+Alyssa+Myracle&topic=0&Search=true#Post248711

If you want to start feeding raw, chicken backs are the best thing to start with as far as bones. I didn't think I could find them either, but I did - I had to look for stores that cut up their own chicken. I don't know where you live, but here in So. CA we have Whole Foods, Bristol Farms, and a few meat markets that will save them for you if you ask. Also, meat markets can order them for you if they don't cut their own chickens.

 Quote: helen davis

I am not ready for the raw diet but moving that way fast. . . I did add "full wing" chicken wings to the Nurto lg breed puppy chow. Folks told me to feed them whole, which I did until I found a jagged one-and-a-half-inch fragment. . .

If you're really going to make the switch, you could avoid this problem and have more peace of mind by doing it my way. For the last year or so, I've used this to grind up most of what I feed. Just spent an hour tonite grinding, bagging and freezing whole chickens, about 3 wks worth of meals at $.69/lb.

This happens to be my choice although most raw feeders prefer the more authentic method of having the dog do all the work. To each his own.

Mike

Any reason you mixed kibble and raw? It really is easier on most dogs to go full raw instead of teetering in between.

That could have had something to do with it, but I'm not sure.

Still, sometimes a bone fragment may come through whole. Nothing to worry about, IMO, unless it becomes a regular occurrence with lots of pieces of bone coming through. Even then, it isn't the bone that would worry me, but why it wasn't digesting.

What you describe doesn't sound like a problem, though.

Wings by themselves are pretty boney to begin with. Better suited fried for the people.:wink:

That piece probably just didn't have time to digest because the stomach was so busy with the rest of the bones and the dog food.

Now, wings attached to a chicken breast, or the rest of the bird is a different story. Thats the way I like to feed wings.:smile:

I feed wings,even with the little extra piece attached, with out a problem. They are fed as a meal, along with muscle meat & organ meat etc. Although I doubt that it makes a difference if fed as a snack alone. I start puppies on chicken necks,then backs & wings. I sometimes give young pups a wing as a recreational bone. It is possible that feeding raw with kibble is what has caused the problems. It takes many more hours for kibble to be digested than raw diet. The reason that dogs can eat a raw diet, with no ill effects,is due to their short digestive track & very strong stomache acid that is designed to move food thru quickly, so that no fermintation takes place. By adding kibble to raw you are allowing the digestive system to churn raw in with the kibble that takes longer to digest & thereby creating an environment for fermentation to take place. It is possible that in this fermintated environment, does not allow the bone to be digested as it regularly would. If you wish to feed both raw & kibble, I would do it at seperated meals. Raw in the am & kibble in the evening. By feeding the kibble in the evening, you allow it a greater time to digest before the raw is introduced to the digestive tract.

Kibble in the AM and raw in the PM is what I was feeding Danke when she got sick.

Has the dog been given probiotics?

Alyssa, I had sugested raw in the am & kibble in the pm. (you said your dog was fed kibble in the am & raw in the pm. I was just making a sugestion, based on feeding 2 meals, with the kibble & raw seperated, with the kibble fed in the pm in order to give it a greater amount of time in the digestive tract to process. (unless you feed very late at night in which case I would reverse it)Many people feed only 1 meal a day & are feeding both together. It is preferable & healthier to feed multiple meals. I feed 2x a day & puppies 3 or 4 meals a day. I personally don't feed kibble, never did, never will. JMO

I know a number of people that feed kibble in am & pm & raw treats during the day. These are GSDs of varing ages & other breeds, with no ill-effects.

I am not a vet & have no idea if what happened to you dog & if it has anything to do with what Helen is saying she is experiencing.

Mike: interested in the meat grinder, what is the largerst size of bone you have ground?
Also fo those of you who are concerned with bones and wanting your dogs teeth clean, I give my dogs soup bones that are too big to swallow but are covered with meat....of course I have terriors, not shepherds.

 Quote: Sharon Empson

... Also fo those of you who are concerned with bones and wanting your dogs teeth clean, I give my dogs soup bones that are too big to swallow but are covered with meat....of course I have terriors, not shepherds.

... remembering that there are very varied opinions about giving recreational bones to adult dogs with permanent teeth.

http://leerburg.com/feedingarawdiet.htm#recreational