As I've talked about plenty, I'm keeping my Mom's 19(?) month old pup, Hank, a few nights a week for training/exercise/socialization she can't provide. I feed my own dogs raw, and give him some raw bone-in chicken, egg w/shell, and organ meats with his kibble when he's here. He is a crazy fast eater. Twice now, though, he has regurged a "knuckle" of a chicken leg femur the morning after I've brought him back to her.

I understand her concern, but the Delta Society stance and such seems to make its way into her Email inbox. She now sees my veterinarian, who supports my feeding, but seems to think it isn't for every dog. Puking up bone pieces is hard to defend, I'll admit. I tend to think it's his inhaling style of eating foremost, though. And I've seen him vomit kibble and grass when under my watch, when neither had been ingested since I had him tethered to my belt-loop. I wonder if I just fed him my own dog's raw diet; then sent him back to eat his (high quality) kibble, it would be an issue? Or if mixing raw and kibble is an issue in itself (it never has been for mine)?

For what it is worth, after exertion this pup also drinks water so vigorously I have to regulate it to prevent water vomiting. He'll dip down up to his eyes to drink from a deep bowl. I find I need to put my girl's usual water bowl away when he's over, and only offer him two level cups every hour or so.

I have a hand-grinder, and could turn a raw leg into sausage without much work. But the act of of chewing RMB has value in my mind. Rose will be seven in December, and most vets and dog people who examined her (and her teeth) guessed she was three years old. I've been pushing towards freezing meal-sized portions of raw for her to give Hank, but the recent morning after regurges aren't helping my cause. Any thoughts appreciated. FWIW, my Mom is near vegetarian, but gives him yogurt, eggs, and such regularly with only very occasional vomiting. She's called me panicked that he had eaten it again before she could grab paper towels to clean it up! After those phone calls, he held it down fine after the "second try!" If he were mine, I would tinker with the cuts I use but wouldn't worry, and certainly will pick Hank only the thigh portions from now on. But isn't the dental benefit the actual chewing of the bones? And shouldn't a "knee-cap" from a young chicken digest easily? Thanks in advance and have a great Independence Day! 24 hours early and I'm already dealing with distant "booms" followed by barks and securing of the perimeter!

You are doing such a good thing for this dog - in so many ways. Just taking him a few nights a week has probably made the difference of life and death for this dog, and if not, most certainly a HUGE improvement in his (and your mom's) mental health.

I know the more experienced raw feeders will chime in, but my understanding is that mixing kibble and raw can be a problem due to the different digestive times each requires. There might be a happy medium however with one of the "prepared" raw meals (I'll get the name and post back) which your mom could easily feed, and your thought of freezing and giving her those meals is good too!

You are right that there are so many benefits in the chewing of the bones, that I too hate the thought of grinding his meals unless it is a last resort. There has got to be a way to slow down his eating? (BTW - Is he eating in close proximity to your other dogs and might be feeling "rushed"?) Maybe if nothing else, you could use a mallet and smash just the knucle bone and see if that helps relieve the vomiting issue... I'll keep thinking on this one.

Again, kudos for working so hard with this dog. I know it was not what you had planned right now!

that specific bone is very hard to break down. My own Mals can't keep that knuckle down when they eat turkey legs (which I don't feed anymore). It's actually very hard because it supports a lot of weight.

I grind a lot of my meat/bone now to eliminate the worry of the bones. And it's made no difference to the benefit of raw on their teeth (still look amazing). My understanding is that a lot of the benefit on the teeth is based on changing the pH of the mouth and not on grinding on bones.

Try eliminating that one bone when you feed. Or try necks or wings instead.

 Quote: elise bonder

that specific bone is very hard to break down. ... Try eliminating that one bone when you feed.

I agree. I know that probably 99% of dogs have no issues, but I have one with weight-bearing poultry bone problems.

The butcher where I shop grinds up the leg half of the SmartChicken and leaves the other half as is. I even have him throw the organ meat into the leg grind. He does it on a very coarse grind called "chili grind."

The enzymes in raw meat do indeed help to dissolve dental plaque.

I want the dogs to have edible bones, though. I buy chicken backs too, whenever they have a bagful saved up for me, which of course have those lovely cartilage-y bones ... my favorites to feed.

Oh, how I wish I had a butcher like yours! I have to be the butcher, unfortunately.

Edit, and thanks for the support, Barbara! He's actually a joy to work with 99% of the time! And Elise and Connie, I had made note to avoid that bone, but it's comforting to hear he's not alone.

You could also just smash the bone end with a mallet or the back of the cleaver before feeding it. A sort of pre-chewing. I used to do this for puppies back before I had a grinder. Although I also never had any problem with the occasional piece of food coming back up for further chewing. Nature seems to have created a pretty workable system there.