Kinda sounds like this lady broke off small pieces of the bone herself and then gave them to the dog... 
yea that could probably cause a problem, but just flat raw bones from a raw diet in their natural state should be no problem whatsoever the way I see it.Kinda sounds like this lady broke off small pieces of the bone herself and then gave them to the dog...![]()
here's the exact question the woman originally asked;I agree, but it would be nice to know what kind of bones they were feeding this dog that caused this, just so we know for sure. I hate that stupid BARF diet because it seems like it just encourages people to jump on board without doing any research. "Oh add raw bones to the diet? well those aren't safe if they're whole, better smash them up for my dog so he doesn't have to worry about choking!"
Like I said, I don't know for sure that's what happened, but it is possible. My dogs have never gotten a pre-smashed bone and they've never had a problem with the bones they do eat.
Don't forget about squeekers tooI have heard of many more dogs getting things like balls, chew toys, rags, wash cloths, etc stuck than I have bones.
Not neccessarily. 80-10-10 is just an arbitrary number someone came up with. It has no scientific meaning. What is the meat, fat, calcium ratio in your own diet? Bet you don't know. Bet you don't care. Why make a big deal out of it in your dog's diet?If this woman is just giving raw dog bones to her dog and not following the ratio of 80/10/10 then the bones could cause a problem..right? Isn't this
why we give our dogs bones with meat on them?
You are absolutely 100% correct. If the owner was feeding JUST bones that could easily cause an issue. This is exactly why we feed raw meaty bones that are big enough for dogs to at least crunch a few times before swallowing.If this woman is just giving raw dog bones to her dog and not following the ratio of 80/10/10 then the bones could cause a problem..right? Isn't this
why we give our dogs bones with meat on them?
The forum is i-love-dogs.com/forumsIt's from stories like this one that scare so many people and turn vets off of a raw diet. I personally think this situation could have been avoided if the OP did some more research because it sounds to me like she had no idea what she was doing. What forum is this from...I would be interested to go see it.
From the sounds of it I say that the OP was just giving raw bones with raw meat...not raw MEATY bones. I would need to know more about the dog to even think about what the actual problem was.
How long had this dog been on raw? Newly switched dogs systems cannot handle bones as experienced raw fed dogs. This is the reason why people ask about bone fragments in their dog's stool in the first few weeks. If this was a newly transitioned dog AND the owner was feeding it inappropriate types of bones, even if they were raw...I can see the prolem starting from that point alone.
I would need to know EXACTLY what kinds of bones this dog was fed. I know that it says just chicken bones were added to the food, but that doesn't tell us if the dog was being fed other types of bones for rec chewing. If the owner was giving it raw beef bones that he was breaking off pieces himself, that I can see causing an issue. We all know that beef bones are typically VERY dense so if he was splintering off raw bits off of a weight bearing bone...those shards would act like little knives in the dogs system, if new to raw.
You are absolutely 100% correct. If the owner was feeding JUST bones that could easily cause an issue. This is exactly why we feed raw meaty bones that are big enough for dogs to at least crunch a few times before swallowing.
Bone fed in exclusivity can cause serious constipation. Bone acts as a constipator which is why we suggest upping the bone portion of the diet if dogs have loose stool. But I don't think this is what the OP was doing. It sounds to me that he was feeding raw meat and pieces of raw bones because he said that he was adding raw bone to her dog's diet, not adding raw meaty bones.
The 80/10/10 is just a guideline so that people can get an idea of how much of each to include in the diet. We suggest people follow this guideline so they just don't arbitrarily feed too much of one thing but not enough of another...and end up with a sick dog. This ratio wasn't just pulled out of thin air either. We adhere to the idea of feeding a dogs natural diet as close as we can get it. Most prey items contain mostly muscle meat, some bone and some organ. There are some people out there that need numbers and figures to tell them exactly what to do. This is absolutely just fine, but with experience feeding raw they will see that it is all just a guideline and you pay more attention to bowel movements and body condition then the percentages to feed of what.
You most certainly can feed just a bone to your dog for the sake of recreational chewing but the ONLY one that I would suggest is raw beef ribs. Technically they have meat on them, but not much at all. Our dogs clean them off and then gnaw on them for a week or so until
the next serving of beef ribs.
Welcome to the boards :biggrin: :wink:
You know what, I was thinking of something just last night before I went to bed...Ha! The neighbor behind me has two small dogs. The mini pin hunts, catches and kills snakes/field mice.
Did this vet person work for the National Guard? Looks like the want to rescue everything! :wink:
As an aside, don't be anti-vet just because a few online ones come off poorly.yea that could probably cause a problem, but just flat raw bones from a raw diet in their natural state should be no problem whatsoever the way I see it.
Vets:wink:
Good point. I just feel like they aren't willing to compromise or think logically at times. They act like just because something is said in a veterinary text book means that is must be true. It seems like some verts don't always use their own judgement. I shouldn't say vert in general, rather SOME vets or even many. It's just difficult to understand why a vet would feed their dogs poor quality foods like iams. If they love animals so much, you'd think they'd do some additional research on their own online or something, wouldn't you? (instead on relying on what they're taught especially regarding nutrition, which often are taught by representatives of major food manufactures. It's almost like they're oblivious)I agree with spookie...don't be anti-vet at all. Just understand that they are not canine nutritionists and have very little background in nutrition at all. Vets for the most part a fabulous at what they do, and they actually have a lot of knowledge believe it or not. Just not in regards to nutrition which does have a huge impact on health with our animals. I say to just find a vet that you feel comfortable with, that wont give you a hard time at your decision to feed your animals...or just agree to disagree with your vet regarding what you feed.