[Snickerbug]

I have two dogs, both are Teddy Roosevelt Terriers (Rat Terriers). One is 19-20 lbs/5 years old, the other is about 13 lbs/1 years old.

Right now they are feeding Orijen, the original adult formula and doing beyond amazing on it, absolutely no issues and nothing but good things have come from it so far (they have only been on it for about a month).

But, I haven't done my research on raw feeding, but I do know that feeding raw helps amazing with their teeth. Both of mine have healthy teeth and gums but I'd like to keep them that way! I was wondering if as a treat to them maybe once a week, or so (I have no idea what the guidelines are) if I can give them each a raw chicken wing or something so they can have the bones. If I am able to do that, do I need to nix on their feeding for that day, only feed one portion, or what? Is there something better than a wing? I don't know if any of you have smaller dogs, but i'm not sure what's "allowed" and whats not.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[DaneMama]

From what I hear, if you are going to feed a RMB on supplement only for teeth cleaning, I would hold off on feeding kibble that day. Feed the RMB and don't give kibble that day.

Don't be surprised if you see some digestive issues from it, some dogs can handle supplementing raw with kibble and some can't. It all depends on the dog, but I would give it a shot :wink:

 

[Ania's Mommy]

I love turkey necks for teeth cleaning. They're meal size for my 75 lb GSD, but you'll want to cut them in halves or thirds. Remember, you'll want something that they have to work on before swallowing in order to get any teeth benefits.

 

[whiteleo]

I prefer beef ribs as a good bone for teeth cleaning, taking most of the fat off will help with digestive upset.

 

[Snickerbug]

Thank you all so much! Good to know about the stomach upset, and to withhold kibble that day.

 

[schtuffy]

I'm not sure if chicken wings will give you the teeth cleaning benefits you are looking for if you just feed it once a week as the bones are rather soft and go down without that much gnawing. It can't hurt though! Taking some of the skin off at first might help too.

 

[Snickerbug]

I was just thinking chicken wings because of the size, as I have no idea which is better for teeth cleaning, etc. So if there are better things, i'd rather use that!

 

[whiteleo]

Beef ribs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[schtuffy]

I was just thinking chicken wings because of the size, as I have no idea which is better for teeth cleaning, etc. So if there are better things, i'd rather use that!

Yes, I was thinking of trying beef ribs. They just look so...fatty :frown: If I trim the fat off, should I not include as part of his daily raw portions? I feel like the bone would be too big for him to 'eat' any substantial amount of it. It would be more for the chewing and scraping.

 

[whiteleo]

Yes, my dogs cannot eat any substantial part of the bone, it is for teeth cleaning and rec.chewing. Consider what meat is on the bone and subtract that from his normal meal if you don't want to overfeed, my dogs are use to the fat on the ribs and looooove them, but yes, you can trim off the fat and the more times you feed them trim less off each time.

 

[cprcheetah]

We use Beef ribs, pork necks & pork ribs for RMB's here, Shellie also gets pork feet, and when we can find them they get chicken feet.