[goldpony]

Hello. I feed my five month old Dobie a high quality kibble. I would like to be able to give him a small raw bone purchased from my butcher every other day. Is this a good idea? I've heard (could be BS) that you should not mix raw food with processed food. Thanks for your help.

 

[RawFedDogs]

"Dog Bones" you get from the butcher are generally not good bones to give your dogs. They are almost always femur bones or knuckles from cows. You have to understand that cow leg bones are made to hold up 1,000+ lbs and are very dense. They are harder than your dogs teeth. I have heard of several dogs getting broken, chipped, or fractured teeth on such bones. I would suggest something like a pork neck bone or beef ribs or pork ribs rather than weight bearing bones of a cow. Most any bone from a pig, goat, or poultry is ok to give your dog. Remember ... RAW BONES ONLY. Cooked bones will cause serious problems.

I have heard the same thing about mixing raw and kibble but I also know a good many people who do it without problems.

 

[goldpony]

Hello. Thank you for the advice. The butcher deals with beef, swine, chicken, emu/ostrich, rabbit, duck, game animals, etc.

 

[ajshep1984]

I get lamb bones from the butcher, nice and meat. :wink:

We fed kibble in the morning and bones in the evening a while back when we were without transportation and couldn't get enough raw meat and had no problems. :smile:

 

[Jack Monzon]

I bought a lamb femur bone from the freezer of a pet store on Sunday. My dog ate about half of it (which took about an hour). He's had loose stool since then. I feed him California Natural kibble and his stool had been perfect since starting this food.

I'm guessing this is because of the marrow and the raw meat that was on the bone? Also, is the femur from a lamb OK?

 

[DaneMama]

I bet it's safe to say that your dog has loose stools because of the bone, assuming he hasn't had anything else that could have given him diarrhea.

How big is your dog? For my dogs lamb femur bones are ok but I have great Danes.

 

[Jack Monzon]

He's 55 pounds or so. Lab/Aussie Shepherd mix; ~11 months old.

He's eaten literally nothing else for the past 3 weeks -- I'm trying to narrow down what I think are allergies and have been very strict, even using his CN as treats when training. (I'm lucky that he loves this food and acts like it's a treat anway.)

Is this something that goes away as the dogs become more accustomed to bones? I'd love to keep giving him bones, as he seemed to love it. And it kept him occupied for an hour and allowed me to get work done.

 

[DaneMama]

He might get used to it, depends on the dog. What I suggest you do is not feed your dog kibble at the same time as the bone. Separate them by 12 hours or so.

 

[sassymaxmom]

When I offer a big treat to my dogs I reduce the following meal.

A 50 pound dog fed all raw might eat 16 ounces of bone/organ/meat a day. If that same dog ate kibble and was offered a meal of more than 4 ounces without reducing the kibble fed he might have loose stool.

Sometimes loose stool is very irritating and gets to be a bad feedback loop. If you see that happening might want to skip a meal to get back on track. If that doesn't work then you might choose to feed low fat bland food for a few days. If that doesn't work then it could simply be a coincidence and the dog picked up a bug somewhere.

A bit of fresh food a couple times a week is a great idea. Just make it something safe for the dog so read up here on the sort of thing that we raw feeders offer up.

 

[Jack Monzon]

When I offer a big treat to my dogs I reduce the following meal.

A 50 pound dog fed all raw might eat 16 ounces of bone/organ/meat a day. If that same dog ate kibble and was offered a meal of more than 4 ounces without reducing the kibble fed he might have loose stool.

Sometimes loose stool is very irritating and gets to be a bad feedback loop. If you see that happening might want to skip a meal to get back on track. If that doesn't work then you might choose to feed low fat bland food for a few days. If that doesn't work then it could simply be a coincidence and the dog picked up a bug somewhere.

A bit of fresh food a couple times a week is a great idea. Just make it something safe for the dog so read up here on the sort of thing that we raw feeders offer up.

Hi, Sassy

Can you (or someone else) give me some ideas for "low fat bland food"? Since chewing on that bone a week ago, my dog has had movements that range from perfect to soft-serve (in the same go). I tried skipping a meal, too. I'd love to get him back to the perfect stools he was creating before the bone.

Or, like you said, he picked up a bug.

 

[DaneMama]

I doubt he has a bug. Probably just the bone disrupting his system. Just stop giving the femur bones and feed less kibble for the next few days, like half rations. Eventually he will get back to normal. I wouldn't suggest changing his diet right now since he's already having some issues.