[Margaret J]

I have a 45 lbs australian cattle dog and I fed him his first chicken foot last night. He did some crunching and chewing and then happily swallowed the foot whole with much of the bones still intact. One section of bone was large enough that he appeared struggle for a moment to swallow it but since then has appeared to be fine.

How concerned should I be about how well his raw bones are chewed? He does know how to chew his food and did chew the chicken foot some but I’m still anxious about the size of the bones he’s ingesting. Or maybe I’m being overly anxious and should just trust him and his body to know what to do with those raw bones?

Thanks for any help and input

[anonymously]

I stopped feeding my dogs raw bones after we ended up at the emergency vet x2 for GI blockages.

Give a Dog a Bone (Not!)–FDA warns of dangers of feeding bones to dogs

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/?s=raw+diet
Also, check the search engine here, example /forums/topic/rectal-issues/

[Coonhound Mama]

I’m a new raw feeder and this worries me, too. My dog is a recently adopted 5 year old coonhound who has been eating kibble her entire life until now. For this reason I started her out on bone, organ and meat grinds until her system adjusts. If you think your dog is a gulper, I would definitely try grinds first. Also, it can be helpful from what I have read to start your dog who is new to edible bones on larger bones that are as big as their own head size to discourage and avoid swallowing a piece that could cause blockages. Good luck!

[Jonathan S]

I had that worry the first time I gave turkey necks… my boys swallowed them in big chunks, though luckily there were no problems. I tried giving bigger, solid bones, like lamb shanks, but the amount of fat bothered them a bit.

My solution has been to incorporate ground meats that include bones in their raw diet… specifically ground duck and turkey necks, ground chicken backs, and ground bone it rabbit. I also leave the big, cow femur sections for them to gnaw on during the day.

Hope that helps!

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