# I need help with RAW diet!



## TNGSD (Feb 15, 2008)

Ok, I asked a question about raw short ribs recently.... I ended up giving Radar the short rib and took the bone away after a minute. Here is is:










As you can see he ate all of the meat and started to chew up the bone. My worry is that he could swallow it mostly whole or at least swallow large pieces. Is that ok? I know raw bones are ok but I just want to make totally sure that this would not cause a blockage. My vet is against raw and I don't have a local friends that feed raw so this is just so different to me I want to make sure I am being safe. Right now he eats kibble, some natures variety raw medallions and bones. In the past he swallowed a turkey neck whole and had some strange white runny poop a couple of days later. I usually buy the natures variety raw bones and his poop is a little soft I guess from the marrow. Would chicken thighs be a good item to try next? What if he swallowed a chicken wing whole? Now you know why some of us buy the frozen raw!


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I don't feed chicken wings because they are so small they are easy to swallow whole. My dogs are 60 pounds and they get either a chicken breast, or a chicken quarter for dinner. Try one of those to start. 

I'm not sure what a short rib is, but when I give my dogs cuts of beef ribs, they gnaw the bones and don't swallow them. 

I don't know how old/big your dog is, but if he did swallow the chicken wing whole and was an adult GSD, I think he'd be fine. I only worry about stuff getting stuck in their throats.


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## Emily (Nov 8, 2008)

Hey
If it were me, I would not feed those. Typically, the rule is to not feed any weight bearing bones (except for poultry, rabbits, etc). But the bone in that picture doesn't look like one that would be easily crunched up like chicken or turkey. I've never fed any beef or pork bones that I thought were actually edible. The largest thing I ever give is deer ribs with spine. The dogs don't even try to consume the spine bones but are fine with the ribs. 

No thighs yet if he's a gulper. If your dog is not catching on to chewing, feed him something that is bigger than his head, like half of a whole chicken, or even a whole chicken (depending on the size of the chicken and the dog). This will force him to chew and hopefully he'll get the hang of it. 

Good luck!


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

I have given my dogs ribs in the past but any more they only get venison ribs and there are usually a couple of them with the meat still on them. Short ribs can be fed to the right dogs but many would find them too hard or just about small enough for a gulper to *think* they could gulp which could lead to a choking hazard.


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## TNGSD (Feb 15, 2008)

thanks Emily and Carole!


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## Smithie86 (Jan 9, 2001)

TN -

I will send you a link for the RAW group for Nashville.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

It all depends on the dog. My friends Rotties can eat those in an instant. But for my Chinese Crested that would be a recreational bone.

If your dog works on a bone for more than a few minutes - it's a rec bone, not a RMB.


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