Yep its the cooking of the bones that makes them dangerous.  Raw bones are
just fine.  They provide exercise for those jaws as well as nutrition.  We
feed raw when we have it (leftovers from butchering) and the dogs absolutely
love it.  In fact, I feel guilty after giving them raw meals switching back
to kibble which seems well....bland ;-)

Some folks say that you should avoid feeding the weight bearing bones of
large animals like beef as they are just too hard and can damage teeth.  It
seems many people go for chicken or turkey as you can find these on sale in
most grocery stores, are small enough to just hand out in pieces (no cutting
and hacking!).  I think the proportion is 10% of the dogs weight in *meaty*
bones (the meaty part is important) so many dogs can just have a chicken leg
quarter and call it good.  There is a raw feeding group on yahoo that might
be helpful if you want to learn more.  I found the folks there pretty
committed to strictly raw feeding so be prepared to be swayed away from
using any kibble or non-meat/bone type of feeding but I found them
informative and helpful ;-)

Amy
Good Shepherd Farm
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Gwyn Diddally" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2005 12:13 AM
Subject: Re: [FARMCOLLIE] Question about food


> I'm feeding Pedigree until it runs out, then I think I'd like to try this
> FRR.  It sounds much nicer.
>
> And since two members have talked about feeding chicken parts, I'd like to
> ask about something I've seen only once on a website.  Is it true that
> cooking chicken parts is what makes the bones liable to hurt the dog
> internally?  I've always heard my whole life not to feed chicken bones
> because the shards can pierce the gut, and that site was the first I've
> heard otherwise.  It makes sense to me, since Alaskan wolves will eat a
> grouse if they can get it and THEY obviously don't get hurt, but my
> husband
> remains unconvinced.
>
> Merry
>
>>  I am feeding more like 1 1/2 to two per dog per day.  But I also feed
>>chicken parts too occasionally (in place of a FRR meal) like Rini.  Not as
>>often as I'd like. I can't seem to find it as inexpensively here.
>>dotty
>>>My dogs eat 1 cup a day, Cassie is 45 pounds and Cody is 52 pounds.
>
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