Her Raw Meaty Bones

Rossi gal loves her Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) and looks forward to her daily RMB session with anticipation and delight. Whenever I lay out her favorite Forever Friends' rubber mat before her, she will hop right onto it and station herself there to wait for her bone.

Her main sources of RMB are from chicken and lamb. They make up most of her calcium intake. I also top up this intake with a sprinkling of eggshell powder, which I grind myself, over her boneless meals. (Eggshell powder is a souce of calcium too.) 

Organic chicken drum

Anti-biotic & Hormone-Free chicken wings
(*This pic is taken last year, now she is on Organic chicken wings.) 

 Organic grass-fed lamb rack

Besides calcium, RMB also acts as her "toothbrush" for those sparkling pearlies. I used to brush her teeth with toothbrushes. I have used the finger-brush, the vet-formulated canine toothbrush and the baby toothbrush. 

Well, I must say, these brushes are not as effective as the RMB. I didnt use to believe RMB works better than these brushes, until I personally witnessed the results in Rossi gal's pearlies from her regular RMB sessions. Yes, RMB, the 'nature toothbrush' is the best method to achieve those sparkling pearlies.   

Raw Lamb is a good source of red meat. Rossi gal does very well on lamb. She also gets lamb RMB like lamb rack/cutlet a few times a week. As she cannot take raw beef due to our 'house-rule', I use mainly lamb as her red meat source, though I do include other red meats like venison, kangaroo and duck every now and then.

Gnawing a lamb rack

Raw chicken is a commonly used protein for raw feeding. It is a good source of meat and bones. Various parts of the chicken; the legs, wings, back, feet, organs, gizzards etc, can be consumed by our dogs.

Tackling a chicken drum bone

Rossi gal gets chicken RMBs about 3 times weekly.  For chicken, I will give her both the bone and meat in the form of wings and drums. I feel this is more 'proportionate' for her, as she gets to eat both the meat and bone together. I'm also gonna include chicken back for her RMB sessions. Chicken bones are a soft and edible bone/calcium source. They are easily crunched through and suitable for consumption. I find them an ideal bone/calcium source for Rossi gal.

Working on a chicken wing

Raw bones are fine for dogs. Their bodies are made to process / digest raw meats and bones. On the other hand, cooked bones are brittle and can splinter easily, as cooking changes the composition of the bone. Thus, feeding cooked bones to dogs are dangerous and can cause harm to them. For eg. Contrary to what some think, raw chicken bones are actually fine for dogs. It is the cooked chicken bones that are harzadous to them.

Then when feeding RMB, it would be good to ensure the bone is covered with ample meat around it and to feed a big RMB to prevent dogs from gulping  it down and to prevent choking. Most of the time, the cases of choking that I come across, are usually due to inappropriate feeding by the owners themselves, for eg. not feeding a big enough RMB for the dog work on.

If you know your dog is a gulper or afraid of your dog getting choked, then feed a big RMB that 'forces' the dog to work on it before swallowing. RMB is actually an important part of the dog's raw diet. It is sad that there are those who do not wanna feed RMB for fear of choking (and even discourages others from doing so.)  

One just needs to ensure the RMB is fed appropriately, for eg. feed a big enough RMB, one that the dog is unable to gulp down without proper chewing & crunching and monitor the dog throughout the RMB session. Don't leave the dog to eat the RMB unsupervised.

Rossi gal used to be a gulper. I started off by holding on to the RMB in my hand for her. Eventually, when she has learnt to crunch her bones properly before swallowing, I begin to release the RMB to her and let her eat on her own.  

Also, for RMB, I do not feed Rossi gal naked or dense raw bones too. I only feed her bones with meats wrapped around them (RMB) and bones that she can crunch through with ease, like chicken and lamb bones. (It is not advisable to feed naked or dense bones.)

Rabbit bones are another good bone/calcium source. They are soft and can be crunched through easily. I would have loved to include rabbit for her RMB sessions. But too bad, Rossi gal didnt like her rabbit RMBs as much as she did for her lamb & chicken RMBs, so I stopped getting rabbit for her. 

Whole Rabbit with innards

 Rabbit RMBs (Portioned out)

I have heard somewhere that raw chicken bones are not appropriate for feeding dogs. Well, I persist in my beliefs and I believe in what I have witnessed in Rossi gal. I will not simply accept/do anything I hear/read blindly. I believe one must exercise discernment. For over a year, Rossi gal has been eating bone-in chicken and doing wonderfully on them. Many raw feeders feed bone-in chicken to their dogs too. Their dogs are full of life's energy and thriving. Like the many raw feeders, I will continue to feed her bone-in chicken.

With this, I shall end off my blog post with the following links.

Are bones bad for dogs?
Raw Feeding FAQ (*There is a section that talks about chicken bones.)