Easter Dinner

[Sugars Mom]

OK, I have a stupid question...Easter is coming up and I'll be cooking a turkey. I'll be buying it frozen so I will defrost it and take out the neck and giblets before I cook it.

I thought I would try giving Sugar the raw neck and wasn't sure if I should substitute her dinner (kibble) with it, add it to her dinner, or what? And what about the giblets? Should I give them to her too? Cook them?

I'm also scared of a mess.She always takes her first bite of food out of her bowl and eats it in the hallway off the kitchen, then goes back to eat the rest out of her bowl.

What suggestions do you all have?

[Drizlaru]

No mixing raw with kibble, bad idea all around because it slows down digestion and it gives food borne pathogens more of an opportunity to do harm. It's gotta be either/or. Giblets are fine not cooked. Don't be surprised if she has diarrhea after. Standard raw meat precautions apply. I don't know what her bowls are made out of, but stainless steel is probably the best out there right now. If it's plastic or ceramic, be aware of the porous material that harbors bacteria and can give her a skin infection around her mouth, among other things. Dogs are carnivores, not omnivores like people. Their digestive tract is very short to accomodate fast digestion of raw meat products. Is also why they can't digest plant matter.

I wouldn't be worried about substituting one meal, it's not going to make any difference. It's when you start feeding raw on a regular basis is when balancing becomes an issue. I would look at it more like a special dinner. No cooked bones PERIOD (of ANY kind), cooked bones splinter and can do serious damage that can potentially be fatal.

Just making a general statement here, at least your willing to try giving your dog something raw. It's funny that people are so nervous about feeding their dogs something raw though, it's not like it's anything new. Domesticated dogs only ran around for how long eating raw food?

Edit: They reccommend freezing meat or meat products for 3 days to kill any pathogens before feeding it to your dog. Just FYI.

[alspyce]

I usually feed outdoors or in crates, but where I can see them. Some folks feed on a mat or towel. Feed it as her meal, and giblets are fine raw too.
If the neck is small and she wants to gulp it down instead of crunch it up you can smash it with a hammer first. A good trick to teach them to crunch up the smaller parts is to put a "vice grip" tool on it and let them figure out how to chew it away from the metal tool. She may not know what to do with it! Dogs on kibble often don't.

Be sure your turkey isn't "enhanced" with flavoring agents/broth tho, as these will cause diarrhea. Also high sodium content will cause it. (Read the label).
Happy Easter Sugar! Welcome to Raw!

[Dutchringgirl]

Why stop there? Keep feeding raw, believe me, its not as scary as it may seem. My girls go nuts for it. My vet could not believe how good their teeth are.

[Sugars Mom]

Ya, I knew you couldn't mix raw with kibble, so thanks for clarifying.

If the neck is small and she wants to gulp it down instead of crunch it up you can smash it with a hammer first. A good trick to teach them to crunch up the smaller parts is to put a "vice grip" tool on it and let them figure out how to chew it away from the metal tool. She may not know what to do with it! Dogs on kibble often don't.

I think she will chew it rather then gulp. I do give her bones, like atlers, beef pizzles and I figure a turkey neck would be similar to eat.

Be sure your turkey isn't "enhanced" with flavoring agents/broth tho, as these will cause diarrhea. Also high sodium content will cause it. (Read the label).
Happy Easter Sugar! Welcome to Raw!

Oh ya, good point! I haven't bought the turkey yet, so I'll make a note of that when shopping.

Thanks everyone!

[Christie M]

If she's never had it before, I would spread it out. Give her an organ or two one day, the neck the next....etc.If you aren't planning on continuing it, why torture her with possible loose stool when you can just feed it as a treat and hopefully avoid the problem.

[Sugars Mom]

So when you say treat, do you mean in addition to her regular meals, or instead of her regular meal, as a treat?

I do not want her with loose stools when we go to my sister's for our family dinner!

[alspyce]

Maybe Easter day isn't the right time, how about saving it for the day after? Then you won't be so busy and she won't have the new food along with all the excitment of a holiday.
If you give her the neck raw with the gibblets, the bone is what helps firm the stool. I would just give her the whole thing as a meal.

[Marjolein]

mmm, I'm pretty sure Sugar would prefer the whole turley instead of just the neck

[Sugars Mom]

OK, so today was the day. I didn't do it yesterday when we had our dinner, just in case...

I had the neck and giblets in a ziploc bag, ready. For Sugar's breakfast, I took her outside and opened the bag. She was very interested in what I had. She eagerly took the neck out and started licking and licking it. She really didn't quite know what to do with it. She tried to get some meat off with her teeth, but no luck. I decided to help her and cut a section of the neck off and give that to her so she could see that she needs to crunch it up. That worked! I gave her half of the neck (and will give her the other half for dinner) and she started crunching it up. I'm a little concerned that she didn't break it apart enough, but it should digest ok, right?

The funny thing was that my little prima-dona didn't want to get her paws dirty, and kept them spread apart for the whole eating process!!

[felixone123]

[quote="Sugars Mom"]
The funny thing was that my little prima-dona didn't want to get her paws dirty, and kept them spread apart for the whole eating process!!

how adorable is the Princess not wanting to get her feet dirty!! That is the cutest pic. I don't think I ever saw a dog Not use their paws when eating a bone.

Looks like she really enjoyed it!!

[Sugars Mom]

Ya, princess is right. She walks around puddles when it rains and if the ball lands in a really wet patch in the grass she will gingerly walk to it to get it, lol. She eats the bones that I giver her (antlers, beef sticks, etc holding it with her paws...but they are not messy.

So, I just gave her the dinner, the other half of the neck and the organs. She would not eat the organs. She would take it one in her mouth, then chew a couple of times then spit it out. Take another one out of the bowl, same thing. They were all over the lawn. So I picked them up and cut them up into smaller pieces to see if that would help, but no.

So I fed her an egg instead. She gently took it then it fell and broke. She happily ate the insides but wouldn't eat the shell.

My fussy eater!

[alspyce]

Glad Sugar enjoyed her turkey! (Your family too!)

Sometimes Bianca isn't so crazy about the organ meat either, so I usually cut it up and add it to some pulverized veggies and ground beef.

Lyric doesn't hold her food with her paws, just juggles it around in her mouth, drops it, picks it back up, and crunches until it's gone. (But she has no problem walking through the poop and spreading it around the run.)

Dogs don't "chew" like people---more of a bite, crunch, swallow thing with them. Their back teeth aren't shaped to grind stuff up like ours are. Also the jaw goes up and down, but not sideways for grinding.
I give raw Apple Cider Vinegar to mine as a digestive aid--lots of enzymes in the unfiltered natural stuff.
(Do you remember from Science class in HS--soak a bone in vinegar for awhile and it turns very rubbery?)

Necks have lots of bone, not so much meat. Also if you decide to give the raw a real honest try, I would give her something a bit bigger, maybe a leg quarter, with more meat on it.

[Dutchringgirl]

Almost spit out my coffee on that one!! Sugar cracks me up! Sadie dosnt use her paws either, I dont think its a "not get dirty ". Sadie has really long legs, she may not be able to reach if she holds it with her paw, I still havent figured Sadie out.
Thalie, little miss dainty, gets right into it, holds it with her paws and does what ever she needs to to eat.

I have had a few mild heart attacks at the beginning with watching them eat the bone, Ive seen them gulp pieces down and almost fainted. Its still weird how they eat.

[Sugars Mom]

Lyric doesn't hold her food with her paws, just juggles it around in her mouth, drops it, picks it back up, and crunches until it's gone.

Ya, thats what she did. It was just pretty funny watching her figure it out and the way she had her legs so far apart from the food...

She hasn't pooped yet, so I'm waiting to see how that turns out.

It was back to kibble this morning.

[Marjolein]

whahaha, the paws

[alspyce]

So----has Sugar lived through the experiment with raw food? Bet she can't wait until the next holiday!!

[Sugars Mom]

She did indeed, and I think your right...she is wondering "when is the next holiday"?