Anyone feed raw?
 

If so, what kinda of bones are safe for a yorkie and small enough? Or will I have to buy a grinder and grind the bones myself? I think Raw diet is the best food to feed a healthy dog, and would really love to put my Yorkie on it. If you have special recipes, I would love to see them. Do you feed veggies? I feel that they are unnecessary.

Hi, yes I feed raw.

The raw meaty bones I use are chicken drumsticks, wings and thighs. Lamb chops, lamb ribs and turkey necks (cut into chunks). Beef bones are recreational, so should not be consumed as they are too hard. Also whole raw fish are considered an RMB although not all dogs can handle them.

Remember that the emphasis is on raw meaty bones, they need to be covered in meat and must be raw. There is no need to grind them unless your dog cannot for some reason consume them, for example if they are elderly and have weak teeth.

I feed raw meaty bones, muscle meat, organ meat, fish, eggs, live yogurt and yes I do feed a small amount of pureed fruit and veg. I don't think the veg is necessary however they seem to enjoy having a little once a week and they do contain some good vitamins.

Remember that the more you can vary the different types of meat you feed, the more nutrients and vitamins your dog will consume.

I think its great that you are brave enough to consider raw, you will no doubt see the benefits. I would advise you to research thoroughly before taking the plunge, you need to know all the different amounts of different body parts to feed (i.e how much muscle meat, rmb's and organ meat, ratio wise) read on the internet but also I would advise reading 1 or 2 books on it as that way you will have all of the info at your fingertips.

Good luck and feel free to ask me for advise if you should need it :)

Thank you Lara, I have had my shepherds on raw diet, but I didnt have worry as much with chicken bones because they can crush it easily. So I am just a bit worried about how a yorkie will be able to handle them. I heard too much liver is bad and to only give small amounts, do you give this and if so how much? I know the benefits of raw are well worth the work, I suppliement her food with raw every now and then, she loves it, but i notice she has a hard time chewing chicken wings and chicken necks, it takes her a while. Is that normal and ok? I am used to the big dogs, eating up the bones a lot faster, of course.

Its fine that its taking her a long time, it took my Indy 2 hours to finish her first chicken drumstick, now it takes her about 30 minutes. It takes Malachi about 15 minutes and Benjamin only about 5 minutes. I much prefer how long it takes Indy as it means she is being careful and chewing it all properly. I'm always trying to do things to slow Ben down.

None of them have ever had any problems digesting it, raw food is so much easier for their little bodies to digest because its their natural diet. Raw food takes 4-6 hours to digest, kibble takes 12-14!

Liver should only be given in very small quantities as it is a laxative, I give a couple of small pieces once a week only.

.......the longer the better.......the tugging and pulling cleans and strengthens the front teeth while the chewing and crunching takes care of the side and back teeth.......no vet visits for cleaning ( and no anaesthetic!!)...more importantly no periodontal disease that effects major organs!!

Absolutly :)

Thanks for the info! I guess I just figured since it was taking her so long that she needed smaller bones. And she could def use it because her teeth needs cleaning!