Thank you to Nancy of "A Dogs Life" blog for the warning regarding Xylitol in Rescue Remedy Pastilles. Rescue remedy is a Bach flower essence used in both people and animals as a homeopathic remedy for stress and anxiety. It seems the new candy version of the product contains Xylitol, an artificial sweetener that unfortunately is toxic to dogs. For more info check out her blog at Maine Today. (link on my blogroll to the right)
Warning to vegetarians who may be reading: Graphic meat photos to follow.
Tonight for supper the dogs all got some deer ribs. This was my first experience giving them bones to be crunched up and eaten and I admit some nervousness. I am learning as I go in this raw food journey.
I had nothing to worry about however. Jenny had no problem figuring out how to enjoy the new treat. Of course she will eat most anything. (Sorry for the crummy pics, my camera was on it's last leg battery wise. I'm lucky I got these.)
Missy McStrong jaws made pretty quick work of it too. (she was the fastest, no surprise)
Jack wasn't to sure at first and played with his abit. He tried moving his to the rug and then his bed but I wouldn't let him eat them there. I wanted to be able to clean it up easily.
The girls finished theirs and Jack was still playing so I picked his up. Then I decided to try kenneling him as well to eat and it worked like a charm. I think he is so used to Jenny stealing his food (given the opportunity she will and he lets her) that he couldn't relax and eat. Problem solved with the crate. They really enjoyed the bones and I will definitely be getting more of them. I switched them to another Wellness for the breakfast kibble. The fish version seemed to make Jenny itchy so I put her back to the simple solutions Wellness too. (I did put her on full raw for abit but found it was easier to have one meal kibble for every dog due to my schedule.) I did wise up and started mixing their meat in bigger batches so I have enough for a week now instead of a few days. That has made things somewhat easier. 
4 comments:
I almost hit a deer on my way home from agility on Wednesday night, and I'll admit that somewhere in my mind was a small calculation of how much food that would have provided for my dogs. Heh.
My dogs have always done well with straight-up bones like that, but I remember how nerve-wracking it was when I first started feeding raw (now I feed primarily kibble because I am lazy).
Oh yeah, they love their RMB's. Are deer ribs soft enough for them to chew through? I give the dogs beef ribs as a recreational bone because they're too hard to chew and digest like chicken or turkey is. Wondering if deer bones are softer like chicken?
I asked on a raw list I am on before trying the deer ribs and was told they are soft enough. Deer legs bones good for eating are not as they are harder since they are weight bearing bones. (ok for chewing or recreational if your dog doesn't crunch them open as they shard off)
I'm going to try to get ribs once a week as their bone in meal.
Katie, they still get a kibble meal for at least one meal a day. And twice if I am feeling lazy or didn't get their meat mixed so I hear you. :-)
Wow look at my poor grammer! LOL I guess I really am to tired to be online.
I meant deer leg bones aren't good for straight eating.
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