hopenfox

I would never feed my dogs a bone with the meat removed - it's the meat and skin that cushions the bone as it's eaten and swallowed. Turkey legs (with the meat still attached) are fine to feed though.

Thanks for the comments. I bought a short whip yesterday and will be trying it out as soon as I've found a suitable 'prey toy' to tie to the end. Can't wait to start using it!

After enjoying the easy training/focusing of Hope & Fox using toys, I've been struggling to find something to motivate and reward Link. At last I've discovered he's quite interested in a long, zipping, moving tug rope, but using it exhausts me! So I'm looking at getting or making a proper flirt pole so I can stand there and flick and move the toy and also play tug with him with it. I would love to use this to train him in drive or at least to teach him to tug so I can gradually move to a smaller tug toy. Has anyone used a flirt pole to train their dog? How did you go about it? And has anyone made their own and if so how? I was looking at getting one of these.

Hmmm....

where does your dog live? In and outside: whatever I (not they) choose. How often do you walk your dog? They're exercised around 3 - 6 times a day with free runs on the property, swims in the dam, games of fetch & training. We very rarely go for a 'walk'. Do you walk your dog rain, hail or shine? Yes, I exercise them in all but the most extreme weathers.

what about heart worm? I don't live in a heartworm area.

Nicky, our Cavalier used to take aaaagggeeess. I think he used to suck his bones till they disolved!

Completely raw (prey & prey model) fed here...to both ferrets and dogs. I haven't had to worm for years (I have a faecal test done once a year, which has always comes back clear).

Pale yellow poo is normal for dog's fed chicken. Crumbly means too much bone - more meat needed.

Fox is very waggy, his tail only seems to stop when he's sleeping, eating or focusing on a ball. He visits a nursing home a couple of times a week and from the moment we enter till when we leave an hour later, his tail doesn't stop. Hope only wags her tail when she's saying hello or getting physical attention, then it stops. And Link's tail must not be connected to the wagging muscles, because I'm lucky to catch a glimpse of a slight sway. I actually thought his tail might be broken when I first brought him home, but now I think he's just not a wagger.

Hi Sezling, Bringing up a bit of bone is not uncommon for dogs new to raw...The problem usually disappears after a while when they're more used to the food. How long after meals does he vomit the cartilage stuff? Does he re-eat it? You may be feeding a little too much bone which can cause him to offload some... hopenfox

Raw - prey model.

Ferret paw!

The shape of the bone is also important; the more complicated the bone shape, the more parts of the teeth are used/cleaned. Things like sheep and pig heads, racks of ribs and whole prey give the teeth a more thorough clean. Fox (8 1/2 years) and Link (1 1/2 years) have beautifully clean teeth on just lots of meaty body parts/whole prey. Hope (9 1/2 years), who isn't allowed to gnaw on bones (throat problem) has slightly stained teeth but otherwise is free of plaque and tartar...I used to brush her teeth, but her teeth are now kept quite clean by ox tongues which she gets 3 or 4 times a week. Nicky (Cavalier) used to eat the same things as Fox and Link and his teeth were always a bit icky. He was a very dainty eater and didn't like to work too hard on his food!

Does anyone else have dogs that love lying in mud? Hope wallows like a pig when she wants to cool off, and isn't fussy if it's water or mud. She not only lies down in it, she'll roll from side to side! Mud! by hopenfox, on Flickr Hope dripping by hopenfox, on Flickr I'd love to see your photos of muddy dogs!

I love paws! Koolie paw: Hope's feet by hopenfox, on Flickr Kelpie paw: Paw by hopenfox, on Flickr

Link, Hope & Fox: The group by hopenfox, on Flickr

Garfield zoomies: Trampling zoomies:

Hi Aso, Great to hear you'll be feeding your new pup raw meaty bones! Unfortunately, I discovered this natural way of feeding when Hope and Fox were adults and I adopted Link when he was 10 months old already, so I haven't yet had the chance to start a young pup on RMBs. Though I do intend to feed all future pups this way. I believe it is quite simple though - puppies are fed the same way as adults, except the food is divided into smaller meals and fed more often (aprox. 3% of expected ideal adult weight fed daily). It's usually recommended to start with one protein source (chicken is most often recommended because it has plenty of edible bones), then after a few days, add in something else, then when that's digested fine, ad another kind of meat, and so on. For a pup as large as yours, I would probably start with feeding whole or half chickens! Some people I've heard like to put down huge chunks of meat, let their pup eat his fill, then remove what's left to the fridge and offer it again at the next meal time, and again until its gone. Anyway, I'm sure some others will pop in with their experiences raising puppies on RMBs (also called RAW or Prey Model). You could also join the yahoo rawmeatybones group or the rawfeeding group, both of which are filled with many experienced people feeding their dog's and pups this way. This diet guide by Tom Lonsdale could be helpful too. Hope that helps! hopenfox P.S. http://www.rawfeddogs.net/ has lots of good information too - I particularly love the Recipes page!

Me too! I think someone must have copied a list from an earlier page . I've put them in again... Appollo Archie Armand Aussie Bailey x 4 Balou Bandit Banjo x2 Bardigrub Bart Barton Baxter Basil Bear x2 Benji Benny Benson x2 Bertie Billy Bing Bluey Boss Boxer Brady Brock Brockie Brody Bronson Bruce Bud Buddy Bundy Caleb Caramel Carl Carter Cash Champ Charlie x 4 Chevy Chip Coco Cobber Connor Cooper x 3 Cowan x 2 Cruise Cuba D'Artagnan Dakota Danny Darcy x 3 Dashx2 Deakin Deek Dean Declan Delgado Denver Denzal Deputy Diablo Diesel Digby Digger Dinky Disco Dog Douglas Dragon Drifter Dumas Dylan Ebon Eddie Elijah Elliott Edge Esky Fergus FEZ FlashBazil Fox Frank Franky J Holden Gandor Gimmick Granger Greedy Griffin Gus Gypsy Hail Hamish Harley Harrison Harry Hemi Henry x2 Hudson Hugo Ivan Jack x 2 Jake Jasper x 2 JayDee Jethro Jett Jingles Jock Joe Jonty Jordan x 2 Joshua Judd Juggie Kahn Kaiser Kasper Kaos Kiba Kei Kippy Kisho Kobe Kyle Kyzer Leroy Lestat Link Logan Luca Lughie Lukas MacKenzie Mars Max x 4 Maxie Mel Merlot Merry Midge Milky Milosh Minook Mistral Mogwai Mokha Morrison Moses Mr Darcy Mungo Murray Nammu Napoleon Nelson Nicky Nigel Nikolai Nipper Noah Nova Nudge Nugget Oberon Odin Ollie Onslow Oscar Oso Oz x 2 Payton Piikki Porsha Porthos Punch Quick Rafe Raffy Ralph Rambo Randy Rasta Rauri Reeve Rex x 2 Riku Riley Ripley River Roary Rocks Rocky Rolly Rookie Rory Rove Rover Roy Jones Jnr Ruff Ryan Rupert Rusty x2 Sam Scout Scrap Scratch Sebastion Shadow x2 Silas Snitch Sonny sox Speed Spencer x 2 Spike x 2 Sport Spud Stanley Sterling Storm Sully Swanky Tazz x 2 Ted Teddy Tey Dog Theo Thunder Tiger Tirra Toby Trojan Tub Tusca Tye Tyson Ulf Wade Wags Walker Walter Watson Weave Will Willow Willy Woody Wolf Xander Yelka Zac Zedley Zephyr Zeus Ziggy Zontie

What about meat off the bone? Like chunks of or whole ox heart, ox tongue or lamb hearts? These items don't cost much, but maybe availability or the cheaper price of mince affects the feeding of these?

I've noticed lots of people feed their healthy dogs mince. I don't mean stuffed in Kongs, but sloppy food dropped in bowls to be slurped up. To me, feeding mince to dogs is like feeding pureed baby food to healthy adult humans. They have teeth! I don't understand! I would love to hear your reasons as to why you feed your dog/s minced/mushy foods.

I think of dried bones as being very similar to cooked bones and would worry about splintering. I don't feed them to my dogs.

There are WAG-N-TAILS Companion Dog Club (fairly new and small and teach positively) and Bendigo Obedience Dog Club (larger and use mostly correction based training).

koalathebear, please be very careful with the big marrow bones - they are SO hard they can wear down and break teeth. Unfortunately my vet recommended them to me for my dog Hope when she was less than a year old. After just half an hour of gnawing on the bone, she'd worn her new adult teeth over half way down to the gums, with every tooth bleeding from the core! It was very distressing to see. She's had to live with short, flat teeth since...I felt terrible and still do every time I see her teeth! Marrow bones are harder than dog's teeth and will always win. hopenfox