davecol Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) Hello, I am after some feeding help. I am feeding our 10 week old lab lamb flaps, separated into indvidual meaty ribs, as this was what the breeder was feeding him (for one of three daily meals). She swallows them whole. I might be remembering wrongly but I thought the breeder said this was normal. But just now I'd read this thread on oxtail saying no, they can choke if they try to swallow it or any bone whole, so feed them bigger bones they have to crunch up. What gives? I've also fed her lamb forequarter offcuts with bones too big to even attempt to swallow but she doesn't seem to be remotely close to being able to crunch them up. In fact often I come back later and break them up (often the bony part is in three or four fragments from a joint, joined by connective tissue) so she can have a chance of swallowing them. Am I missing something? Do I need to teach her how to crunch? Or cut bones into tiny bits? Or feed rabbit or chicken which should be easier to crunch? Edited February 6, 2015 by davecol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCresties Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 When feeding lamb flaps to my little dogs I cut them into 2 rib sections and that is big enough to ensure they chew. I certainly wouldn't feed a lab puppy single lamb ribs. I would keep the flap whole or maybe half it, but certainly big enough so he can't just swallow it whole. Lamb ribs are pretty soft, so should be fine for a lab pup to chew through. Things like ox-tail can be more of a hazard as they are so solid and potentially could cause a blockage? I feed lamb neck or roo tail, but again in big enough pieces so they have to work for it and never small enough that it could just be swallowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Agree with CrazyCresties. Pups don't know that the bones given were cut into swallow-able pieces. They simply learn that bite sized pieces can (and will) be swallowed. By nature, it's common instinct for animals to consume their food quickly when they can. When my boy first came home with me (8wo) he didn't want to give time to chewing either. I started him with chicken necks as anything larger was a bit big for him then. But I held on to the end of the chicken neck so he couldn't just inhale it and until he learnt to chew on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I feed pups large chicken wings or turkey joints frozen...if they ain't chewing it's not large enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 I always feed pups bones larger than their heads! that way they have quite a time chewing ..not three crunches and swallow ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) I think frozen turkey or duck necks are quite good as are the wings as mentioned above. I did frozen chicken necks and wings when my puppy was 8 weeks to around 6 months, but he didn't swallow them whole. I prefer softer bones for when they are young and lamb flaps are a bit too easy to gobble down. Stuffing meat in a chicken carcass is good too. I prefer to wait until around 6 - 8 months and then move onto beef necks. Lamb necks are good but make sure they are not cut across the bone or there will be a bone disc in the centre that is very dangerous if swallowed. Depending on your feeding, they really don't want much more that 10% bone. So they don't need to crunch much to get this. Too much calcium can bind zinc and is not a good thing... well for Huskies anyway. But either way with a growing puppy you don't want to throw out the calcium:phosphorus ratio with too much bone :) If you are primarily a kibble feeder, I would be inclined to add a bit of red meat which will be high in phosphorus to balance the additional calcium added to the diet through bones :) Check the stool consistency as this will give you a reasonable guide on whether you are feeding too much bone. Unfortunately it is much harder to check the nutrient balance until it is too late. Edited February 6, 2015 by Yonjuro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Same here, large bones for pups/younger dogs, until they learn to chew them. Most of the foster dogs that come here (start around 6 months old) get turkey necks or wings and lamb ribs in twos.. Turkey necks are great but probably a large meal for the average pup - so you could cut them in half lengthwise. I also give half a chicken frame (I just cut them in half with chicken shears when I get them home from the butcher). You could cut them down again, into quarters for a pup - lots of bones to chew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaCC Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I'm a big fan of Turkey necks, if they are really huge you can cut them in half too. But one is normally a good size for a pup to learn to chew. Some turkeys are massive! You can get them in Woolworths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziwong66 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 a lab pup will quickly out grow smaller types bones. My two labs have been raised on non-weight bearing bones and yes at times when pups they can forget to chew. My current pup is 6.5 months old and is a gulper right from when she came home. We firstly began to freeze her chicken necks and wings; to no avail she just swallowed those whole She went well on chicken frames. i'd cut one in half and she'd do well chewing it up really well. I moved on to Turkey (larger sized) necks and froze the smaller necks and now i've moved onto decent sized pieces of frozen lamb neck and frozen chicken frames. This week she vomited twice - larger bone pieces that she hadn't chewed from the lamb neck. She's learning to chew them up properly and i'm persistent. I'm a big believer in raw feeding and feeding raw meaty non-weight bearing bones. The bigger the better with bones for puppies - as they lose their milk teeth and grow in their adult chompers, they'll tackle the bone better and better. Give big bones and be persistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecol Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Thanks for the comments. Might give chicken a go just to see although it's a bit pricey for me everyday because I insist on free range. (Will have to teach her how to hunt bunnies methinks!) Is chicken definitely OK for a 10-week-old? The info from our breeder said chicken frames from 6 months plus .. ?? I fed her some more of the flap today, one really thick rib plus the attached piece of sternum, plus some two big flaps of the abdominal wall meat. Not much good still. She got one meat flap down when I wasn't watching after sitting tearing at it for a while - don't know if she got it apart or not. The other one she gave up on. And the bone, she pulled some meat off and tried and failed to crunch even the cartilege around the sternum. I broke the rib into three sections hanging together with connective tissue and held one end for her, still no go even at separating those pieces... Hopefully the chicken helps. they really don't want much more that 10% bone. So they don't need to crunch much to get this. Too much calcium can bind zinc and is not a good thing... well for Huskies anyway. But either way with a growing puppy you don't want to throw out the calcium:phosphorus ratio with too much bone :) If you are primarily a kibble feeder, I would be inclined to add a bit of red meat which will be high in phosphorus to balance the additional calcium added to the diet through bones :) Well I'm worried now if I'm not letting her swallow bones whole, she's not getting any bone at all! I'm certainly concerned she gets the right nutrient balance. She has no kibble, just the diet the breeder had her on, 1) diced beef, 2) lamb flap 3) stew, 50/40/10 pet chicken mince, rice/pasta, vegies. (Actually I suppose the pet chicken mince has bones in?) I want to start getting rid of the cooked meal with grains and onto pure raw but worry if I don't get her eating bones and I do that also then I'm making things even worse. Edited February 7, 2015 by davecol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Pet mince normally has bones in it. It is a tricky one in your case, if you can't get the dog to chew the raw meaty bones then you may need to go for a barf style and teeth brushing. Or wait until the adult teeth are strong and go for bigger bones like beef necks and roo tails. I think you just need to experiment further while you watch what is going on. The only think dangerous about chicken frames is again if the dog doesn't crunch them down then choking becomes a danger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecol Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 She does have a slightly undershot jaw - could that be a problem here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziwong66 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 i don't think the undershot jaw would be a problem: my boy is 3.5 year old and has eaten bones his entire life and has an overshot jaw. In fact it's my physically perfect gulping bitch puppy that will vomit bone pieces up occasionally from not chewing: she's still learning how to eat bones. Be persistent and feed large non-weight bearing bones and supervise during eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I feed chicken feet as i find my BT just swallows necks and wings whole! Then vomits them straight up and starts again. I may look at turkey necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaCharlie Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 We always feed our bones frozen, a dog is far less likely to want to swallow large portions of something that cold. Especially with puppies, most of our adults are trusted with fresh bones if they have just been bought and no time to freeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yonjuro Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 We always feed our bones frozen, a dog is far less likely to want to swallow large portions of something that cold. Especially with puppies, most of our adults are trusted with fresh bones if they have just been bought and no time to freeze. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erny Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 We always feed our bones frozen, a dog is far less likely to want to swallow large portions of something that cold. Especially with puppies, most of our adults are trusted with fresh bones if they have just been bought and no time to freeze. +1 That is a theory I thought was a reasonable one as well, and it possibly is something worth trying as each dog is an individual. However, I gave my dog a bone which was still frozen and if anything, it caused him to become impatient (or maybe he didn't like the cold sensation on his teeth??) and so he swallowed it in big pieces rather than chewing through as he normally would, which is easier if unfrozen. So what I'm saying is to use caution with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now