Problems with raw diet. - Page 1

I started feeding my two shepherds raw a couple weeks ago. They LOVE it. But my male just chomps through the meat, and swallows it without chewing the bone much. I expected, switching to a new diet, he would get diahrea. But he has had it for a while, and there are no bones, to my knowledge, in his stool. Is it possible the bones may be too large to pass through? The meat generally consists of chicken legs and thighs, I occassionally give them beef liver. Obviously, that will pass just fine.

-Emily.

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I think the bones should still be absorbed. Possibly he needs to start slower or maybe not enough bone... try some necks, backs and wings too. You can ad some canned pumpkin to help him get his $_it together, just don't give up!!

If you aren't already, take all the skin off what your feeding - it could be too much fat too soon.  Once the dog stomach is adjusted to the chicken, then you can leave the skin on.  If it persists, try switching to turkey or another mild protein source to see if it clears.  I once had a dog allergic to chicken.

Best of luck

Emily

I don't feed raw, but I've heard from those who do that you should feed frozen chicken if the dog tends to gulp the meat whole. That will slow him down!

I think a dog's digestive acids ARE strong enough to dissolve the smaller bones in a chicken carcass. My first GSD ate some small chicken bones one day, when out on a walk. The next day, she was acting strange, like she was in pain, so I took her to the vet. He did x-rays, and no chicken bones showed up in her gut. She did, however, have ankylosing spondylitis in her spine which was the reason for her pain.