Is it normal

[magicre]

Unless your dog is straining to poop while nothing is coming out, or seems to be in pain passing stools, don't worry about a thing.

i think that's the best advice.....

[ubershann]

... for dogs to poop WAY less when eating raw food?

Now, he goes maybe twice or even once a day and hardly any at all.

That's what happened when Tiki went to raw. I love it! On the days she only pooped once I had some nagging concerns, even though I knew it was normal and totally healthy. I guess it's just hard to see that drastic of a change and not think something is wrong.

Yay for less poop to pick up!

[CorgiPaws]

Lol, I know. You should come tell my husband that for me, though.

Thanks! I have had this happen on occasion, and in that case I just feed a ground meat meal without bone and it seems to remedy the problem right away.

Thanks again everyone!

One question, kind of off topic - is there a reason to provide a calcium supplement with meals that don't include bone?

Nope.
balance over time is key, so as long as you're feeding some bone inclusive meals, some boneless meals are just fine, no need to supplement or try to make each individual meal balanced.

[Finnegan]

Nope.
balance over time is key, so as long as you're feeding some bone inclusive meals, some boneless meals are just fine, no need to supplement or try to make each individual meal balanced.

Thanks so much!

I was thinking of feeding him a ground meat meal in the morning and a bone meal in the evening as a regular routine. Do you think that would work or if not what I should do instead?

He generally gets something like one chicken breast or quarter two times per day (he's 10 months old at the moment with an adult weight probably ending around 80-90 lbs.) but he's getting a little tired of the poultry, so I thought I'd mix it up and do ground lamb, buffalo, pork or beef for one meal and a chicken breast/quarter or something like a turkey wing for the other meal. Would that be acceptable or should I stick with two "bone" meals a day with a few boneless here and there?

Thanks!

[magicre]

he's ten months old....seems he should be able to handle real meat..and lamb/pork/etc....introduced one at a time, of course....

ground anything doesn't give him a chance to really work his jaws and neck muscles...doesn't challenge him in any way....

maybe a nice slab of pork ribs when you need to feed a boney meal? otherwise, thick slabs of beef or pork or lamb...so he needs to work at it....not just inhale....much better for his teeth that way.

[Finnegan]

He can handle "real meat." He's had lamb, pork, beef, buffalo, etc., without any problem. I have an issue finding a steady supply of any of those that includes a decent meat:bone ratio. Most are more bone than meat and that's not what I want to feed regularly.

Which is why I asked if it would be alright to feed one meal of ground meat and one RMB (more likely than not to be a chicken quarter, breast, turkey wing, etc.) per day, since he gets two meals.

He doesn't just inhale. He's a very thorough chewer. But I don't want to feed too much bone.

Thanks.

[Ania's Mommy]

If I understand correctly, you want to feed bone-in meal once a day and a boneless meal once a day. For the boneless meal, you want to feed ground meat. Is that right?

If ground meat is the only boneless meat you can get your hands on, than I don't see a problem with this. You will be feeding a bone-in meal every day too, so you should see some dental benefits.

However, if you can get boneless meats that are NOT ground, that would be ideal. Ground meats can harbor more bacteria then whole boneless meat.

Some whole boneless meat that I use is pork shoulder, beef brisket, turkey, and elk heart.

[Finnegan]

Sorry, no ground meat isn't all I can get my hands on and that's not all I meant I'd be feeding him. He loves pork shoulder and beef brisket. I do occassionally feed ground meat, though, but it isn't the norm. Sorry, I am not such a great communicator sometimes.

My question, and I think you answered it, is whether or not one boneless meal and one bone-in meal per day would be satisfactory.

And dental benefits, you're telling me! His teeth are pearly white and he gets compliments all the time. We know other dogs around his age that have teeth that are already starting to develop tartar but no one will listen when I suggest feeding raw meat with bones to help with that. Oh well.

Thanks again, and sorry!

[Ania's Mommy]

Ohhhh!! I see! Yes, it is actually recommended that you feed boneless meals. Not every meal should have bone in it. Most of your dog's diet should be muscle meat. If you feed nothing but chicken quarters (or a meat:bone equivalent) you'd be feeding too much bone.

I would guestimate that a little less than half my meals contain bone.

Hopefully that answers your question.

[magicre]

sounds like ania's mommy gave you the answers you need...

i bet you'll do fine :)