# newbiw raw question



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

Ok, so this is my first post on here, so be easy. I have 3 dogs and have been thinking about switching to raw for about a year now. Finally I have found a site where people are helpful and open with what they feed their dogs. 
Anyway, I have a 1 year old Boston Terrier who has a overbite and doesn't chew anything (well i guess she tries to) When i feed her kibble or treats she just moves it around her mouth and swallows it whole, and chokes sometimes. SO my question is can she eat bones? 
I'm a worry wort and my heart stops when she chokes, so the bones make me nervous, and the bones are a main part of the raw diet...










Boston Terrier


----------



## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

How much does your Boston weigh? Assuming she would be a bit bigger than my Doxie, I would start with a chicken back or drumstick and hold on to it while she eats. See what happens. You might even try a chicken quarter and pick it up after she has eaten enough. If the bone-in piece is large, she shouldn't have choking issues.


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

The only real way to know is to try. Start with something big enough so that she cannot swallow it whole. I would start with chicken backs or wings.


----------



## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I would start with chicken backs. The bones are soft. If that is the Boston in the picture her bite does not look terrible. I know of a few dog with absolutely horrible overbites that do well on raw. Their teeth may not get quite as clean but they are still much better than on kibble. My dogs never really chewed kibble - they kind of grabbed a bunch and swallowed. Sometimes they would cough or choke some back up. On raw they do much better - they chomp a few times before swallowing and rarely cough anything back up. Give it a try - she just might surprise you and do just great. If you can't find chicken backs you might try small leg quarters, if there is too much meat she may get full and ne=ot get enough bone to have solid stools. You could also cut just a little meat off quarters and save for later date when she is eating more boneless meat. Just rememberr, dogs don't chew like we do - they tend to crunch stuff up just enough to swallow it. She looks adorable in her pictures. I love the personalities of Bostons and Pugs.


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

Thanks, she is 20lbs. She is my first Boston, and i absolutely love her personality.


----------



## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

Ziva my min pin swallows A LOT of her boneless meals whole. She chews her bones 'just' enough to get them down, and has never had a problem choking. She thinks her goal in life is to inhale anything food related  Zoey my chi has an overbite as well and while she's not the 'power' chewer that Ziva is, she still eats bones without any problems.


----------



## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Like everyone else has already said, just make sure the cut of chicken is a large enough piece your Boston has no choice but to chew. Dogs arn't like us, they chew just enough to be able to get it down anyway. So, what may appear as "whole" has actually been chewed, and considering that bone is digestable it will be fine. So anyway, welcome, and stick around and you will learn SOOO much! We are glad you are here!


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

Thanks guys, i appreciate all the input!


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I think there are several dogs here with jaw problems that eat raw fine. I have a dog with four teeth and an overbite you wouldn't believe that can eat a chicken back in about 15 minutes. 

My dachshund has also eaten a chicken neck whole with no problems, and several other folks have had the same thing happen with no bad results. 

Goood luck!
"


----------



## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I will try and take pictures of Brody's face/jaw/teeth tonight or tomorrow....they are not pretty! And he eats raw GREAT!:biggrin: He IS my gulper, meaning that I only feed him once per day, so that he gets as large of a piece as possible, and for totally boneless meals they are ALWAYS frozen, so that it takes him a little longer....but he does GREAT!!:thumb:


----------



## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

I would give it a shot. My 12 lb foster dog has a bad underbite, is probably missing a few teeth, and has a really strange-shaped snout. But he's getting through chicken necks, feet, and drumsticks no problem in addition to tough goat meat and turkey .


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

I think I will start will a chicken back for her, if I can find one I'll get a wing. I'm trying to find a co op in Atlanta, but if not there is a butcher down the street from me. I'm going to do some more reading on starting and portion sizes for my girls and try it. 

Do you guys ever add other things to the raw diet? I've heard people giving their dogs green beans, cottage cheese, and other stuff with the raw meat.


----------



## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Charged77 said:


> I think I will start will a chicken back for her, if I can find one I'll get a wing. I'm trying to find a co op in Atlanta, but if not there is a butcher down the street from me. I'm going to do some more reading on starting and portion sizes for my girls and try it.
> 
> Do you guys ever add other things to the raw diet? I've heard people giving their dogs green beans, cottage cheese, and other stuff with the raw meat.


I find far cheaper meat from our local raw co-op, wholesalers, off of craigslist/kijiji/freecycle, and from sales at grocery stores then from local butchers, but its all about what/where you want to shop!:smile:

And I, and most of us here, feed Prey Model Raw, which is all about Muscle Meat(about 80%,) Edible bone(about 10%,) and Organs(about 10%, with at least half of it being liver.:wink No veggies, fruit, starches, dairy, etc....other then on a case by case basses(some people use some veggies/fruits for treats!:wink


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

Scarlett_O' said:


> I find far cheaper meat from our local raw co-op, wholesalers, off of craigslist/kijiji/freecycle, and from sales at grocery stores then from local butchers, but its all about what/where you want to shop!:smile:
> 
> And I, and most of us here, feed Prey Model Raw, which is all about Muscle Meat(about 80%,) Edible bone(about 10%,) and Organs(about 10%, with at least half of it being liver.:wink No veggies, fruit, starches, dairy, etc....other then on a case by case basses(some people use some veggies/fruits for treats!:wink


I'm trying to find co ops in ATL, found one that does expired meat from stores (is that ok for them?) and i dont really trust people on craigslist hwell:. Im still trying to read up and learn as much as i can.

I have another question, how much do i give the girls? Somewhere i saw you give them 2% of their body weight....Also how do i start them on raw? I know you go slow, but i would love more detail. Just give them a piece of meat with the kibble? Thanks for all your help!


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I checked and I can't find that anyone has given you this site - it was made by folks here:

How to Get Started | Prey Model Raw

It tells you almost everything you need to know!


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

And Bill's page, you should read it also:

Skylar, Zack, and Abby on the WEB


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

Awesome, Thank you!


----------



## KittyKat (Feb 11, 2011)

I just switched Piper's meals cold turkey. I used what remained of her Kibble for training treats and after it was gone it was gone.

I gave chicken backs for every meal for the first couple of weeks, then thighs and turkey. Then at about 3 weeks I gave her some beef heart... faster transition then most (typically you move onto Pork first), but she took to it fine. After a month on raw i tried her first organs.

I feed her about 2-2.5% of her bodyweight... she's 30lbs so about .6-.75 of a lb. I don't weigh her food, it's all eyeballed... and so far it's worked. Somedays she gets more, somedays she gets less. She gets taken on a 4k bikeride almost every day in the spring/summer/fall... so she gets a bit more food then. Less in the winter when its just a walk.

It's about balance over time.


----------



## leilaquinn (Sep 7, 2011)

No advice, but what a CUTE girl! I love bostons. my mom's dog is half boston and a a really goofy underbite, I don't think I've ever seen a boston with an OVERbite.


----------



## BoxerPaws (Jul 19, 2011)

Charged77 said:


> I'm trying to find co ops in ATL, found one that does expired meat from stores (is that ok for them?) and i dont really trust people on craigslist hwell:. Im still trying to read up and learn as much as i can.
> 
> I have another question, how much do i give the girls? Somewhere i saw you give them 2% of their body weight....Also how do i start them on raw? I know you go slow, but i would love more detail. Just give them a piece of meat with the kibble? Thanks for all your help!


Don't totally diss craigslist. I got around 5 lb of venison for $5 from a woman clearing it out of her freezer. She was totally nice and I walked away with several cuts of whole meat and 2 lb of ground (not sure what I'm doing with that yet).

DON'T mix kibble meals and raw meals. Kibble and raw digest at different rates, and while some dogs can tolerate the combo, it will cause upset in most. If you're going to combine kibble and raw, give the meat a good 12 hours after feeding the kibble to give the dry food time to clear out of the digestive system. Raw only takes around 5 hours to fully digest, so if you want to feed raw for breakfast and kibble for dinner, that's probably your safest bet if you're looking to use up your kibble. Best bet is to either pitch the kibble and go straight to raw, or just finish up your adorable pup's kibble and then start raw. That's what I did for Zoey.


----------



## Charged77 (Oct 1, 2011)

BoxerPaws said:


> Don't totally diss craigslist. I got around 5 lb of venison for $5 from a woman clearing it out of her freezer. She was totally nice and I walked away with several cuts of whole meat and 2 lb of ground (not sure what I'm doing with that yet).
> 
> DON'T mix kibble meals and raw meals. Kibble and raw digest at different rates, and while some dogs can tolerate the combo, it will cause upset in most. If you're going to combine kibble and raw, give the meat a good 12 hours after feeding the kibble to give the dry food time to clear out of the digestive system. Raw only takes around 5 hours to fully digest, so if you want to feed raw for breakfast and kibble for dinner, that's probably your safest bet if you're looking to use up your kibble. Best bet is to either pitch the kibble and go straight to raw, or just finish up your adorable pup's kibble and then start raw. That's what I did for Zoey.



Yeah, I read on prey model raw to wait a day. I might check out Craigslist, but I just don't trust people. I'm calling around for prices on a meat, I'm going to have to get a freezer. My butcher only can get 40lbs box of chicken backs...

What do you give your dog as treats? Pieces of meat?


----------



## BoxerPaws (Jul 19, 2011)

Charged77 said:


> Yeah, I read on prey model raw to wait a day. I might check out Craigslist, but I just don't trust people. I'm calling around for prices on a meat, I'm going to have to get a freezer. My butcher only can get 40lbs box of chicken backs...
> 
> What do you give your dog as treats? Pieces of meat?


Pretty much, yeah. I either cut up meat into tiny (like, fingernail sized) pieces and then bake it in the oven on 200 degrees for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours (so it's totally dried out and crunchy), or, I just bought a couple of bags of freeze-dried turkey and buffalo treats. They're 100% pieces of meat. A bit pricey though, at $9 for a 4-oz bag at my local pet specialty shop. But we're still doing a lot of training work with Zoey, so she gets a lot of treats. If treats for your dog are really just a special every-once-in-a-while thing, you can cut larger strips of meat to bake/dehydrate to be more like jerky strips. On the rare occasion I've given her a for-the-heck-of-it treat, she's gotten a couple of licks of vanilla ice cream or a carrot; totally not dietary needs, but just special treats.

Obviously, if you do go for Craigslist, use your judgement. I think most people that are going to respond to your posts looking for meat will be fairly trustworthy. In my first post (when I got the venison), I included a photo of Zoey. I think pictures of a dog draw the good people/the animal lovers who would rather their old/freezer burned meats go to the animal than the garbage can.


----------

