# Snorkels and I come to a draw on Venison Ribs - Round 2



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I swear, this dog and I have such a love/hate relationship. I gave her the ribs today with six attached. All was going along well, until she either cracked one down the middle or maybe it was already cracked down the middle and she got it off the big slab. I was sitting there watching her and almost didn't make it to her before she swallowed it. However, I prevailed after a humongous battle for it and she will live another day without an endoscopy.

I think Round 3 will be frozen. I am determined that she eat these things without ending up in the hospital or giving me a heart attack. And apparently she's determined to do either or both.


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## ciaBrysh (Dec 16, 2011)

lol she sure as hell looks determined!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

ciaBrysh said:


> lol she sure as hell looks determined!


Yes, a SMART dog owner would just not give her the ribs.


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## NewYorkDogue (Sep 27, 2011)

xellil said:


> Yes, a SMART dog owner would just not give her the ribs.


Nah-- I disagree. Best to just get back on that horse again.... just don't let the horse run wild; keep the reins tight! 

So to speak...


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I guess all you can do is watch her like a hawk. I too, if I'd given them to Mol, would have looked at that rack of ribs and thought, ok, that's bigger than her mouth and walk away letting her go to town. 
I guess you have to admire Snorkle's tenacity. Maybe you'd better make sure your hubby is up to snuff with human CPR!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

isn't this the same dog that fought tooth and nail not to go back into the cage?

i'm thinking maybe you underestimate the strength of her jaw and teeth.

i made that mistake with bubba too...until i realised he was three feet off the ground and still hanging on.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> isn't this the same dog that fought tooth and nail not to go back into the cage?
> 
> i'm thinking maybe you underestimate the strength of her jaw and teeth.
> 
> i made that mistake with bubba too...until i realised he was three feet off the ground and still hanging on.


yes, when she grabs and yanks I am always astounded at how strong she is. And she's getting stronger the longer she eats raw. At one time I could get a bone away from her without too much struggle.

I haven't tried lifting her off the ground like Bubba! It would be great to have a photo of that.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> yes, when she grabs and yanks I am always astounded at how strong she is. And she's getting stronger the longer she eats raw. At one time I could get a bone away from her without too much struggle.
> 
> I haven't tried lifting her off the ground like Bubba! It would be great to have a photo of that.


if she is strong enough to crack those bones, feed semi frozen.....i can't imagine the same weird crazy thing happening again....although, with her, you never know.

come over and you can take the picture whilst i lift him up by his teeth.


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## DeekenDog (Aug 29, 2011)

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the title of this thread.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

magicre said:


> if she is strong enough to crack those bones, feed semi frozen.....i can't imagine the same weird crazy thing happening again....although, with her, you never know.
> 
> come over and you can take the picture whilst i lift him up by his teeth.


you'd think you and I both would be able to take a bone away from a little dog without having to swing them through the air or have a yanking contest.

If you got two Bubbas, you could exercise your arm muscles like weights.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

detirmind little buggar! but oh so cute!


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

DeekenDog said:


> I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the title of this thread.


Same here. I expected it to be a "did it again" thread! Hahaha.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I don't understand WHY she wants to swallow them whole...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> Same here. I expected it to be a "did it again" thread! Hahaha.


If I had let her do it again, I'm not sure I would tell anyone here! Fool me twice and all that 

I wish I knew why she wants to swallow these bones whole - she doesn't do it with pork or beef ribs. 

but I still want her to be able to eat the venison. The backs of those ribs have alot of meat on them if she'd just go after that and not try to rip the bones out.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I guess since she's such a food motivated little beast she wants that food IN HER BELLY ASAP. So since she can't really get a good chew going like most dogs because of the lack of teeth she just goes for it. 
Lily, my oldest Chihuahua, has more teeth that Snorkels but is missing most on the top on one side, and most on the bottom on the other. So the poor girl has no teeth in the back of her mouth that meet together to crunch with. If I give her something like that she'll try to gnaw for a second but for her the goal is to eat so she starts attempting to swallow it too. I realized this pretty early on so decided to just cut her food up in pieces that could go down even if she didn't chew. She'll chew a small piece and still get some chewing benefit but I don't have to worry that she's gonna commit suicide. Seeing as how she's not really able to break bone harder than chicken neck bones it's just easier for everyone involved to just give her pieces small enough to not choke on. 
So my question is this. Why do you want her to chew bone since she has only 4 teeth? Is it just to give her something to occupy herself with? Because at this point I'd think it's maybe not the best plan for the dog that eats like a pig. Not judging, just asking.
If Snorkels is gonna rip one of the ribs away from the rest every time, she might just to get it down the hatch before you can stop her so I think I'd go the safe route. 
And maybe I'm saying that because I love little Snorks from afar and don't want to get on her and read that she was taken down by her food when it fought back and won... :wink:


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I really want her to be able to get all the benefits of bone gnawing the other dogs get. 

But you are right - the venison ribs thing might just be my pride saying i WILL get her to eat them without swallowing. Isn't that ridiculous? It's almost like a competition and I keep coming out the loser.

She gnaws fine on other bones and gets plenty of benefit of teeth cleaning, etc with turkey necks and lambs heads and pork and beef ribs. 

I don't know why I let her drive me so nuts. You are right, she should not be getting any more venison ribs. I can cut off pieces of it to give her the venison, which i would like her to get as an additional protein. you are always the voice of reason!

Maybe it's because I hate my dog being so much smarter than me.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Oh, and I noticed that about Parker, too - he has alot more teeth than Snorkels but he doesn't have top and bottom canines like she does. She can grab and pull and he just doesn't seem to be able to get that leverage.

And speaking of Parker, I gotta go drive through Dallas hell to pick him up.


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## twotonelover (Jan 10, 2011)

Oh man, Snorkels and Rosey should start a "Determined Senior Eaters Club". I had to wrestle a turkey quarter (which looked more like an ostrich quarter) away from her the other day and she just DID NOT want to give it up haha


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> I really want her to be able to get all the benefits of bone gnawing the other dogs get.
> 
> But you are right - the venison ribs thing might just be my pride saying i WILL get her to eat them without swallowing. Isn't that ridiculous? It's almost like a competition and I keep coming out the loser.
> 
> ...


generally, venison ribs are edible. as are goat ribs and lamb ribs.

if that had happened with one of my dogs....i would not have fed venison ribs for a long, long time until i got over it, if ever...it's a mental thing, i think

because my dogs and any dog could have done what snorkels did...it's one of the risks we take feeding raw.

on the other hand, be thankful she doesn't eat sweatpants. a friend of mine lost his dog when they couldn't extract a men's pair of sweatpants from the dog surgically. 

so there are risks to everything we do with our dogs...

hell, where i live, we could get hit by a car driven by a 94 year old....the older they get, the faster they drive....and none of them can see.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

twotonelover said:


> Oh man, Snorkels and Rosey should start a "Determined Senior Eaters Club". I had to wrestle a turkey quarter (which looked more like an ostrich quarter) away from her the other day and she just DID NOT want to give it up haha


Is is just me or does it seem like these hound-y type dogs are the ones that are SO food focused?? 

And Re, you are right - I am so lucky she doesn't eat anything non-edible. It is a huge blessing. 

i did find a bunch of red stuff in her poop two days ago - not blood - and can't figure out what it is. But I bet it was some sort of food at one time.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

xellil said:


> Is is just me or does it seem like these hound-y type dogs are the ones that are SO food focused??
> 
> And Re, you are right - I am so lucky she doesn't eat anything non-edible. It is a huge blessing.
> 
> i did find a bunch of red stuff in her poop two days ago - not blood - and can't figure out what it is. But I bet it was some sort of food at one time.


I have wondered if because their sniffer is so fine tuned everything just smells sooooo good that they have to eat it. All my Dachshunds are like that. A piece of beef heart fell off the table a little while ago and hit the rubber floor right in front of sleeping Toby. He never woke up and it didn't make any noise when it fell. Two seconds later Sabrina was flying across the room from a dead sleep to scarf it up. The sensitive sniffer wins every time....


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Donna Little said:


> I have wondered if because their sniffer is so fine tuned everything just smells sooooo good that they have to eat it. All my Dachshunds are like that. A piece of beef heart fell off the table a little while ago and hit the rubber floor right in front of sleeping Toby. He never woke up and it didn't make any noise when it fell. Two seconds later Sabrina was flying across the room from a dead sleep to scarf it up. The sensitive sniffer wins every time....


Oh yes. Sometimes i put crap around the house just to see how long it takes. Even if she's three rooms away and sound asleep, that sniiffer will start going and her head will go up and off she'll go to find it. Rebel never notices. 

At first I thought it was because her nose is an inch off the ground, but if other similar dogs are doing it, it's gotta just be the nose.

I guess Toby and Rebel always lose out on the good stuff! I know Rebel never stands a chance.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

xellil said:


> Is is just me or does it seem like these hound-y type dogs are the ones that are SO food focused??
> 
> And Re, you are right - I am so lucky she doesn't eat anything non-edible. It is a huge blessing.
> 
> i did find a bunch of red stuff in her poop two days ago - not blood - and can't figure out what it is. But I bet it was some sort of food at one time.


i'm not even going to speculate on the red stuff....

i'm looking at those ribs....and what happened is a one in a snorkels' million....they should never have landed like that...

that they did doesn't mean you should never feed them again. but i'd be standing on top of her with a pair of rubber tipped tongs...


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

There is a guy on the basset forum I'm on he say's it's because that when they were developing dogs the ones that were always hungry were the ones that never stopped hunting. He say's who do you think will be a better hunter one that gets full faster or one that is always hungry. It makes sense to me and Labs are in that group to.

Snorkels just kills me. You may as well give it up, she is going to win.


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