09 April 2012

{09april2012: i like big bones and i cannot lie}

We get Darwin's raw knuckle bones from the butcher at Pike Place Market, and usually they come cut in half (or thirds) and so one bone is a good snack size for her. The last time I picked up a bag of bones though, they came not cut up and HUGE. Who knew cow knuckles were so large! It was bigger than my fist, probably bigger than two of my fists.
{must.not.make.eye.contact.}
{can.not.resist.}
{give it here!}
{nom! nom! nom!}

When I gave it to her I didn't really think it through, about how big it was and how it may not be good for her to have free reign at it all night. I learned my lesson though... the next night when I took her out for her potty break she was... backed up. Rock hard poop nuggets. Took her 15 minutes of pooping out pebble sized poops in her potty area (two strips of grass along both sides of the dead end by our house). She would not leave her potty area til she was completely done and I swear I went through half a roll of poop bags picking up single nuggets at a time thinking she was done. It was a long process.
The next time I gave her one of those full bones (there were three in the bag I bought), I made sure to take it away after an hour or so.
Is that normal? Rock hard poops after eating/gnawing on a raw bone? Is that okay for them to have rock hard poops? 

15 comments:

  1. So, any left to share???

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra
    PeeEssWoo: Mom doesn't have any khomments on the pebblepoops - she does marvel at mine when I do have some raw stuffs - such a nice kholour ;-)

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  2. After pawing through a couple BARF books we have it says eating raw bones will make your "logs" less squishy and easier to pick up. A quick read of some raw FAQs say a lot of straining indicates the need for more meat less bone. Since we haven't actually tried raw feeding yet I guess I won't be too much help. Maybe Honey's blog will have an answer for you. I think she has a raw feeding tab at the top of the blog/website.

    Since you've brought up the topic it's got me thinking maybe we should read those books and give it a try. What are the softest raw bones you have found? I'm thinking with my old teeth we should try something that is soft. Chicken wings look scary to Mom have you eaten those? How long have you been eating raw? Has it ever caused any need for medical intervention?

    Emma

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  3. Oh Darwin how wonderful that looks yummy. Haylie turns her nose up at raw, I so wish we could give her raw meat bones, sorry I cant be of help on that.

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  4. wow, we never had no knuckles
    Benny & Lily

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  5. That looks yummy

    Stop on by for a visit
    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com

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  6. Yes, too hard means too much bone. Too soft means too much meat. Oddly, my dogs can be constipated with too much meat and still have too soft poop. In other words, they will strain to go and it will be super soft! Other times, they can have almost white poop, if they'vehad a lot of bone day before, butit comes out very easy. Im less concernedd wirh hardness, tho i do watch for it, than i am with straaining. I think if you mess up now and then and it screws her up for a day, its no biggie, as long as she's back to normal in a day or so of fixing her diet.

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  7. Ps was it you that once told me about Flor Essence? Herbal detox tea?

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  8. Hi Brooke, sorry but can't help with the hard poops. Sounds like a little dehydration? The few times ours have big meaty bones they usually have a bit of 'the squirts'. From what Wild Dingo says this could be from too much raw meat. Hope you work it out cause they certainly love the big bones to chew on. Love the eyes on Darwin before she grabs the bone hehe. No worries, and love, Carol (and Stella and Rory)

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  9. Definitely too much bone...that's very common in a raw fed dog when they get too much of a boney meal.

    Let her chew on it for little while and then take it away...constipation is no fun! BOL!

    wags, wiggles & slobbers
    Murphydog

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  10. wow. those things are huge!!!
    looks like darwin loved it though!

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  11. Hi Darwin, I think that you had too much bone. If your mom limits your chewing to an hour like she has been doing, you should be fine. Two strips of grass? Is there more grass in Singapore?

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  12. That bone looks super yummy!!

    Our human works for a raw food company and the vet that trained her said that if a dog doesn't normally eat a raw diet and it gets a raw bone, it will either be constipated or have diaherra. This is because the stomach acids are weakend by the biscuits so are not at their usual strong levels to digest the raw meat and bone (which is why you should never mix between raw and biscuits - an occasional raw bone to chew if fine as long as you are aware there may be stool problems :) ).

    If the dog is on raw diet, constipation normally means there was not enough "roughage" eaten (tripe/vegi) with the raw bone. If the poop is sloppy then not enough meaty bone was given and/or too much "roughage".

    Hope that helps, its just a bit of general infomation that I was taught! (Of cousre the above only applies if the dog has good intestinal health already)!

    ~Cheers,
    Laura (Lexi and Jasper the Danes)

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  13. O the stool problems are only temporary :) with the occasional bone on a normal biscuit diet!

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  14. Remi has been eating raw for some time now, and he also gets hard poops after chewing on a bone or if his meal has more bone (necks). Usually goes back to normal the next day. Typically, I let Remi chew on a big bone for about 30 minutes, take it away, and freeze it for a few days. Hope all is well with you guys.

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  15. We're late visiting & commenting so you've probably had loads of great advice already! :-) But just wanted to add our agreement - yeah, too much pebble poo (& constipation) = too much bone in the diet. It's not a big deal - just give less (smaller bone) next time! ;-) We notice a real difference in Honey's poo based on what she had the day before: on the days she has chicken (chicken wings) - the next day, her poo is very firm, pale and hard and a lot less in volume (but generally, coz chicken bone is soft and she isn't having too much, it's not too small or hard and she doesn't get too constipated) - and then the day after her red meat days (when she gets boneless lamb offcuts), her poo is dark & soft. On the days we add grain to her evening meals, her poo the next day is a lot more in volume, ie. bigger! And smellier! :-)

    We used to give Honey "lamb brisket/lamp flaps" (which is the section including some soft rib bones) on her red meat days and she coped with this fine when she was younger but we've noticed now that she's older, her digestion is much more sluggish and she seems to have a hard time coping with too much bone in one go - so now we've swapped to giving her just offcuts on her red meat days and she gets all her bone from her chicken, which is softer bone.

    Having a bit of bone is actually very good - keeping their poo quite firm is desirable, especially as it helps to squeeze the anal glands on the way out and so prevent them getting clogged up.

    Hsin-Yi

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