First ever BARF meal....

[pinkcarys]

and it went really well!   

We gave him a chicken wing in his bowl, which he licked all over, before taking it out of his bowl and trying to walk off with it.  We picked him up to bring him back to the mat as we didn't want chicken bits all over the floor, and he let out a little "This is MY chicken wing" kind of growl. He didn't want to stay on his mat so we let him eat it in his bed.  After lots of licking, he started chewing, then finally crunching and eating.  I sat next to him and every now and then gave him a pat or stroke, called his name and gave him a tiny treat by putting my hand in the way of the chicken, and he was very pleased with this and didn't try gaurding it.

The only worry he/I had was when there was just a small fleshy bit left with quite a sharp bone sticking out.  It was rather small and he got the bone wedged in his mouth and he/I got a bit panicked as he was shaking his head around trying to dislodge it.  Thankfully he did, and he managed to crunch the bone before trying to swallow it again.  Is there any way I can make sure he doesn't do this again?  He was fine until it got a bit small and he just tried to rush it I guess.

I'm very relieved and ridiculously proud of my little Griffin. Thanks to COL for introducing us to BARF.  We'll see how we go, but so far, so good. And Griffin loved it!

[happydog]

Aww bless Griffin  . it's funny when they have their first chicken wing isn't it? Scary too. Once they get the hang of it though, it'll be gone in no time at all .   

You could try giving him his wings after his normal meal (providing it is raw too as raw and cooked are digested at different rates and may lead to an upset tum), so that he is not so hungry and less likely to bolt it.  Also don't feed straight after (or straight before) excercise. Don't worry too much if he brings a bit back for another chew either. It happens to quite a few peoples dogs on here too. Once he has fully adapted to raw only he will be able to completely digest bone, Fern rarely has any bits come out the other end in any recognisable form  .

Fern prefers to take her wings off away from her bowl to crunch too, so I have taught her to 'take it out' and she enjoys hers on the patio or lawn. Saves me having to clean up after her.

[Joules]

I used to bash the chicken wings with a rolling pin to break the bones up a bit for Coco until she really got the hang of them    You might try this until Griffin is a bit more used the crunching up bones 

[pinkcarys]

His second chicken wing went down really well too. Then his third meal is mushed up veg and mince, not so keen.  He looked up at me with an "Am I expected to eat that?  Where's my chicken wing" look on his face.  He'll get there, we'll just perservere.  I keep hearing you all saying that a healthy dog won't starve.

[clarey-doll]

Hi,
I gave Lady her first wing yesterday she didnt know what to do  with it at first
 but once she got the hang of it it was gone

How many chicken wings should she get a day and how often?

And have you tried natures menu frozen raw food?
She seems to like that too

 

[Aaron_W]

We give Bracken and Jasmine 2 chicken wings each night after there cooked meat, we started out giving them both raw meat but Bracken turned her nose up at it although Jasmine loved it at first, so after a while we started cooking Bracken's and giving Jasmine hers raw still, until Jasmine realised that Bracken was getting something she wasn't  so ended up cooking for both of them ..... 

Does anyone have any problems with getting your dogs to eat vegetables ...... Jasmine and Bracken both seem to turn there noses up at it, any suggestions??

[Joules]

Does anyone have any problems with getting your dogs to eat vegetables ...... Jasmine and Bracken both seem to turn there noses up at it, any suggestions??

Yep, Coco won't eat veg on their own    So I pulp them and freeze in ice cube trays - I then mix a couple of defrosted cubes in with her mince meals.  That fools her 

[Aaron_W]

Does anyone have any problems with getting your dogs to eat vegetables ...... Jasmine and Bracken both seem to turn there noses up at it, any suggestions??

Yep, Coco won't eat veg on their own    So I pulp them and freeze in ice cube trays - I then mix a couple of defrosted cubes in with her mince meals.  That fools her 

We've tried that and they seem to have uncovered the evil truth of the veg and turn there noses up at it, I was considering trying something like the easygreen supplement from www.dorwest.com does anybody know anyone who uses this .......