Thank you, all of you, for your tips! I read Give your Dog a Bone by Ian Billinghurst, so I'm going to start with what he suggests as it intersects with what is readily and cheaply available to buy: chicken necks and cut up carcass pieces prepared for dogs from the market, along with chicken organs, Brewer's yeast and seaweed, eggs, yoghurt, and ground up vegetables and fruits, from our own raw peelings from dinner (blended). Didn't occur to me that I could get ground meat, which makes sense to throw into the mix for ease of eating.
The bones you envisage your dog eating are classed as recreational bones (i.e. they dont form part of the diet but are to pass time), they are also good for cleaning teeth. You will find these lovely bones filled with marrow at a local traditional butchers shop. Dont give ones that are cooked that you can buy from the pet shop as they are dangerous. They will keep your pup entertained for ages.
I gather these are more like the leg bone from a lamb or cow? Do I understand correctly that the small bone and cartilage from a chicken would be totally consumed by Morty while the larger bones with marrow (bought from butcher) would be recreational in the sense that they don't get totally consumed? What are the best animals and cuts to ask for for recreational bones for a 15 week Cocker?
Freezing in portions, plastic table cloth, ear-free bowl - great ideas, thanks! Also, fish - great idea. Probably easy to get heads and offcuts from the market.
I've been preparing chicken stomachs, livers and hearts, chopped into small pieces with scissors, quickly blanched (1 minute) in boiling water then on lowest setting in oven for 4 hours, then frozen in little baggies. The idea here is to use these for training. So far they are working really well with my friend's beautiful cocker who suddenly loves me and my home:) My only question here is: because I have blanched and dried these pieces, do they have less nutritional value? Should I not rely on these treats as part of a valid "meal" for Morty as I am training him?
I do have kids in the house, 12 and 7. I will teach them good hygiene around raw meat (good lesson to learn anyway). I guess I'll just have to see how it goes once he's here. Good to know there are intermediate ready-made products available in case I have to modify my plan with kids around.
I gather I will learn all of this from the vet once I have Morty, but is the de-worming and de-flea-ing (and tick control?) a pretty standard vet protocol anyway or is there something particular I should be communicating with the vet because of the raw food diet?
Again, thanks to all of you for the feedback. Nice to know I can ask for advice. This is going to be an adventure!