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I think the porc hock from Sat's supper gave him a litlle "trouble".
Sun morning's poo was kind of muddy & greenish

Chicken again. Once it's back to normal - porc hock again - he LOVED it ! What a jaw & teeth workout.

Hubby kept asking - "the porc bone is ok? He'll eat it?"
He's still a little amazed. I guess I'm more relaxed about it.

I can't wait until we can progress to other foods !

Remember, it's not a race. He'll get used to different foods.
It is kind of fun watching them. When I get off here Duke's getting a frozen mackerel, head, tail guts everything for his birthday .
Haven't seen anyone regret going raw.

Speaking of pork hocks. I gave each of my dogs one last night. After an hour they were still chewing away on them and really hadn't made much progress. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want feeding time to be an all night ordeal. So do I take them away after a half hour or so or just let them chew until they are done?

My big guy just downs everything so fast...except for chicken skin, it's almost like bubble gum!
I let them keep it overnight then if not eaten I take it away...I dont want rotting food smell in my house.

As long as they are working on them I'd leave them alone. It's a great workout for their jaws and teeth.
If they are just playing, I'd take it away after a half hour, though I don't know why they would take so long.
Are they good with other food like chicken?

They are good with everything else I have fed them...chicken, turkey, ribs..some fish, some beef....that is why I was so confused with the pork hocks..they just didnt seem to get anywhere. Everything else seems to be gone in about a half hour or so. But I think I might just give them back to them tonite during the hockey game....that'll keep them quiet and busy.

hi ... i will be starting Tory on RAW within the next week ... and have already made some purchases to get us going. she is a shepherd (about 54 lbs at the moment - and still growing) ... and i'm wondering if the chicken backs are too small for her ??? ... i read on the yahoo RAW forum that someone feeds nothing but chicken backs for the first week ... they just seem so small compared to her enormous mouth !!!! .... thx for the great info here ... i'm trying to soak it all up !!! ... mel

A lot of people say that they are too boney, like feeding just chicken wings.
I just leave the backs or wings attached to the chicken quarters.

Congrats Mel !

Patti99 - about the pork hocks, I bought turkey drumsticks this week - they are bigger than my head, so I cut off some chunks of meat and then gave him what was left of the meat attached to the huuuge bone (my dog is only 15 lbs), and 3 hours later, he was still working on it! By that time it was 1am, passed my bedtime, so we took it off him and went to bed. He had it again the next day and he spent another 2.5 hours on it! It wasn't really a meal but he got all the meat off it and was gradually getting through the bone. I'd just leave them to it if they are still working on them - with my dog's first chicken leg quarter, it took him 4 hours in total to get through it. And some days he takes longer to eat than others - varying from 5 mins to an hour, so if they're happy to sit there and eat for over an hour, I'd let them.

Mel - congrats! Keep us posted on what your first week goes like!

Kathryn

Mel, Thumbs up! Congrats on starting Raw!
It's interesting!

Like Nathalie said, chicken backs are too bony to be given as a meal on its own. Whole chickens are a much better option because there's way more meat.
However, I gave my Shepherd who then was 50pds, 2 chicken quarters a day for the first week... I find it cheaper to give leg quarters rather than whole chickens.
Looking forward to updates on your experience too!
Good luck!