Hey Carmen....BARF ?

[DirtySouthChins]

Is it normal for them to get sick? We started them out 3 days ago, but we are slowly doing a transition.....We have been feeding them chicken only (whole (cut up), legs, wings, etc.) to get them used to it, than we were going to work into adding other things over the next few weeks! The first night Dakota (our rottie male) puked it back up about 3am, the 2nd and 3rd night I think it was Scooby that got sick, and miss Gidget (our 1yr. female rottie) won't chew, she just swallows it all whole, which leads to her not having a very nice stool is this normal? Or do you think maybe a few of them are having problems digesting this and their systems are liking it?
Darren said since it's been 3 nights and all 3 nights 1-3 of the dog's have been getting sick, he is afraid to keep going with it!!
Help!!
Thanks hun
Oh just so ya know we have still be feeding them their dry food in the morning, and giving them the chicken at night! (slow transition).

[RSbunny]

Biscuit never threw up. It sounds to me like they aren't chewing the bones properly so they aren't digesting in their system. The girl that I works with owns three dogs and if they get a chicken carcass they get the whole thing for the night. She lets them pull it apart. If they have to work at it they might not swallow as big a chunk and so they will digest it properly. If you don't think they'd all share a carcass just yet then maybe switch to a meaty bone that they can have each that is larger and that they need to chew through.

[DirtySouthChins]

Thanks Carmen I will relay the info to Darren

[RSbunny]

Just let me know if you have any more questions!

[DirtySouthChins]

Will do, thanks again....sorry for not being so talkative, had alot on my mind earlier

[Eli]

are you feeding them Chicken Bones? isn't that deadly to them, can't they give them splinters?

[RSbunny]

only if they are cooked. ALL bones that are cooked will splinter....raw bones on the other hand are fine.

[RSbunny]

Quote: Originally Posted by NavyWife97 Will do, thanks again....sorry for not being so talkative, had alot on my mind earlier

Don't worry Kim, I was the same way...it's why I didn't post much!!! Just got straight to the point and that was it!

[DirtySouthChins]

We are going out today to buy bigger meat bones, such as turkey legs, or rib bones/meat, etc.... Wish us luck

[Z Car Barbie]

Sweetie, how much chicken are you feeding your dogs? If they're not used to it, then it will upset their stomachs. And, sorry, but is the "farting" comment under your avatar a joke, or was it meant to be serious? Unfortunately, just like us humans, chicken can cause severe gastrointestinal problems for dogs, even more so than us. Their digestive system cannot handle what ours can, and large quantities can cause severe gas, extreme abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Of all the dogs I've had, I've learned to only give them small portions of table scraps (3-4 Tablespoons at the most within a 12-hour period of time), whether it's chicken meat, steak fat, eggs, bread, etc. Anything more than that, they've all either barfed it up, or developed gas, diarrhea or constipation, which was extremely painful for them.

Some dogs can actually be raised on "people food", but, IMO, it's cruel to do that to a dog. Some may gradually accept it with no problems, however, others never completely accept it. So, even giving your dog "people food" along with its "dog food", the quantity should be very limited. Nutrition is the key. If they cannot digest the people food, then they lose the nutrients they need. Dog food is always best as a primary source of nutrients.

Also, I've never given my dogs chicken or turkey bones (raw, baked, boiled or otherwise), as I feel that it can still splinter their stomachs, especially if it's not chewed up properly ... and if there's smaller bones attached to the larger bones, they can become deadly to a dog. Giving raw chicken or turkey meat and/or bones (or even raw beef) to a dog ... I would never subject my babies to the dangerous bacteria ... but that's just my personal opinion.

[DirtySouthChins]

This is the BARF diet, everything is fed raw.... raw bones will not splinter only cooked bones will.... I know this may sound wrong to you, but there is a ton of information out there that backs up the healthiness of this diet, they don't get what we would call "table scraps". We are gradually changing their diet over to the BARF diet, and I think our problem was we were leaving too much skin/fat on the bones and breaking them up too small, so a few of our dog's weren't digesting it properly. Tonight they got bigger meatier bones so we will see how it goes
If you go back to a previous thread I posted I think the title was "BARF Diet ?" there is several links in there you can read upon to understand a little more about this diet. IMO most of the dry dog foods out there is far worse than this diet, Yes the food we had them on was working for them, but it was still slacking something as it didn't seem to be giving them the full nutrients they truly need. With this diet, once they are used to the RMB portion than we will slowly do another transition into the veggie part of the diet, with added vitamins where needed and such.
ZBarbie, I sounded just like you months ago when I first started my research and now am beginning to understand why people do choose the BARF diet.
Oh as for the farting comment under my name that is from the title fairy I didn't give that to myself, it has something to do with the funny story I posted about our Beau

[RSbunny]

Barbie yep Kim is right. The BARF diet is all raw foods. Biscuit gets chicken bones (raw of course) at least four times a week. They are less fatty than the beef bones we get her which helps keep her weight right. She has never been sick! In fact she only gets sick when fed commercial food...then she gets weepy eyes, dandruff and give her too much of the stuff, she vomits. Those are the reasons I looked into the BARF diet and decided it was definently for me and Biscuit, I wouldn't feed her any other way, or any future dogs for that matter. There are sites out there that will say that the BARf diet is bad but IMO the people that are for BARF diets make much more sense than those that are against it and Biscuit is living proof to me!

[RSbunny]

oh I forgot to add....my 40 pound dog does tiny little chihuahua sized poos when she goes to the toilet....much smaller than the big whoppers my mum's 40 pound dog does...she is fed a commercial diet. The reason why Biscuit's poos are so small is because she is actually using the food in her body, where as Cindy has so much wastage....did that make sense cause I'm really tired?

[DirtySouthChins]

Carmen yup you made sense Hey we took all of the skin and fat off the chicken last night and they did great.... We fed Gidget a giant turkey leg about a pound and she actually had to chew it, so we are thinking that was better for us, as she likes to devour her food one of the 3 that sleeps with us hacked up a little bit of flem last night, but nothing major, so it looks like it's going to work We forgot to buy regular chicken meat yesterday so this morning we gave them ground beef with a veggie mixture, almost kind of meat loafish We were starting them on the chicken to convert them slowly, as I mentioned previously, but if the beef/veggie mixture works well with them today than I think we will be off to a good start

[RSbunny]

Kim!!! it's just like anything, wean them off the old food gradually! sounds like it is going to be great though!!!!