If you're feeding RAW, should grouse be OFF the menu?

[the_longwalker]

I just asked this question of our breeder when we picked up our Elkhound pup two days ago. He said to just open them up and pull the guts out and fire them at the dog without feathers. Same for rabbits without the skin.

[kinderdoggin]

I freeze game meat for minimum of 2 weeks before feeding (including grouse,duck and goose bits, but I do not feed any feathers), the freezing being a precautionary measure against parasites. Then it's fed frozen or at least chilled. My dogs are hunting dogs- retrieving grouse, waterfowl and hare. They are certainly smart enough to know the difference between cold food in their bowl and hot fuzzy game that needs retrieving afield. Train your dog not to munch birds regardless of what they eat, it's really not an issue.

[mastercaster]

I also see a lot of dogs with tooth fractures from chewing on hard bones and antlers. If you feed it frozen hard I would worry about her teeth as well. Good thing we had a thread about pet insurance as well

I have to wonder if there's a correlation about when the dog/pup was first introduced to antlers and bones and dental issues. I have a hunch that people hear about antlers being a good chew 'toy', how they keep the dog's teeth clean, and then give them to their dog when it's older' having no past experience with them,,,,,same for raw bones. By then the dog has strong jaws and goes at them with too much gusto.

I started giving my pup antler pieces when she still had her puppy teeth. She's grown up with them and knows about the bone density of them. Same with the dozen or so deer legs and front shoulder blades I started giving her when she was 7 months old. I'd end of taking the longer portion of the leg bones away from her once she got to a certain point on them because she was breaking up little pieces of them. They're a lot thinner than domestic farm animal bones.

In any event, I ended up getting 20 grouse over 2 1/2 days last week and decided not to give her any of the breast bones. Maybe I'll save some from the next hunt, freeze them, and decide later whether to feed them to her or not,,,,maybe after the season is over.

IMG_1430 by Brent Davy, on Flickr