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[zarathustra]

What's the consensus on raw turkey necks for dogs? Ok or not?

[stitch]

What's the consensus on raw turkey necks for dogs? Ok or not?

Oy.  I have no actual knowledge, but I can't get past the raw poultry.  It's just been ingrained in me for so long.  Never, ever, ever, eat raw poultry. 

(I get that animals eat 'raw' in the wild, but they also don't live nearly as long, so I don't give that argument much weight.)

[zarathustra]

What's the consensus on raw turkey necks for dogs? Ok or not?

Oy.  I have no actual knowledge, but I can't get past the raw poultry.  It's just been ingrained in me for so long.  Never, ever, ever, eat raw poultry. 

(I get that animals eat 'raw' in the wild, but they also don't live nearly as long, so I don't give that argument much weight.)

Phft...after all the dead mice my dog has eaten, the actual raw flesh of the bird would be refreshingly wholesome to me...but it's the bone issue I'm concerned about. Most raw bones are supposed to be OK for dogs and I've seen dried turkey necks in the store, so....

[bud04]

No. No. No bones for dogs. It only takes one little bone fragment to hurt them internally.

[pink_]

No. No. No bones for dogs. It only takes one little bone fragment to hurt them internally.

This.

[zarathustra]

No. No. No bones for dogs. It only takes one little bone fragment to hurt them internally.

No. No. No bones for dogs. It only takes one little bone fragment to hurt them internally.

This.

OK! Sounds good.  Just the sort of confirmation I needed!  :D

[infopri]

No. No. No bones for dogs. It only takes one little bone fragment to hurt them internally.

This.

CHIME.  I used to give my dogs bones, until Big Dog happened to vomit a little in the dog surgeon's office.  (She was there for an exam before having a torn ACL repaired.)  When the surgeon saw a bit of bone in the vomit, she went bananas and read me the riot act, giving me statistics on how many emergency surgeries she had done on dogs whose owners gave them bones.  She also gave me statistics on dogs who die in the wild from internal injuries from eating bone.

No bones.  No turkey necks.  If you must indulge your pup, just give him/her a little turkey breast and call it a day.

[lexan]

What do you all use for chew toys for puppies?  My 4-month-old lab/border collie mix might condescend to examine the nylabone if it's in her crate overnight, but otherwise she's got no interest.  The Kong is fascinating when I put her lunch in it, but gets boring as soon as it's empty.  She loves sticks (which she shreds all over the kitchen floor) and rawhide (which makes her fart) and plush toys (which she rips open, and then I pull the stuffing out, and then she chews at the shell), and I'm wondering if the hive mind has any other suggestions for things she might like that would be less messy/stinky/expensive.  She's just starting her 'no I must chew everything!' phase, and I'd much rather buy her toys than have to replace my shoes/dish towels/chairs.

[alleyoxenfree]

Tube socks are cheap.  A pair of old tube socks, knotted together, suit some dogs.  They have a chewy, springy texture in the mouth, they can be tossed or flung about.

[pink_]

Pink_puppy likes those rope toys that are knotted at either end--I found a three pack at costco for like $10, and we are still on the first one (she's a very dedicated chewer, so that is saying something).  She also likes the loofah dogs and the kong and the nylabone galileo, which is just a nylabone in a different shape--she goes through the regular ones too quickly.

[outlier]

What do you all use for chew toys for puppies?  My 4-month-old lab/border collie mix might condescend to examine the nylabone if it's in her crate overnight, but otherwise she's got no interest.  The Kong is fascinating when I put her lunch in it, but gets boring as soon as it's empty.  She loves sticks (which she shreds all over the kitchen floor) and rawhide (which makes her fart) and plush toys (which she rips open, and then I pull the stuffing out, and then she chews at the shell), and I'm wondering if the hive mind has any other suggestions for things she might like that would be less messy/stinky/expensive.  She's just starting her 'no I must chew everything!' phase, and I'd much rather buy her toys than have to replace my shoes/dish towels/chairs.

Our border collie mix loves her "Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball" but it's another of those toys that gets filled with food--dry kibble, in the case of our dog. Our pit mix puppy likes it, too, but it's really great for giving the border collie something to work on.

Socks are good. I've also recycled old t-shirts into chew and pull toys by ripping them into strips and braiding and/or knotting them. I bet sweats would work even better. Two of our three dogs also like playing with an old football. First it was just a little deflated, and that was good because it was soft enough to grab. Now it has a big hole in one end and it works even better for keep-away in its present state. While two of the dogs are tearing around with the football, the border collie is fully occupied chasing and retrieving a tennis ball. Lexan, a border collie/lab mix would probably love a tennis ball to play with, but she may become obsessive about it!

Sikora, have you tried a grooming mitt or glove on Laika? They're very gentle, so might not be that effective on matted hair, but a little every day might desensitize her.

[edwidge]

Sir G loves his corn cob toy (purchased at the dog store). It looks like a half-eaten corn cob, and it's okay if he chews/swallows little bits of it (made by the same people who make the Nylabones). We sometimes smear peanut butter or yogurt on it; it gets into the crevices and entertains Sir G for a while.

I've also read about (but never tried) another idea: take old washcloths, soak them in chicken stock, twist them up, then put them in the freezer. Voila! Instant yummy, reusable chew toys. This approach might be kind of messy, however, which you were trying to avoid.

[lexan]

thanks for all those suggestions!  Outlier, she has several tennis balls, which she will chase until her tongue hangs out and occasionally bat around the house for her own entertainment.  I also have a couple of rope bones for tug games, but she doesn't really like those unless either a person or another dog is hanging off the end of it.  I think I'll try some old t-shirt/knotted up sock toys soon.

[anthroid]

Back from Thanksgiving at SO's house.  I'll post pictures tomorrow, but SOey (SO's puppy) is incredibly cute!  She is teeny tiny, only 9 weeks and maybe 7 lbs.  Anniedog (who dedicated threadwatchers will recall delivered 10 puppies in August, before I knew her) worked very hard at bringing this little girl puppy in line.  At first SO was quite nervous--SOey is, of course, quite mouthy and biting--she's teething, of course, being a puppy.  SO only had a tiny baby puppy Kong (I picked up a teething ring and a couple of things for SOey yesterday, to which she took immediately!).  Well, Anniedog wasn't having any of that biting stuff, and as the Thanksgiving time went on, SO felt more comfortable with Anniedog correcting the puppy.  Anniedog put one of her considerably long front legs on the puppy and turned her on the puppy's back, so that the puppy was submissive.  But the puppy is so tiny, and Anniedog is close to 60 lbs, that we didn't feel comfortable letting Anniedog go on with this for too long.  When we're back at Christmas time, SOey will be 16 pounds, probably, and a bit more of a challenge for Anniedog!  (SOey ultimately will probably be about 80 pounds...) Still, they got along very, very well.  Quite a relief.  And SO finally took my advice and took up the puppy's water dish at 8 p.m. last night and guess what?  She slept until about 5 a.m.  The previous two nights she was whining every couple of hours.

Anniedog is a fabulous traveller.  She just got into the back of the SUV (I had her bed there), curled up, and slept.  She didn't really want any food or water as we travelled, though she peed when I found quiet places for her to explore for a few minutes (adding a good 45 minutes to my travel time...).  Less encouragingly, Anniedog escaped out of SO's front door yesterday and sped off to the left barking at the neighbor raking his leaves (and he shouted at her and waved the rake, trying to get her back to us) and then off to the right, invading the yard of the neighbor down the hill--whose golden retriever was out.  When we finally caught up with Anniedog, she was making friends with the golden but she had absolutely no sense of territory.  At first SO was quite upset, seeing this episode as major aggression on Anniedog's part.  I see it as a result of confusion on her part--she hadn't been to SO's house before and, since I was walking her on lead around the neighborhood without encountering other dogs visually, I suspect she thought the whole block was her territory.  Mainly it's troubling that Anniedog has not mastered a good recall command, and I clearly have to work on that big time.

I'm glad the various ill forum dogs are feeling better.  Perhaps we need to have a virtual dog play date?

[bud04]

Oh anthroid I love the idea of a virtual dog play date! My two basset hounds would love to play with Anniedog and all the other forum dogs. When shall we schedule it?