Blah!

Soo, I went to my local healthy pet store and was inquiring about what to feed Reggie to help clean his teeth. (He's a 2, soon to be 3, year old Yellow Lab who has always had very clean, white teeth. I'm noticing lately some brown on them that I'm hoping isn't cavities, and would like to just start preventative measures now, anyway.)

They recommended turkey necks and chicken backs. I happened to have a turkey neck in my freezer left over from Thanksgiving that I was planning to use to make bone broth and just never had a chance. She said I could just thaw it out and give it to him and he would eat it.

Reggie has never eaten anything raw, except fruits and veggies. So when I gave it to him, he didn't know what to do with it, and then spit it out several times and wouldn't even try to eat it. Finally after about an hour of him just leaving it in various places in my kitchen I threw it out.

Did he not eat it because it's a foreign concept to him having been on dry kibble his whole life? Should I have done something differently?

Thoughts?

Thanks!
~Kristy

My dog didn't know what to do with his turkey neck initially. After pouncing on it a few times and licking it for a while, he finally laid down and got down to business.

Next time, try giving it to him on an empty stomach, if you didn't already. I probably would have just wrapped it up in a plastic bag and put it back in the fridge or freezer and offered it again at a different time. I have never personally had a dog absolutely refuse raw, but I have limited experience in that I've only offered RMB and MM to my last six dogs, but I guess it is possible that one might refuse it.

Even chewing a raw marrow bone is OK. Sometimes it takes a few times to get them used to raw bones.

When we first tried turkey necks our dogs didn't like them either - too big. We cut them up and they munched them down. They like chicken backs too but we have found that wings and wing sections are the easiest. We give each dog one in the morning feeding. We can hear them crunching so they aren't swallowing them whole.

We tried to cut the turkey neck in half, but that didn't work either. I went to our local healthy pet store and got him a marrow bone to try... it's thawing in the fridge now, so we'll see!

Luna was very suspicious when I first started her on raw. She caught on after a few offerings.

This second time I tried to give him the marrow bone (on an empty stomach), he carried it around for a few minutes, laid down beside it and cried, then took it outside and threw up 3 times. I checked, and it was mostly stomach fluids and 1 tiny little piece of meat he got off the bone.

The people at the health pet store said they've never heard of a dog not being able to tolerate raw... but I'm wondering? I mean, it shouldn't be the case, he's only going to be 3 in August and he's been on high quality food his entire life... not like he's used to junk or anything like that!

Sounds like he bile vomited due to an empty stomach maybe????


Every dog I've ever had knew exactly what to do when they were given a bone. I've fed turkey necks to Sophie, she loves them, but she will occasionally get the runs from them, so I don't give them very often.

Sounds to me like too much too soon. If Reggie is 3-years-old and has never eaten raw meat, a turkey neck will not only be foriegn to his taste buds but also to his digestive system. Dogs that have been on a kibble diet for more than a year need to be introduced slowly to raw meat/bone. You might try feeding him frozen marrow bones, that's what I give my dog to chew on once a week, sometimes beef rib also. I feed my dog a raw prey diet, so she gets plenty of bone content, but I also give her a frozen marrow bone now and then. Regardless, always monitor your dog when you feed them raw bones. They may be able to swallow weight bearing bones (marrow bones) but they cannot digest them. Most dogs do not try and swallow marrow bones, but you must know your dog and monitor them. I would keep offering the bones and see what happens.