Toys

[bmathers]

For those who feed raw, how do you handle cleaning their toys? Before I started feeding raw, I would clean his fabric toys when they looked grungy, probably once a month. I never cleaned his plastic or rubber toys unless they got nasty from being outside. With raw, I am fastidious about cleaning his bowls, the counter, and anything else that the raw touches, but am wondering about his toys?


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[Black Labbies]

That's a good question. As told to me when we started feeding raw, some 20 years ago, as long as the dog(s) doesn't touch the toy for 1 hour afterwards, then it doesn't need washing. If it's touched, then yes, wash with hot water - no detergents and let dry.

At our house, we have weird dogs, who love to carry their bowls around after eating (Opal doesn't do this any more, it's an age thing), so no toys get touched. We don't have any stuffie toys around because Ursa destuffs them. We wash their stainless steel bowls every evening after people dishes and place the bowls in a stainless steel sink with hot water and about a tbs of white vinegar. Wash them with a dog-only sponge, rinse, and dry with a dog-only small towel. Other than daily/hourly wiping of the counter tops, sinks, laundry, etc, twice a week everything gets Vim-ed. Dog beds and blankets get washed weekly.

I'm a clean-freak too, so understand your concerns.

[bmathers]

Thanks for your response. I am definitely a clean freak and my routine is to pick up his food bowl as soon as he is done and put it in the dishwasher. He gets breakfast and dinner, so this is done twice a day. I leave his water bowl there all day and put it in the dishwasher at night. At night I also wipe down his elevated food stand with wipes and I wipe my counter after any raw food prep.

As for his toys, he often goes for one of his stuffies soon after eating, so I really should toss those in the washing machine. (It’s almost like he’s having his post meal cigar!) I hate to have to do it every day though, so I might have to change his behavior and not let him have those toys for an hour after eating.

On a related note, he is a kisser and I have been avoiding his kisses right after he eats. The hour (or three or four) rule of thumb sounds good for that too!