Good bones and treats for dogs from meat store

[guatemama07]

Hi everyone, I have a new GSD (5 year old spayed female.) I have been getting some advice on food in other threads. I am not doing all Raw right now, not ready for that yet, but supplementing high-quality kibble with raw chicken leg quarters and turkey necks.

I have a meat plant with a store near me, and I was wondering what would be good, safe bones/food products in addition to the above. I want some bones for my girl to chew on and additional treats to supplement her diet (she needs to gain about 3-5 lbs.)

I've read not to give ribs to a dog, was wondering: what about pork or beef neckbones? Cow feet? (looking at a store list and wondering what to buy)

This is the product list from the store I will be visiting, if you don't mind looking, (it's one page) is there anything else from here that I should get her?
http://caughmanmeats.com/printables/menu.pdf

Thanks so much for helping a new dog owner!

[doggiedad]

i give my dog center cut beef femur
bones. i going to buy him antlers.
i have to find out which are harder
deer or elk ( ithink it's elk).

treats:
Frutables, Trader Joe's biscuits, Newman's Own,
Zukes, Blue Buffalo, these are the brands i have
on hand. i use others but i can't think of the names.
i also treats from the specialty stores.

[wyoung2153]

Originally Posted by doggiedad

treats:
Frutables, Trader Joe's biscuits, Newman's Own,
Zukes, Blue Buffalo, these are the brands i have
on hand. i use others but i can't think of the names.
i also treats from the specialty stores.

Frutables really?? Did not know that.. Now that might be something Titan would like.. he's picker than ever..

But I have been using Blue Buffalo Wilderness treats.. Salmon ones to be specific.. Titan can't get enough of them.

[doggiedad]

Fruitables is a dog treat not fresh fruit. i do give my
dog some fresh fruit.

Originally Posted by wyoung2153

Frutables really?? Did not know that.. Now that might be something Titan would like.. he's picker than ever..

But I have been using Blue Buffalo Wilderness treats.. Salmon ones to be specific.. Titan can't get enough of them.

[ChancetheGSD]

Oooh!! I see you can get pork feet, get some of those. They've always been the #1 favorite in our house! I've fed store bought ribs in the past and they've been fine. Though tbh, when my dogs get "ribs" they tend to get a whole ribcage. (Typically from deer though) We've actually got one sitting in the front yard right now that's been being worked on the last couple days. Pork ears/tails are fine too as long as your dog isn't a gulper. A hog head would make a nice treat too maybe once a month or just keep it to being on special occasions. (ie. doggy Christmas gift? )

Everything for the beef seems too expensive IMO to pay for, for a dog except the cow feet, cow tongues, oxtails and see if they bleach their tripe before they sell it or if they sell green tripe specially for dogs. White/bleach tripe is useless to dogs so if it's not green/unprocessed, then skip it. If you can get green tripe, jump on it. It's one of the best raw foods you can feed. (Though beware, it can be a bit stinky!) Not a huge fan on neckbones, they tend to be pretty hard and I worry about broken teeth. If your dog isn't a heavy chewer though, they might be fine but my girls are so I don't feed them. Chance got them a couple times in his life but he wasn't a heavy chewer so I didn't worry as much but it still wasn't a regular in our home.

Fish is all pretty expensive for a dog, I'd just throw some canned salmon/jack mackeral/sardines in maybe 2-3x a month.

Anything on the poultry list would be fine. Just if you have a gulper, I'd probably mark wings and drumsticks off.

You may also want to look into Blue Ridge Beef distributors. They tend to have really good prices on their products. I pay $4.90 for 5lb of green tripe, same price for ground beef and under $6 for 5lb of their other mixtures including rabbit!

Blue Ridge Beef: Raw Meat for Dogs - Cats

Ken-Nel Pet Food should be pretty close to you, Ultimate K9 shouldn't be too far from you either.

Kind of wish I'd have known about that place when I lived in SC!

[ChancetheGSD]

Should add that I just mean beef necks are harder on dogs teeth. (Most bones from cows are) Turkey, chicken and pork necks are FINE. Just be careful with pork necks cause they tend to be far more bony and have less MM on them than turkey and chicken necks. If you feed them, you might want to make a point to add in some muscle meal too to balance it out.

[Freestep]

I feed beef and pork neck bones all the time. Turkey necks and backs are great. Cow and pig feet are great. Tripe is good especially if there is a GI upset. My dogs LOVE pork tails. Beef femur and joints, and marrow bones are excellent, just don't give too much marrow at a time as it is very rich and can cause GI upsets.

The only thing I don't feed anymore are poultry legs and thighs. One day Vinca seemed to be straining to poop, and afterwards, I found a sharp half of a chicken thigh bone in Vinca's poop, and a little fresh blood. Then diarrhea. So I got a little paranoid and now I feed everything except legs and thighs.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Pork feet and tails will be very fatty, but good. Pork and lamb neck bones are softer than beef neck bones.

Beef knuckle bones are a good treat and less likely to damage teeth than the femurs (long, hollow leg bones).

[Cheerful1]

I give Joey the marrow bones from the butcher, but they get messy.

The forum seems to like deer or elk antlers. Is one better than the other for a 6-year old GSD? He loves to chew, but I'm worried about him breaking a tooth on a too-hard bone.

[Emoore]

You guys give pork ribs to the dog?

Pork ribs?


To the DOG?