Raw eggs and knuckle bonetreats

    • Silver

    Raw eggs and knuckle bonetreats

    At what age is it okay to give a dog raw eggs? Same question for the knuckle bone treats stores sell. Thanks.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Here are a few topics on this forum about raw eggs that you might want to read first before you decide if you want to feed raw eggs at all:
    [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=133398]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=133398[/link]
    [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=94493]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=94493[/link]
    [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=176561&mpage=1&key=raw%2Ceggs𫆱]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=176561&mpage=1&key=raw%2Ceggs𫆱[/link]
    I personaly would never feed my dog the raw egg whites but the raw yoak I think is fine.  Just make your best judement on if you think it's "safe" to feed your dogs raw eggs.

    As far as age... Never feed cooked or hard bones at any age, thoes tend to splinter and cause harm, I would only feed raw chunky bones like soup bones, when the puppy starts to teeth. 4-6mo.  This should help losen the puppy teeth and encorage the adult teeth to grow in.  Only give for short period of time at first and watch your pup every time you give the bone.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Knuckle bones RAW are probably the only bones I give my dog occasionally. You have to watch some of those that they sell in pet stores...many are not raw.  I get Bubbys from a butcher. Honestly though,,, I like they for her teeth but in the end I worry so much about her while she is eating them that its almost not worth it.
     
    I give her a raw egg every morning, on top of her kibble with some plain yogurt. She loves them and waits for them and goes nuts when I'm baking a cake or something that calls for eggs,,,she sees them coming from the fridge and goes nuts thinking I'm getting them for her!!!     Recently, I started cooking the egg whites....    What I do is break an egg and put the whites in a container and put the yolk on her food. When the container is filled with whites, I cook them all and put them in the fridge, there is enough for about 6 days. So I'm actually giving her one raw yolk a day with a portion of the whites from the fridge.  JUST because I don't want to take a chance with the subject about "avidin binding the biotin" thing.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I don't feed raw eggs-- always cook them. This was after visiting a commercial egg factory and being completely grossed out. Since the primary benefit of adding eggs is to add extra protein, cooking doesn't adversely impact this use.
    You can wean young puppies straight onto raw bones. Do not feed the smoked ones from the pet store, only raw ones. You can buy raw bones at your grocery store, and many pet stores are now selling frozen raw bones out of freezers in my area.
    • Silver
    Mudpuppy your post reminded me of when I switched to organic eggs only. I had been buying them off and on but switched completely after watching the movie "Napoleon Dynamite". The scene where he is working at the commercial chicken farm just made me want to cry seeing those poor chickens crammed together on top of one another in tiny crates. It's a comedy and the scene was supposed to be funny but it was at that moment I said I'm never buying regular commercial eggs again.
    I read that some organic egg farms are not that great, but it has to be better than that.
    OK, sorry to highjack, I just wanted to say that. I'll be quiet  now.
    (Oh, I cook them also)
    • Silver
    Thanks for the advice on eggs, but I thought the idea of raw eggs was to improve a dogs coat? As for the bone, we are not talking about the same thing. Could be I am refering to them as something different then what they are really called. These are treats that come in the form of sticks that the dogs eat. Something like [linkhttp://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441777859&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032952&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1169565909907&itemNo=5&In=Dog&N=2026203+4294961509&Ne=2]http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441777859&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302032952&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1169565909907&itemNo=5&In=Dog&N=2026203+4294961509&Ne=2[/link] . I have always called them knuckle bone treats. My dog would be smaller then a real bone. LOL He could not even get his mouth open big enough.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Oh, those are chopped, pressed, artificially flavored, and formed rawhide. Nothing to do with bones, and bleurgh, by the way.

    A chicken wing drumette is not too big for you dog - I give them to pups as soon as their eyes open. For a while they just play with them but you'd be surprised how soon they start to chew them.

    I cook commercial eggs but feed locally raised homegrown eggs raw when I can get them. The raw eggs I whir in the blender complete with the shells, on the highest setting to pulverize the shell.
    • Gold Top Dog
    It's the biotin in the raw egg yoke that helps the coat become shiny but with all the risk of feeding raw eggs it's taking a chance.
     
    If you want the same results in coat this can be done by simply feeding a high quality food.  Or if you want a little extra help you could feed fish oil to make the coat shiny, either in capsules or just feed your dog fish.  I used salmon because its rich in nutrients.  I like to feed fresh if I can get my hands on some but I mostly feed the canned stuff, it's part of my dog's home cooked diet. 
     
    There are also supplements you could use, like I said it's the biotin in the eggs that make the coat shiny so if you wish you could buy biotin supplements instead of feeding a raw egg.  The problem with cooking the yoke is that you lose many of the nutrients in the egg so that why you hear to feed raw.  Even in humans, many athletes who ate raw eggs develop a protean deficiency from the egg whites, so just to be safe I personally think it's best avoided.
     
    • Silver
    ORIGINAL: brookcove

    Oh, those are chopped, pressed, artificially flavored, and formed rawhide. Nothing to do with bones, and bleurgh, by the way.

    A chicken wing drumette is not too big for you dog - I give them to pups as soon as their eyes open. For a while they just play with them but you'd be surprised how soon they start to chew them.

    I cook commercial eggs but feed locally raised homegrown eggs raw when I can get them. The raw eggs I whir in the blender complete with the shells, on the highest setting to pulverize the shell.

     
    Brookcove, could you please elaborate more on the "and bleurgh, by the way" comment and exactly what do you mean by chicken wing drumette. I thought chicken bones were bad for dogs as they splintered easily.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'm not a fan of rawhide. It's not very digestible, even the chopped up stuff, and you have to be careful about chemical contamination. If you insist on feeding rawhide, never feed anything that isn't a 100% USA product.

    For the same benefit - chewing exercise, teeth cleaning, and occupation - you can feed something that actually offers nutrients the pup needs and is much more attractive.

    Raw chicken bones are crunchable and have a low risk of splintering. You feed bones appropriate to your dog's eating habits and abilities. This is why I mentioned the chicken wings particularly. You either feed something the dog is able to crunch up, or something the dog can't crunch at all, like a rib bone. My 8 pound Chinese crested is sitting here right now gnawing on a beef short rib. She's gotten all the meat off (it took her most of the day) and now she's licking at the marrow and gnawing the edge. It doesn't get much better, being a dog. [:D]

    I'm not saying that you are the Author of Evil if you do choose to feed rawhide. A lot of people aren't familiar with the risks involved and that raw bones are a cheaper and possibly healthier alternative.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Definately stay away from the pet store smoked,sterilsied "bones"[:'(]

    If you are going to feed bones,then raw is the only way to go IMHO. Yes chicken bones splinter and are dangerous IF they are cooked,which is where the 'dont feed chicken bones thing came from',when raw, chicken bones are one of the bendiest and easiest for the dog bones to feed.There is NO dog too small to eat rmb's,i've seen tiny puppies demolish a chicken wing off.You could start with wing tips(the very tip of the wing) and chicken necks and go from there.If you want to try recreational bones for gnawing pleasure,such as knuckle bones just get the butcher to saw them down to a manageable size.
    • Silver
    Okay so raw chicken wing bones are okay, but how do I prepare them? I am assuming it involves more then just removing the meat and giving pup the bone, but maybe not. I will steer clear of the raw eggs part, but I will still use cooked ones as treats as he loves them. Rawhide is also out it appears. Thank you for the advice thus far.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Okay so raw chicken wing bones are okay, but how do I prepare them? I am assuming it involves more then just removing the meat and giving pup the bone,


    1) Go to butcher/grocery store,purchase bones.

    2) Go home,being careful not to trip over dog who is clambering to get to the yummy bones in the bag.

    3) Go to kitchen,remove bone from bag and hand to dog.

    4)Step back and watch dog enjoy.

    [:D] [:D]

    You dont remove the meat,you give them as is.You could start by bashing them with a hammer,until pup gets used to chewing them properly.