CH>  I think wild dogs would just eat the bones... hmm. I'm not sure on
CH> this but the bones when raw are safer? When they're cooked is when
CH> they splinter? hmm.. :)

 RW> Yep, the chemical makeup is different after cooking, and hence the
 RW> bones more brittle and prone to splinter.

 Yeah. I imagine a in the wild, with a fresh kill the bone is
different than it would be processed/dried out.  is pliant

Do you know anything about those pig ears? I've read mixed reviews on
them. Depends on the source of the ears/ and how they were processed.
The dogs sure liked them. Made Cosmo sick but then just about
everything makes him sick. He's got a truly trick tummy , not cast
iron like his sister who like Patches before her enjoyed fruit and
veggies as wells any kind of meat.

...........

CH>  Yeah. In the wild in the home oh oh but they love those bones :)

 RW> Yep, and I won't deprive her of them.

 The "vet approved' packaging always says to supervise. Not a bad
idea. Just be around anyway.
.................
                 
CH>  It's good. hey when's the last time you had a really good bbque? :)
CH> I've had some really truly gooood bbqe so good you wanna chew the
CH> boens too 

 RW> tHere's a place around here, Brad's bbq which is excellent.  Along
 RW> with a great rack of ribs, excellent baked beans and some slaw the
 RW> fries are great, and if you're so inclined you can get a cold beer
 RW> served in one of those frosted mugs.

 Ahh :) We tried a plum (home made) bque sauce recently. If you like a
sweet taste... :) ooh even the Dogs drool.

OH .. do your dogs "guard the oven" as it were when you bake/roast
meat in the oven? Especially Turkey. I feel sorry for them sometimes as
that wonderful aroma pervades the house all day! :) Of course they get
a taste. Their reward.

...........

 RW> Schatze likes those too, we get the big rawhide rolls too for her, all
 RW> sorts of things like that.

 They do like those rols/knots better than the sticks I think. MOre a
work out getting the knot undone.
....................

CH>  We spoiled our two last weekend. We couldn't find the regular
CH> rawhide boenes we used to get so we tried some vet approved
CH> pork/beef hide bones .... the plain ones don't measure up. heh.
 RW> WE get those for her occasionally too.

 RW> Yep, but I just give Schatze the raw bones.  I don't know, those
 RW> prepackaged knucklebones you buy might have already been boiled or
 RW> something.  Not sure.

 Hmm maybe. I think they're packaged onsite.. tho. Fresh butcher
bones. I'm not sure though. There was once a grocery store where the
meat department was glassed in .. you could see them cutting big cuts
of meat. Maybe they don't do that anymore. It's already done somewhree
else and pre packed/ and delivered.

...........

CH>  Some of them have lots of food allergies. ESP the Shih Tzu. Not all
CH> mind you but those of friends of mine, and ours does.

 RW> owned DOberman mixes SHepherd mixes and ROtts as an adult. I know my
 RW> sister when I was a kid had that Pomeranian mix that had the tender
 RW> gut.

  Nod. I think a lot of it has to do with their conditioning/genetic
make up. The little dogs were never meant to be 'working' dogs;
they're comfort dogs. They can't digest the kind of diet a larger more
active working dog requires. Also their GI tracts are much shorter
..they can't handle complex carbs and 'rich' fat laden meats which
require longer periods of digestion (longer GI tracts). I read this
last bit of info on a site about the Shih Tzu breed.
..........
 
 RW> I wouldn't doubt that.  My sister's pom could only have one of those
 RW> gaines burger things a day. Anything else gave her the runs real bad.

 Those are still out? I haven't seen those in ages. When I was growing
up we had a Hungarian Vizula (this is a medium sized short haired dog
resembling a small grayhoud. Gus had Alpo mostly as well as scraps
from the table. He was very very healthy! Ran like a deer up the hill
out back (wooded). :) Anyway one day A can of being opened 'blew up'
.. what a stink!!! So we decided to go to Gains burgers and he liked
those a lot. NO more cans! After an experience like that you don't
want to mess with canned dogfood. (No idea why this happened.. but I
do know some potential causes.)

If I see them I might try it for Cosmo for a treat. So far he doe well
on Nature's Recipe. NO wheat/corn  or meat by prducts. The main carb
is either rice or barley or both and the meat is either chicken or
lamb, or turkey. Last time we went to get the dogfood they were out of
the chicken , and out of the lamb.. so we tried 'venison'. Neither dog
liked it even though I had enough of the chicken left to mix it in..
We went back to the chicken.

I have been puzzled why Cosmo can't eat real unseasoned meat. Not
much of it. Could be just as I said, he can't digest it well enough.
Too rich. He gets sick.

...............

 RW> WHen I had to care for her I used to have to throw her in an old
 RW> kiddie wading pool we had once in awhile to give her a bath.  That
 RW> long coat and the stuff got caught in it stinks.

 I use the sink. Well when we had a deeper sink. Now I give both dogs
a bath in the tub. Those shower heads with the hose work great for
this. Brush the coat first. That removes any lose hair.

I was puzzled by the 'no shed'. The breeds said not to shed DO 'shed'
but the hair if not trimmed, is so thick any lose strands stay put. If
you don't brush them every day the hair mats up. Nasty .. those mats.

When we adopted Patches (shih tzu/terrier) he had so many mats in his tail.
I had to cut
them out (the mats).. His hair was curly , not too long but the tail
was the typical shih tzu plume. ((When we were there at the family's
house to see him , the son was trying to brush the mats out and on
too gently.. sigh.))
.............

 RW> I think it's a combination of both.  Pack conditioning, and hoping.
 RW> Schatze sure exhibits that behavior.
 RW> Re:  human food and behavior:

CH>  Yeah that is often it isn't it. A combination of factors. not just
CH> one thing. :)

 RW> I"ve always believed that as well.

  Sometimes the solution is easy once the causes are found out.

Cindy

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