Dont think its that he learnt he will get something better if he doesnt eat it gets cleared away and he doesnt have anything til his next meal, this morning he didnt eat his fish which went back in the fridge and he will get it for tea as he just isnt hungry some mornings, but with raw he seems to enjoy his food where as with kibble he seemed to only eat all of it if he had missed a few meals and was really hungry then again for the next few meals he would only eat a mouthful or so, surely for a growing pup its best he is eating regually. And I prefer for him to enjoy his food.
I will definatly read that article and am careful when feeding him wings I was worried because he often gulps food down and if he did this with wings I wouldnt have fed them but he takes his time to chew them and seems to really enjoy them, I would never just leave him with them and it is a worry that this dog got them stuck!

My 2 are 7 months old now and were weaned onto raw, when I got them they were on dried for a few weeks but to be honest I didn't like the end product very much, so I changed them back onto raw and they have never looked back. They have had chicken wings from being just under 3 months old, they have neck of lamb, turkey leg, marrow bones and also other types of bones as well and are doing fine, in fact everyone asks if I am going to saddle them up and ride them the have grown on so well. They are looking really well on the diet, they also have ox and lamb heart and minced pet food from the butchers, sardines and tuna are other things that they have, all along with pureed veg.
They eat every scrap as well. They are big slow growing dogs and I think it is the best diet for them

I had a rather nice butcher who used to mince the bones for me but he moved and so since then I tend to buy it it in ready minced. You can buy industrial mincers (and I am considering getting one at some point) but they are fairly expensive.

At 6 1/2 months I would say he would be fine with chicken carcasses/backs now (mine got a little too big for wings at this age - they began to swallow them whole).

I feed my dog raw meat and bones and never had any problems with the bones getting stuck, when he first started he did need to get used to it,
the bone I would not give him would be a big bone that he would have trouble crunching up and could break a tooth.

Thanks everyone!

Will have a chat to the butcher sat he is lovely and may mince them for me.

Is great to hear from other people who feed raw without problems!

I feed raw bones to my dogs and never had a probelm (fingers crossed lol) here are some links re raw feeding and bones etc, quite interesting reading.
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/barf.html
http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/bonecomp.html
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/healt...#differentdogs
http://www.homestead.com/VonHapsburg...gYourDane.html
mO

Oops, sorry...missed the all important 'not' in your post

My Newfie tended to be picky before she was fed raw...now she'll eat just about anything so hopefully Loki will be as enthusiastic about his new diet

Yes and, if it happens, it is your worst nightmare come true

She got a piece of softish raw bone (from a lamb shoulder) stuck in her throat. She was in a terrible panic. She tried so hard to bring it up that she lost control of her bladder and bowels. Her stomach bloated very fast.

I managed to push the bone down her throat. Forunately being a soft bone it didn't tear her on the way down.

I guess the chances of it happening are slim, but happen it most certainly can.

It was one of the most frightening experiences of my life

How scary SB. I feed Loki raw chicken pieces which he loves - so far with no problems but I do worry sometimes. We were getting harder bones from the butcher but discovered a broken tooth. I can't say that it was the bone that did it as I didn't see it happen, but I can't say it wasn't either. Loki is a very heavy chewer so it could have been something else.

I do believe there can be problems with raw bones sometimes. Domesticated dogs are not equipped with the same physical attibutes that the wolf has in regard to diet.

Though in the ~25 years I've been feeding raw (in combination with other foods), I've only had to delve into the throat of a choking dog on three occasions, so probably not a common occurrence in dogs of fairly normal construction but I have read of several tragic cases involving raw bones on other forums.