Bacteria and Bones

Raw chicken with the bones?? What the heck am I thinking, right?

Let me start with the issue of bacteria. Dogs are not humans. I am sure that we can all agree on this one. Dogs are built a little differently. Being carnivourous, they have digestive tracts that are short and also more acidic than some other animals. They also have immune systems that are designed to break down all of the lovely bacteria that coats things (like raw chicken). Now if you have a dog that was ill, or for whatever reason may have a weakened immune system you might not want to feed raw. If bacteria is still a concern for you ( I know some people are just plain freaked out by what could be crawling around on a piece of raw chicken) you could always blanch the meat, in boiling water, for about 60 seconds. You could also soak it in distilled white vinager and have the same bacteria killing effect.

Ok, now onto the next concern. Chicken bones. All of those scary things you here about dogs eating chicken bones are true. However, these stories are about dogs eating cooked chicken bones. NEVER FEED COOKED CHICKEN BONES TO YOUR DOG. When bones are cooked they become brittle and can splinter. This is when they could become potentially dangerous to your dog. Raw bones are actually easily digested by dogs. Remember dogs digestive systems are different than our own.

Dogs are basically the same as wolves. Wolves eat raw meat (bones and all) all of the time. Anything from bambi to thumper, and anything else that is available. Yes dogs have been domesticated for a very long time, but evolution is a very slow process. Not to mention, that in reality dogs have only been eating "dog food" for the past 50 years or so.