speaking of bones
Submitted by DadtoMatilda on August 21, 2010 - 3:33pmdo you subscribe to the 'teeth cleaning' aspect of the whole bone thing? i brought home some nice meaty bones today and Matilda settled in nicely with one of them. Except for then, it got kinda small and she would NOT give it to me. So I'm thinking what do I do now?
As in here I am thinking: if the dog is eating purely ground up raw food, they don't get the teeth cleaning like they do with a whole bone. At least I think that's right? She chews her Nylabone but not every day.
Perhaps I'd have to brush her teeth more frequently instead. Eh, well. I'm off to read about it...
Today was a big day for M. The 'Big Park', car rides, raw bone, AND a bath. Let me let you guess which of those she hated?
I also got some freeze dried raw for when we're out and about.
Not sure about the cleaning part
other than a good hard chew. I'm still on the hunt for meaty bones. I stopped in the meat market today and asked to see what they offer. They didn't have what we wanted : ( Not really sure what to do now. I bet she hated the bath but she is going to sleep so good tonight huh?! Does she still wake up a few times in the night? Chumlee tosses and turns what seems to me all night long. I got him a new bigger doggy pillow/bed yesterday made of a different material like what slippery sleeping bags are made of that nylon. Thought maybe he was getting to hot in the other one and his older one was too small by now. He just keeps refluffing his pillow in the night makes me worry he isn't comfortable. How did she like the park?
<3
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
waking up
Matilda is a very good sleeper. She has two beds, one upstairs and one down and if I am home she can sit with me on the couch. When she gets too hot, she'll move away from me and sleep on her back. I don't think she gets hot in her own bed at night, though, because we've had the a/c on full blast since July 3rd.
I'm not quite sure what changed her routine. During the week I have to get up about 6am, and usually she stays in bed until I am ready to go downstairs and feed her. Since this food is perhaps being processed more quickly and isn't just sitting there, maybe she 'feels like getting up' more. I don't know if that makes sense.
But no, during the night she doesn't get up unless she isn't feeling well. I usually wake up when her breathing changes and I can tell she's awake.
This is a little different. About half an hour before I am due to get up she comes and sits by the side of my bed. I dunno, she could be hungry or it could just be a coincidence. When I very very first started changing her diet she seemed nauseous in the morning and that could have been just because I wasn't feeding enough.
Now with your buddy would he like perhaps a small fan in the area where he sleeps to help keep a breeze moving over him? I note that most bullies are all about comfort: Matilda spreads out and sleeps on her back in the summer and in the winter she tends to go hang out near where the heat is (either me or this odd spot in my house where there are heating pipes in the floor). I try to experiment with different things, for instance, right now I'm wondering if perhaps she might do with a more supportive bed so I'm going to try to replace her beds with Perla beds with memory foam cushions.
That's a good idea
We have a huge surplus warehouse close to my area that I could go check for a firmer cushion. And I will move the fan tonight for him. It's really weird he will only sleep on the floor between the bed and the wall. That space is about 24 inches wide so when he tosses and turns I hear him kicking the wall. He won't sleep anywhere else. I tried to move his bed a few weeks ago to the other side where there is much more space but he always ended up dragging atleast his blanket back over there. Crazy bugger...
<3
Skasqueeeeeeakaaay!!
Katie & Chumlee
Another great book that I read
by Dr. Tom Lonsdale (raw meaty bones promote health) really sold me on the reason for feeding raw meaty bones. This was the book Carina MacDonald recommended that we take to our vet if they would like to know more about raw feeding.
This was just one small portion that spoke of the numerous benefits of giving raw bones to promote healthy teeth and gums:
page 182..." Just as diet is the best preventive it is also the best first line treatment for oral disease. Plaque build up, sore and bleeding gums and even calculus accumulation can be resolved with a few meal of raw meaty bones."
I will always give Kofi a few raw meaty bones a week. I make sure there is plenty of meat on them. I like the rib bones. They keep her busy for quite awhile. I tried the turkey necks and got scared because they seemed too hard, so I won't give them again unless I grind.
Glad to hear that Matilda had such a nice day. Hug her for Kofi and me.
Oh, and an interesting point for
bully owners to be aware of is comment made:
"Dogs with flat faces such as bulldogs may experience a degree of difficulty with chewing and swallowing. I do not believe that flat faced dogs should be denied the benefits of a more natural diet.HOWEVER WHERE INCREASED RISKS EXIST INCREASED VIGILANCE IS REQUIRED."
Nice to take all things into consideration for our beloved bullies.
I think the scary part was
I think the scary part was not being able to get the bone away from her when it got small. The bone was pretty big - a beef one - but she just didn't want to give it up and I didn't want to take the risk she'd try to swallow it. She finally gave it up but it wasn't easy. I want to be able to give them to her since it seems so healthy.
I couldn't find any lamb ribs. This is a fairly diverse city; must be a decent meat market someplace.
Bath went pretty well. Lots of attention at the park; there was a family there that had adopted an American Bulldog and had lots of questions in general and were wondering how "I did so well with her". I guess their dog is having a lot of problems with vomiting and shedding and he's still very young so lots of puppy behavior. I missed out on Matilda as a puppy but I did tell them that all the general rules apply: give 'em plenty to do (exercise, games, toys, walks) and try to feed the right food and you should be fine. The man had told me "we'd love to have been able to bring him to the park but he's just crazy so I have to walk him alone at home." Bummer...