BigGameHoundsmen.com

My wife grew up on an Island and is telling me they lost about ten dogs to fishbones accidentally. I guess they ate fish almost every day. Just adding that so if someone reads this they will know.

only bad i have seen is swine just about always gives them worms. i stay with only beef these days.

i feed my dogs all the left over parts from cutting up deer or elk....the bones keep them busy all day and the meat and fat is great..

Do all the bone chips hurt their guts?

As long as the meat is raw, even poultry bones are ok. Think about what wild canines eat and be guided by that.
Cooked bones are dangerous--they splinter, and the ones that don't splinter make them very constipated.
Once, I was at a BBQ place and the pit guy gave my hound a smoked ham bone. The hound was very pleased while eating it, then didn't crap for a week. On advice from the vet, we gave him white bread soaked in vegetable oil. The hound crapped out cement when he finally went.
Sounds like even raw fish bones could be a problem. I know mine have eaten [cooked] lobster shells without problem, though. I can't imagine a wild dog catching fish, so that makes sense. Many people feed dogs raw chicken and it doesn't seem to hurt them.

Good to know. It all makes sense. The problem fish bones were from cooked fish. They cook em bones in there.

Beaver carcasses are great if you can get them. Also have fed horse meat. It all slicks them up and sure puts the muscle on. Especially in the cold months and when hunting hard. Meat keeps then too. Beats the cost of running a freezer.

I was thinking about using trapped animal scraps too. I'm after some river otter now. I'll let you know how the dogs like them if I get any. We don't get much freeze here I'm at 1000 feet. I thought about trying to make jerky out of an old horse. Just seemed like too much work. I was thinking walk in freezer and chainsaw. ha ha ha

PS, my dogs are getting fat now. I'm having to cut back the raw meat and scraps. My dog food bill is less than half. Their coats look great.

Wild pork is bad...Fish is bad...figures! My Dad owns a trout farm and is over run with pigs. There goes that idea. Just my luck!

hntr4life wrote:Wild pork is bad...Fish is bad...figures! My Dad owns a trout farm and is over run with pigs. There goes that idea. Just my luck!

ive fed my dogs wild pork for ten years and have never had any problem. they love it. i usually give the dog who strikes the hog first, the heart. as i am boning it out ill give some to each dog. most of the time the dogs get more than i do. i keep some in the freezer for the times when we arent catching hogs.

In Ca. where there are Costco's I heard you can buy chicken [thighs] as about as cheap a dog food,get it in large bags,so give your dog a pound of chicken with his dog food,cut back on the dog food. these coyote pens here in Arkansas all they feed them yotes is chicken backs,Put a large bag on a 4 wheeler and go through the field blowing the horn and you ought to see the yotes coming out of the woods following that 4 wheeler,they are in a wrapper, he throws it out, yote grabs a bag and runs, later they go and pick up all the paper bags.

have fed the hounds all sorts, pieces, and types of domestic meats. turkey and chicken seems to be the easiest for my dogs to digest, whether they like it as much as some of the other stuff or not...its what they get the most. lol. i just give em the whole thing and let em go wild. they have "unfortunately" got ahold of some live chickens, and they did great with em. dressed em better than i could! all interal meats and organs seem to do well too. the green tripe especially. got some plotts from up in washington and it put weight on em quick too. can't go wrong with a whole chicken and a few slices of liver! never had any problems with bones or ne thing. if you cook them(chicken bones) they will get mushy, that way, you get all that marrow and suff out to feed the hounds. hope i never have any run in's with a bad bone or something.
-Shelton