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Yeah--rawhide is extremely dangerous. Bone is much safer.

Do transition fully to raw, though. Again, feeding more than a very little bone in chicken on top of kibble will unbalance the diet. You have to really DO it, and do it right, not just "sorta" do it.

I'm not sure I can do this. It's making me nauseous just reading the links....lol.

I had the same problem. And it was surely much more of a problem for me than for you--you ate meat yourself fairly recently, no? I'd been vegan 20+ years when I did this. So no excuses!

I went vegan almost 21 years ago, and switched back and forth between a vegan diet and a vegetarian one, so it's as difficult for me. Not to mention all of the articles I read about factory farming and the horrors associated with it.

Thank you Eteselle.

I never give her kibble. She just gets chicken or beef, veggies, chia seed and vitamins. She is really healthy, and I feel it's because she only gets unprocessed food.

Even though she's so healthy, my vet wanted to start her on kibble (probably because they sell it there!), but I won't.

I'll start with just a small amount of bone for her - just so she has something to chew on.

Thank you again for all your wonderful advice.

For those switching, just some tips...

Don't feed kibble and raw at the same time. It will make your dogs sick (vomit, watery poo). Make a full switch, can't be kibble one day, raw the next.

Try to feed large pieces so they have to rip and tear. Its a mental workout for them and how they brush and floss their teeth.

Try to purchase natural non enhanced meat. If its enhanced with broths or salt or other junk, it can make dogs sick.

Bone intake is different for different dogs. My dogs get around 15% bone. Its easy to tell. If you're dogs poo is too soft, feed more bone. Too hard, feed more meat.

Take pictures, you won't believe the change in their appearance in just one week. Especially their teeth.

Go to www.rawmeatybones.com for good information on how to switch.

I gave my dog a raw bone today. After about 5 minutes he was crunching through it and eating the bone along with the little bit of meat that was on it. Are they supposed to eat the whole bone?

I took it from him when he started cracking it at one end and eating it.

They can eat the whole bone. My dogs eat meaty ribs and I always think those bones look so tough, but they chomp right through em.

My dog has done nothing but vomit up the bone fragments from a beef rib for instance. And she can chew the hell out of pretty much anything--no missing teeth--not a problem there. Does a raw bone stimulate different gastric processes than a cooked one?

The farthest I've gone with feeding anything but commercial dog food is pressure cooked beef neck bones. And I removed the bones.

Guess I should go read the links above or something.

I need some lessons on how to feed a dog a raw diet. I've looked at some of the links and may buy the Raw Meaty Bone book.

Do I go to the store, buy a piece of steak with the bone in it and give to my dog?

I will start a new thread if this is hijacking the original post about feeding a dog a vegan diet. I would love to feed my dog a vegan diet but I just don't believe a dog is meant to be vegan.

The main reason I switched to a vegan diet is because everything about the human body says herbivore. The argument that convinced me is the comparison of the human body to the body of a dog or cat, which is built to consume meat.

At www.rawmeatybones.com there is a link for pet owners that will give a quick lesson on how to switch your pet to raw. I highly recommend both of Dr. Lonsdale's books as well.

Basically, if you have a young pup, you can give them anything and they'll take to it just fine. If you're dogs are older and have been fed kibble their whole life (mine were 4), you need to slowly introduce proteins one at a time. I would start with chicken as it is the cheapest, keep them on a diet of chicken for about 3 weeks before introducing something new. And introduce organ meat extremely slow as it is very rich and they will get an upset stomach if they are not used to it.

I buy whole chickens at Costco for $.99/lb, and I can get chicken quarters at Publix for $.79/lb. My girls also get whole mackeral and sardines, and pork rib and neck bones wrapped w/ lots of meat from a co-op. I also have beef heart and liver cut into 1/2" pieces as they are still getting used to organ meat (even tho they do fine with giblets in the whole chickens).

If you're dog is throwing up bits of bone, their stomach just isn't used to it yet after years of damage from kibble. It takes time which is why it's important to stick to one protein source for a while and gradually introduce new ones.

And if you're scared because you're dog gulped down their food quick on kibble, you can feed frozen and it will slow them down. That's how mine are fed.

Oh, almost forgot, my dogs eat outside cuz I don't want raw chicken all over my house.

Hope this helps. Please check out the links for more thorough explanations.

Again: Do not give the weight-bearing bones of large ungulates (cattle, deer, elk, etc.). Unfortunately, this is what too many people think of when they say "bones." Bones this large break teeth--wolves can handle it b/c they have super strong jaws but most domestic dogs can't. Stick w/ bone-in chicken, ribs, etc. And give meat on the bone, not bone alone.

What size dog? Regardless of size, generally it is recommended to start w/ bone-in chicken--feed nothing else for 1-2 weeks. That will be more bone than the dog needs, but it's only for a week or so, until the stools look good and the GI tract is used to the new food. Bone acts as a stool conditioner in carnivores, as fibre does in herbivores. Once the dog is doing well, start adding in more meaty meat (meat w/ no bone) and organ, increasing amounts gradually.

A smaller dog will probably never be able to handle beef ribs--I give them but rarely to my 25 pounder, but my 60 pounder gets them often. Still, chicken accounts for 80% of the bone my dogs get, b/c chicken bones are soft and will not break teeth.

See the links I posted and my last post, about starting w/ bone-in chicken. Do be sure to find PLAIN chicken--read the label and DO NOT feed chicken that has been "enhanced"--it will have more than 80 mg of sodium per serving. 70-80 is normal and natural for chicken but any more than that means that salt has been added and it can make many dogs sick.

One of the very best places to get input on raw feeding is the Raw Feeding Yahoo Group:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

NOTE: You need to have a thick skin there--it can be a little intense. But it is well worth it! There are some VERY knowledgable raw feeders on there (some have been feeding this way for decades) and TONS of information. Plus there are a few vegans and veggies who post there who are supportive of those of us who have special "issues" taking our pets raw. I don't think I would have made it w/out that group!