Post by CampGreyhound on Sept 28, 2010 22:18:37 GMT -5
These questions are taken right out of emails sent to me by customers. Hope they answer your questions too!
Q I have a question - I had read somewhere that turkey bone was actually fairly hard and shouldn't be fed to smaller dogs. Is this true?
A We've been feeding turkey necks, drums and wings to our crew for many years with no ill effects whatsoever, so no, it's not true. And the bigger the bone, the safer it is, because your dog can't gulp a large bone down before chewing it up. A smaller dog would do well with larger bones, as all dogs do. What you need to avoid are the weight bearing bones of the large ruminants like cows, elk, large hogs, that sort of thing. Actually all the beef bones are pretty dense,so we stay away from those as well!
Q With the items that are sold per pound, is there a set size they come in or do I just say, okay, "I want 4 pounds of Pork meaty riblets"?
A If we offer a set size, or have a special on it, then that will be posted either on the website or in your Delivery notice. Sometimes it's not possible to get the poundage dead on, for example a beef heart weighs 4-6 pounds, if someone orders 5lb. and I can't find a heart exactly that weight, it will be a bit off. Usually with items like that people will order by the number and then give an approximate weight.
Q Are all the items you have made for human consumption or just dog food? (like the leg quarter chickens, eg).
A We buy everything from government regulated facilities, all for human consumption, however some of the items we buy are specifically for dogs as it would be illegal to sell it for human consumption. Those items are: bone in ground chicken, and any item with raw green tripe in it. Everything else is ok for people to eat, and in fact, we divvy up the chicken legs and such when the order comes in, some for us, some for them - the turkey necks make awesome turkey broth!
Q Do you feed your dogs fish?
A. My pack only likes mackerel, the canned jack mackerel which isn't what I'd call species appropriate. Many of my customers feed fishsicles, meaning they take a frozen sardine or smelt or mackerel and hand it to their dog. Some dogs really love this and it's really good for them too!
A I know that beef bones are generally too hard, but does this apply to beef ribs ($$$) and beef necks?
Q Yes, it does. Cows are huge animals, so even the non-weight bearing bones are very dense. I chose not to feed beef bones of any sort, since there are other totally edible bones that work so much better with no worries.