# Keeping Soup Bones / Raw Eggs or Cooked?



## Nawni (Feb 25, 2008)

Fred has shown no interest in her Kong (stuffed with cheese whiz, peanut butter, or kibbles), her squeaky plush toy, or her rope. At 7 months, she's past teething, but every dog we've had enjoyed chewing throughout their lifetime. 

Today we swung by a butcher and picked up a soup bone. She gave it a tentative lick, and has carried it around all day, but nothing more. She won't eat any of the meat that's still stuck to the outside, and she hasn't touched the marrow. It's beginning to smell funky.

I'm not concerned that she isn't chewing.  It's a nice change of pace for a dog! But she enjoyed carting the bone around all day, and it's the only "toy" that she's taken in interest in. I'd like to get her another. (Throwing this one away tonight is a good idea, yeah? Warm raw meat isn't a good thing to keep around.) Are they safe to freeze? Is there an easy way to strip off the meat so she can keep it for longer than a day?

My second question is about eggs. We fed our old dog a raw egg weekly, but never checked to make sure it was safe. I've read differing opinions on raw eggs vs. cooked, and need a little advice.
Fred is on Innova Large-Breed Puppy kibble, so I'm not worried that she's missing something vital from her diet, but are a few extra supplements okay? I was thinking of a weekly egg, and either olive oil or salmon oil. So my questions are:
1) is it safe to add these to her diet? Is it completely unnecessary? Am I being a ridiculously obsessive new owner?
2) should the egg be cooked or raw?
3) salmon oil, olive oil, or neither?

(This forum is a really great resource. Thanks to everyone who has already helped answer my questions! Fred whined this morning, and after being ignored for five minutes, hasn't made a peep since.)


----------



## 3212 (Feb 4, 2007)

The idea of cooked vs. raw eggs is so very controversial. We were giving Bridgette a raw egg with her food once a week but now I scramble the eggs first.

It is very rare for dogs to get salmonella, but not impossible so personally I'd rather not risk it, but I am sure that I would still give her a raw egg once in a while. It really depends on this one, but most would say either is fine...some people give the shells and all of a raw egg.

I also give Bridgette a fish oil every day. She loves them!  Other than fish oil and scrambled eggs she gets green beans often.

I don't know if you are interested in trying to get your dog into a kong again but we fill Bridgette's with the Natural Balance food rolls and she absolutely loves it! It can be stuffed in the kong so it keeps her entertained for ages


----------



## Nawni (Feb 25, 2008)

Oh, thanks! I didn't know that there was a small chance of salmonella. I'll be feeding cooked, then.  There isn't much of a difference in the nutritional content between the two, is there?
(I have hedgehogs, which can contract salmonella. Anything that can pass from pet-to-pet-to-human is out of the question. That's really good to know!)

I'm dying to find a toy that can keep Fred occupied. At the moment, it's all "humans, humans, humans!" I'll look for NB food rolls next time I'm out shopping... worth a try, since I already have the Kong.


----------



## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

Our dogs get raw egg several times per week, and raw meat, meaty bones or organ (prey model) daily. I used to give soup bones until I realised why they are also called "wreck" bones for their tendency to break teeth.  Now the raw meaty bones in our dogs' diet provides them with plenty of chewing to keep them happy.


----------



## Nawni (Feb 25, 2008)

Oh, are soup bones bad, then? My family has always owned dogs (and loves them to pieces), but I'll be the first to admit that we're a bit misinformed. Good intentions, though!
I've researched raw diets, and realistically, I couldn't keep up. Without switching Fred to an entirely raw diet, can you suggest a better type of bone?


----------



## Patt (Feb 12, 2008)

Good choice of food for Fred, I also feed Innova. I do not feed raw! 

It's debatable on the egg, and it will depend on who you ask. Occassionally I add a *cooked egg *to their food. I add Grizzly Salmon Oil to their food for their coats. 

I did a search, I hope this helps....

*Recreational bones *can help keep the teeth clean, avoid gum disease, and provide a great deal of chewing pleasure and exercise. I like to give large beef ribs, and take them away once all the meat has been removed. Knuckle bones are also good. Marrow bones are OK but can be a problem if the dog can get them between their molars and crunch down, as they are very hard and can cause broken teeth. The marrow is also very rich and may cause diarrhea (you can scoop some of it out with a spoon before feeding to help). Bones get harder as they dry out, so to avoid problems with broken teeth, it's better to take the bones away after a reasonable amount of time (anything from a few hours to a day or two). Bones should always be fed raw, as cooked bones become hard and brittle, which can be dangerous if consumed.

http://dogaware.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/dogfeeding.html#Bones


----------



## GreatDaneMom (Sep 21, 2007)

Heres an idea. With the raw bones..... my girls get 7 1/2lb raw bones every so often. i freeze them inbetween playing in the beginning when there is a lot of meat on them. plus it makes it harder for them to get the meat off. when the meat starts to get "funky" what i do is let it dry out and then take a dremmel and shave all the meat off. this way they have a nice bone, without nasty meat hanging all over it.

as far as the eggs thing, go raw. i did a post on this before, here it is

"Raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which can deplete your dog of biotin, one of the B vitamins. Biotin is essential to your dog’s growth and coat health. The lack of it can cause hair loss, weakness, growth retardation, or skeleton deformity. Raw egg yolks contain enough biotin to prevent the deficiency, so this is not a problem with raw whole eggs. If youre just feeding the whites though, cook them. As long as it is the whole egg, youre fine!"


----------



## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

My dogs get raw everything...meat, bones, eggs. There is always a risk of salmonella or e. coli when feeding anything raw, including the bags of sald mix we all feed to our families with dinner. But with careful handling procedures, and cleaning up thoroughly afterwards, the risk is minimized. I'd be more afraid of a damp sponge sitting around in the kitchen sink or not cleaning a wash machine with bleach after washing undies...than I would of raw food. I used to work with bacteria and viruses every day in a medical lab. And I'm still alive! Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands...


----------



## 3212 (Feb 4, 2007)

briteday said:


> My dogs get raw everything...meat, bones, eggs. There is always a risk of salmonella or e. coli when feeding anything raw, including the bags of sald mix we all feed to our families with dinner. But with careful handling procedures, and cleaning up thoroughly afterwards, the risk is minimized. I'd be more afraid of a damp sponge sitting around in the kitchen sink or not cleaning a wash machine with bleach after washing undies...than I would of raw food. I used to work with bacteria and viruses every day in a medical lab. And I'm still alive! Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands...


I agree! I still give Bridgette the occasional raw egg from time to time. I am not against RAW feeding by any means. 

One of my best friends actually took a class in food contamination/sanitation (in her culinary arts school) and she learned that salmonella contracted from eggs is actually from the shell and not the inside of the egg. Because it's the chicken who laid the egg that had salmonella so the outside of the egg is contaminated. So washing the egg's shell first makes the likelihood of salmonella less likely...this is what weight lifters do in order to eat as many raw eggs as they do...GAG!


----------



## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

You can also get beef knuckle bones, and have your butcher trim off the meat/fat, and even cut it in half for you. No marrow to go "funky" after awhile. Rib bones would also work well for your dog.

I give my dogs Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil, and supplement their Innova EVO with:

hard boiled eggs
sardines in olive oil
plain, live culture yogurt
lowfat cottage cheese
green beans (canned or fresh, steamed)
raw carrots
Steamed fresh vegetables
sweet potatoes, w/a tiny bit of butter, sprinkled w/a tad of cinnamon and nutmeg
Poached fresh (ground) meats and poultry
Grape Tomatoes (a real favorite)
Peeled and cubed apples and pears
Watermelon

On the weekend I'll make them a cheese and spinach omelette, and they adore going to Starbuck's where staff there treat them with a cranberry scone! LOL


----------



## 3212 (Feb 4, 2007)

poodleholic said:


> hard boiled eggs
> sardines in olive oil
> plain, live culture yogurt
> lowfat cottage cheese
> ...


Dang your dogs must LOVE you!  Bridgette thinks it's the best day of her life when she gets green beans with her food! She also gets scrambled eggs and plain yogurt often. 

I love some of your veggie ideas those...I will have to try some! I gave Bridgette a raw carrot the other day thinking she would spit it out, but she ate it so that is something I will definitely be offering her more often. I don't know if she would go for watermelon or apples/pears though.


----------



## sn0fl8k3 (Oct 18, 2007)

As for the chewing toy, have you every tried Bully sticks? 
My dog LOVES them!


----------



## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

I was feeding raw eggs a few times a week then I read in a book that the egg whites break down the biotin in the egg yolk but cooking the yolk kills most of the benifits of the biotin. So I just decided to soft boil the egg instead of fully cooking.


----------



## GreatDaneMom (Sep 21, 2007)

LMH said:


> I was feeding raw eggs a few times a week then I read in a book that the egg whites break down the biotin in the egg yolk but cooking the yolk kills most of the benifits of the biotin. So I just decided to soft boil the egg instead of fully cooking.


LMH, did you happen to read my post above?


----------



## Nawni (Feb 25, 2008)

Okay, now I've assembled a "dog grocery list".  Thanks for all the supplement ideas! No more soup bones for Fred, and I'll be introducing her to raw eggs shortly. (Once a week sound alright?)


----------



## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

My dogs are only 10 pounds each so I split an egg or two between them once each week. I think that's a good place to start. And if you're going to be supplementing with a couple of other things once per week will be plenty.


----------



## LMH (Jan 2, 2008)

GreatDaneMom said:


> LMH, did you happen to read my post above?


Well I did now..Haha
So what do you think is the most beneficial then, if the yolk is not as nutritious once cooked but the raw whites kill the benefit of the raw yolk then are they really getting something out of a purely raw egg?


----------



## cascabel (Sep 25, 2007)

LMH said:


> So what do you think is the most beneficial then, if the yolk is not as nutritious once cooked but the raw whites kill the benefit of the raw yolk then are they really getting something out of a purely raw egg?


I wouldn't say the raw whites kill the benefit of the raw yolk. The egg yolk contains _more than enough_ vitamin B to make up for the avidin in egg whites. 

A whole raw egg is a wonderful source of nutrition. For most dogs I wouldn't recommend only giving part. The egg whites are the main source of highly digestible protein while the yolk is mainly the source of fat. Of course there are all other sorts of wonderful nutrients, but basically the two parts complement each other well.


----------

