# Raw feeding -Tips to stop a gulper



## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

So I have 2 chihuahuas on a raw diet and their 10% bone comes from raw chicken necks. These are the only type that are suitable as a meal (otherwise they overeat and throw up) that are also readily available in my small town. Ive tried lamb a few times but one dog gets major bowel problems from any other type of bone. One of my dogs is a very stressful eater and will try to swallow them whole (despite the fact they are the size of her head). She has been very close to choking a few times.It also makes them pointless as a toothbrush, so I need methods to get her to slow down and use her teeth a bit more.

Ive tried feeding them completely frozen (current method, but doesnt work) and holding them which makes her even more stressed but is the only way to make her chew. Any ideas/tips would be appreciated


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

How long have you had your dogs on raw? They might be experiencing tummy upset with a change of protein because they're new to raw.

How big are your dogs? You could try a larger piece like a chicken back instead of chicken necks.

What do you mean by the dog is stressed out when eating? Does she guard her food? Best thing you can do is to hold it for your dog until she learns to chew properly.


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## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

They've been on raw a few years now so its nothing new to them (I think think one may just have a lamb allergy but hes not the gulper anyway). Chicken backs would be ideal however I live in a very small town in New Zealand and the raw pet food shop only sells necks (very expensive too, $11 per kg). Yeah shes definitely stressed as I can see she wants to guard but she knows I'm the boss so doesn't growl. If any other dogs or cats walk near her while shes eating she'll growl very loudly. So basically I need to find a way to make her slow down with the chicken necks since they're my only bone option.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Maybe chicken wings? Those should be readily available. Although she might try to gulp those too. But there's more meat on them than on a neck so it might slow her down a bit.

You could try working with her on resource guarding desensitization so she doesn't feel like she has to guard her food so much.


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## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

Cool, I'll try to hunt some wings down. Hopefully they have them at the supermarket and aren't too overpriced. Meat in NZ is extremely expensive (Im forced to be a vegetarian lol).She doesnt guard with people (just animals, although I separate them now) and shes completely fine with me touching her food. She gulps regardless of being alone or with another animal/person, I think its just her style unfortunately.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

To get enough bone in her diet maybe you can use a food processor for her meals, and then give her raw weight bearing bones for teeth cleaning purposes?


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

You can also whack the bones with a hammer to crush them into small-enough pieces.


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## iriskai (Oct 23, 2013)

This may be a silly idea (note, I only supplement my guys with raw, they aren't entirely raw fed and they aren't gulpers), but could you use a clamp (think booster cable clamp) in the middle of the neck? She'd have to chew down either side of the neck.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Maybe a clamp without a spring in it, could be a bit dangerous if the dog pulled the neck out and the clamp shut on some part of the dog!

A little pipe clamp maybe? Vise grip, hemostat?

Never tried with a neck but have forced the knobby ends of wings and drumsticks and feet into kongs and freeze. It is not easy to get the knob end out of the kong however!


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Having a dog who recently DID choke.. my advise is to chop up those necks into smaller pieces that your pup can swallow. It's just not worth the risk, trust me.

ETA: Giving weight-bearing bones for any reason is not a good idea.. they are too hard and too dense and pose the biggest risk for causing tooth fracture.


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## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

Thanks guys. I think the clamp idea might work to teach her to chew so I might try that.  Or maybe find some sort of metal pole to stick in the middle of the neck like a kebab. Im not keen to chop them up into small pieces as it defeats the purpose, she needs to learn to chew either way (shes 7 and her teeth are getting a bit yellow).


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## iriskai (Oct 23, 2013)

Another idea along the lines of the clamp - I have a Starmark dog toy, the medium orange Bento Ball I think? Depending on the diameter of the neck you're feeding and your Chi's level of determination, you could shove the neck through the center holes and essentially have a rubber 'weight' in the middle of the neck (I've done this with bully sticks before to make them last longer). Really, any of the Starmark toys like that might work, might be something else to look at and no clamps to worry about!


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## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

I decided to try along the lines of the clamp/kebab in the middle of the chicken and it worked great. I found a piece of metal in the drawer and made a kebab type thing. It worked really well as she had to chew carefully around the pole - gave her teeth a great workout. Unfortunately I couldn't find any of those starmark toys near where I live, they sound good.

As a side note, I joined this site thinking most people raw feed their dogs by now (as I know so many people and vets in NZ that support it) but wow some people on the other threads are unbelievable, slamming it without doing even doing any research. Anyone know of any good raw feeding forums anywhere?


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

jordan200 said:


> View attachment 118945
> View attachment 118953
> I decided to try along the lines of the clamp/kebab in the middle of the chicken and it worked great. I found a piece of metal in the drawer and made a kebab type thing. It worked really well as she had to chew carefully around the pole - gave her teeth a great workout. Unfortunately I couldn't find any of those starmark toys near where I live, they sound good.
> 
> As a side note, I joined this site thinking most people raw feed their dogs by now (as I know so many people and vets in NZ that support it) but wow some people on the other threads are unbelievable, slamming it without doing even doing any research. Anyone know of any good raw feeding forums anywhere?


That's a great idea! I'm going to try that method next time I have another dog who is new to raw.

There are quite a few people here who feed raw, but there are also others of differing opinions here as well. If you want a good PMR forum, you could try this one (I am on it frequently): http://preymodelraw.com/index

Unfortunately people aren't as active on it as DF, but it's almost exclusively PMR feeders.


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## jordan200 (Sep 1, 2013)

taquitos said:


> That's a great idea! I'm going to try that method next time I have another dog who is new to raw.
> 
> There are quite a few people here who feed raw, but there are also others of differing opinions here as well. If you want a good PMR forum, you could try this one (I am on it frequently): http://preymodelraw.com/index
> 
> Unfortunately people aren't as active on it as DF, but it's almost exclusively PMR feeders.


Thanks for the link, I just signed up. It looks like a decent site


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