Dear Darcie, We are another family that is making the switch to a raw food diet for the furry member. Giving her slightly thawed patties works well and she eats it up promptly. I’ve ordered chicken backs and beef bones to be picked up next weekend from a local farm buying club. I’m concerned though about the idea of raw meat products being carried around my house. She can chew on one of those big bones (that come wrapped in plastic and stored at room temp) for weeks. Do we let her chew on a raw bone for days at a time or do we take it away after it has been at room temperature for a few hours? She has a 3 year old sibling of the two legged/non-furry variety and what one has, the other one wants. To date the rule has been no one is allowed between meal snacks that aren’t safe for all other family members.Thank you for all your help (and great products). Melanie
Dear Melanie,
Your child should never handle raw food without your guidance. Ever. Little ones put their fingers into their mouth. They forget to wash first. Raw foods should be handled properly, just like you do your own food. Wash hands with soap and water after feeding.
And no, no. Food of any kind should never be dragged around the house by the dog. Period. Eat what’s given to you on the spot it’s given to you on or take it outside.
When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to eat in the living room. I think that was because seven kids would have made a huge mess but that rule stuck when I had little kids, too. Popcorn on occasion but that was it. We ate regularly timed meals at the table and everyone had their own place to sit. My kids never asked for between meal snacks, we were plenty hungry when it was time to cook dinner, and plenty hungry enough for everyone to pitch in and help. That type of a schedule helps everyone stay fit and trim, too. Nobody gets into the habit of eating in front of the TV or grazing between meals. I do remember once when I was about five years old. I was so hungry, I begged Mom for something to eat. She gave me a piece of bread and butter and I had to sit at the table to eat it. It was perfect. The dinner table at our house was wonderful and it was all almost always homemade and home grown. Fresh bread and jams, fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Beans and cornbread. It was like that when my kids were little, too. My kids learned to cook in a kitchen full of love, laughter, and great smells. Food tastes so much better when you’re hungry and you helped.
At our house, we hand feed our dogs most meals. After the dogs are eating from out hands and have bonded with us, they also sometimes get bowls or they eat outside in the grass, the snow, the dirt. Wherever they choose to carry their bones.
Rule of thumb is, give your dog 20 minutes to finish a meal. If they don’t, wrap it up for the next meal. We feed raw chicken outside, come rain, snow or shine. The dogs don’t mind the weather and they love the chicken wings and backs. It doesn’t take them long to eat the chicken and I don’t have to clean up the mess.
If you want to feed chicken or other raw bones in the house, make a spot, like a washable mat, or even a spot on the kitchen floor. We do not drag our food around the house, we eat it where it is given to us. When she’s done eating and chewing, wrap up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. Wash the floor or the mat.
Raw beef bones are enjoyed outside by our dogs, they do not eat them up like they do chicken. Beef bones are more for chewing pleasure, getting the marrow and the leftover meat off. My dogs are medium sized to larger dogs and so far they have never been able to eat a femur. Of course, now we have Oliver, who knows what he’ll be able to do when he’s grown. He has massive chewing power. I’m pretty bad about picking up beef bones and I tend to leave them lay outside even in the dead of summer. When the dogs don’t want them any more or when they are dried up and old, I toss them away. But I don’t have little children any more. If I had little children, I’d either pick the bones up and wrap them for the fridge for later, or toss them.
Train your two legged darling that we don’t eat the dog’s food, we never put dog’s food into our mouth. Your human child can sit and watch while your dog eats with you by her side, and even take the food and bones from the dog and then give them back, that’s good training, but do not put hands into the mouth until we all wash our hands. Especially after raw chicken. The human stomach isn’t usually strong enough to fight the things that are living there. Your dog can, no problem. Your child can’t.
You should always monitor dinner time for your dog. Never leave your child alone with a dog in the house is probably the best advice. That said, I grew up with dogs and never had much adult guidance at all. I’m still here and mostly in one piece. My advice is also to always supervise your child and your dog especially when food is involved.
Use common sense about cleaning and picking up after your dogs and kids but you don’t have to be a fanatic about it. I can’t remember how many times the kids were licked in the mouth right after the dogs ate, everybody falling down in a fit of giggles to get even more licks. I personally don’t like to be licked in the mouth, a cheek is just fine, thank you. My dogs still get a good lick in on me now and then. Nobody at my house ever died from a lick from the dog.
I am so happy for you and your dog. You are truly smart. And you are passing this very important lesson down to your child. One day, everyone will be back to feeding dogs the way Nature intended. Can’t you see it now, one hundred years from now some little kid is going to look up at her grandmother and say, “Nana, did people really feed cereal out of a bag to their dogs? Weren’t people smarter that that when you were a little girl? Today is Fido’s 50th birthday. Can we mold him a chicken cake before we go to the park?”
