Raw feeding question

[Rip's Girl]

I'm new to feeding raw, as is Ripley, and one thing that's strange is that he will NOT touch the meat with his paws... He chews and chews and chews until he gets a tiny piece off, but he won't hold it down with his paws... I wind up holding the meat for him.. Any suggestions? I'm not squeamish, but holding raw chicken for 15 minutes just isn't my idea of fun.

[doberkim]

just put it on the ground - he can deal with it himself. bowie doesnt use his paws much, but i dont have to hold it - i just put it on the ground and he chews what he wants off. most dogs learn to use their feet, and if they dont, they just devise a way to eat without them

[Rip's Girl]

Ah, OK. He puts his paws on his toys, so I figure he might learn how to hold his food..

[Carrie]

Just out of curiosity, do they then walk around through the house with salmonella on their feet spreading it around? Or do you feed outside and then wash his feet?

Carrie

[doberkim]

why wash his feet? i dont wash after he comes in from playing in the lake, or stepping in dirt do most people wash their dogs after they take walks through the dirt, or clean their teeth after they eat their own poop? i also don't wash his mouth/face after he eats something either. he isnt excessively dirty, so i dont worry that much about it.
i dont wash anything besides the floor, unless his feet are excessively dirty (ie, have visible pieces of meat/fat on them - usually after eating ribs and/or lamb). for much of his meat his feet aren't necessary (poultry in any form, or ground, or just muscle meat). most of the time his feet are dirtiest when he eats whole necks or ribs. in which case again, i would wipe off the big parts and perhaps dip his feet if they are excessively dirty - otherwise, he cleans his feet off himself by licking them clean. i do clean my floor off/scrub it after he eats because THAT gets quite messy with a big meal- and minimally, has some blood/water on it.

so, yep, i guess he spreads it around. i think the bacterial load we all live with would be surprising if we thought about it or tested. i am sure my dog is actually much cleaner than much of my house. remeber, every single person's toothbrush has fecal coliformes on it!

[Rip's Girl]

Ahh, thanks for reminding me what I brush my teeth with.

Ripley cleans himself up after he finishes, before I let him inside, much like a cat washes itself. He licks every spot on his body that he can reach.... With a tongue that has had raw meat on it. So.. yeah.

This morning though I let him play in the river before I let him back inside, so I guess that effectively 'washed' his feet. One of the nice htings about little tiny dogs is that if he did get diry, I could just drop him in the bathtub and be done cleaning him in about 60 seconds.

[Carrie]

I don't worry about dirt from outside or lawn or if the dogs have been in the woods, or what's inside their mouths because of their ability to get clean soon, but I'm paranoid about poultry or pork....the salmonella or tricinossis (sp), at least for humans to contract. And escherichia coli in ground beef.

Oh, I know there are all kinds of bacteria that live amongst us and most of us have immune systems that can protect us against them. But some are too dangerous and more difficult to fight off, like those I mentioned. A-h-h-k-k....

[Rip's Girl]

I guess I see what you mean..

But then again, I don't lick the floor. (The dogs do, but they seem to handle that bacteria quite well) and I wipe the kitchen counters & the floor down (if I drop raw meat on the floor).

[Carrie]

LOL LOL LOL LOL!!! I'm glad that you haven't resorted to licking the floor. Ha ha ha ha.

[doberkim]

honestly, after all the cultures ive run off myself and my own body/surroundings, including AFTER using antibacterial soap, surgical scrub, etc - we live in dirt dirt and bacteria.