Just started on the raw chicken!

[M&M]

Well, Chou-chou just got his first taste of raw chicken n' bone tonight and--predictably--he loved it! It was really satisfying to hear him crunching through that leg bone and see him chewing away at the skin!

Just wanted to check about a couple things.

The leg bone still has part of the breast attached... I think... there's a lot of meat on it, anyway. Well, it seemed awfully big, and my wife is not a big fan of the idea of taking a half eaten bone away from Chou-chou and puting it back in the fridge, so she cut the legs long wise more or less so each portion still has some bone in it, but I'm a little worried about the bone being cut like that... could that potentially be dangerous?

Also, he dragged the bone all over his play/feeding pen so when he was done, he and his play pen was covered in chicken grease or whatnot. Taking Chou-chou and the floor of his pen into the shower for cleaning after every meal is going to be quite the ordeal and my wife is really really nervous about the bacteria getting everywhere. Any good suggestions about sanitizing to assure my wife we're not all going to die? I've tried the most logical route... explaining that there are tons of people (quite a few on this site) who feed raw (have fed raw for many years) and haven't gotten sick, but that's not working.:(

[gmacleod]

Hmm. If leg portions are too large, how about feeding portions such as thighs instead? Those should be a nice managable size for a frenchie puppy to consume in one meal.

As for where to feed - there are plenty of options. Some people train their pups to eat on a towel, for example (it's annoying for a while having to stand there and put the chicken back any time the pup takes it off the towel - but once they get the idea, you're all set). After the meal, the towel can just go in the wash :) Some others use a plastic sheet, and just wipe it down after meals.

[Chris&Eti]

I managed to train Eti to eat out of a large square bowl. Like Gwyneth says-you have to stand there and keep putting back the chicken (I use a pair of tongs) but he got it eventually and has since always very neatly eaten his food out of or standing over his bowl.
Holding on to the piece of chicken (with the tongs) also teaches the dog to make an attempt at crunching/breaking the piece down.

[LNsBeatles]

This is something I worried about, so I'm going to throw my two-cents in ...

I feed Louis both ground, prepared raw (Nature's Variety) and supplement with RMBs on a rotating basis. The ground meat stays in the bowl, but when he gets anything like whole chicken or beef parts - he likes to "grab" onto things so he can rip and tear away :)

He also likes to parade around my apartment with this type of dinner, so I have opted to feed him in his big crate when he gets RMBs, rather than trail after him - wiping up raw goo, :lol:

Before he leaves his crate I wipe his mouth and paws, then once he's out I spray the crate down with Clorox Anywhere, which is a sanitizing spray that's safe to use around pets (it kills bacteria, salmonella, staph, strep, e-coli, etc ...). I close the door and let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe everything down -- although the product states you don't have to wipe.