[technodoll]

Do you let the dogs completely consume the bone, or do you take it away at some point? When our dogs chew the SHIN bones down, we take them away and give them another. As far as durability of bones, are knuckles as durable as shin bones?

Knucklebones are softer and gentler on the teeth than shin bones, as they contain more cartilege, but they are still super tough and durable... most butchers will give them away, or almost since knucklebones are for recreational chewing (not food like chicken legs, for example) most dogs will chew on the same bone for days and days. just rinse and store in the fridge or freezer after a chewing session to keep it fresh for up to a week.

Now, I saw on the website that you can feed wild birds, so I would assume that includes goose. Do they eat the bones as well or just the meat? The website said you just give the whole, cleaned bird to them. My dad hunts goose and I am always leary of the bird flu epidemic. How do I know if their raw goose meat is safe for them to consume? Why did you say to stay away from raw, wild Alaskan salmon? I sometimes feed Aspen COOKED, wild Aslakan Salmon, is that OK? I will not feed them farm-raised fish of any kind, as I won't even eat it. Most of the fish in the stores in WI primarily sell farm-raised stuff.

I personally have zero experience with wild game (venison or birds!)... all i know is that goose is quite fatty and i would make sure to clean most of the skin and fat off before feeding the meat-on-bone... the bigger the bird, the bigger the bones so make sure you feed size-appropriate pieces.

raw wild pacific salmon can contain a parasite that is fatal to dogs (cooking or freezing kills the parasite), here is some information on the subject: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/ClientED/salmon.asp