Feeding a pup

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

I first gave my pup chicken wings at about 9 weeks. He swallowed them whole. Threw them up whole. Swallowed them whole and then repeated a few times.

 

He soon realised they need chomping a few times.

 

Breast of lamb is bang on for pups. Very little risk of choking as they have to nibble bits off.

[skycat 6,174]

I've had young pups swallow wings whole, then do the same, throw them up and chew them properly. I guess if you want to be ultra careful you could always bash them up: I've done this with an axe on the chopping block. That way it won't matter if the pup swallows in one go. Other people say don't give wings at all but give carcases which the pup will take some time to chew away at. I prefer a very young pup (under 12-14 weeks) to get its nourishment as easily as possible, and to that end I've also bashed up chicken carcases with the axe to almost a pulp, though of course there's still tiny bits of bone in it: that way it won't hurt if the pup swallows the lot without chewing.

 

Vomiting is very natural in any dog, including pups, but if you think that a wild pup of up to 12 weeks old will probably only be eating what its parents have regurgitated for it, it makes sense not to expect the pup to cope with big lumps of meat with bones in. So I've contradicted myself a bit by the sounds of things, though not really as wild dogs wouldn't get chicken wings anyway! LOL I wouldn't think that a normal lurcher pup would have a problem digesting a domestic reared chicken wing as they are killed so young when the bones are still soft: if people have had a problem with choking it sounds as though the pup was very greedy (more of a Labrador) and tried to wolf it down and it got stuck across the throat. Can't see how myself as a chicken wing is exactly the right shape to slide down a dog's throat with no problem. But anything can and will happen no matter what you feed a dog: plenty of dogs have choked when trying to wolf down dust dry food which then expands in their stomachs and can cause bloat and who knows what else.