Cherokee is the weirdest dog!

[Beekissed]

I think it's those large, thick bones that do the most good and those are some my dogs have not had enough of. They usually get small animals and deer bones, which they can easily chew and consume altogether, but maybe the most good comes from chewing on those large pork and beef bones that they can't really consume but can gnaw upon for a long time as they try to do so.

Right now the dogs have a large pork bone they've been gnawing on for a few months and I can see where that dedicated gnawing would sure scrape a dog's teeth, clear to the gums.

 

[Nyboy]

K9 in the wild never have their teeth brushed. They do eat the bones of the prey. If memory correct, photos of old wolves, teeth might be worn down but no tar.

 

[Beekissed]

And maybe they don't get the same types of sugars in their diet that dog food provides? If they have sugar at all it's natural sugars from berries, roots, etc. If my dogs get the chance they really love eating apples, tomatoes, grapes, sweet corn, bananas, etc. so I'm guessing wild canines do much the same as they forage on the land and eat any berries and other fruits they find.

 

[Carol Dee]

@Beekissed watch the grapes I understand they can be very bad for dogs. http://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/digestive/e_dg_grape_raisin_toxicity
Dh's dog love vegetables, asparagus, green pepper and tomatoes being his favorite,, we have to watch him around the garden or he will eat everything ripe before we get to it! Big stinker.

 

[Beekissed]

@Beekissed watch the grapes I understand they can be very bad for dogs. http://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/digestive/e_dg_grape_raisin_toxicity
Dh's dog love vegetables, asparagus, green pepper and tomatoes being his favorite,, we have to watch him around the garden or he will eat everything ripe before we get to it! Big stinker.

That's what "they" say.... My dogs never got the memo, apparently, and would strip my grape vine every year like clockwork. They would also snatch any that we threw out in the garbage and eat those as well. No ill effects noted.

 

[bobm]

In Cal. there are thousands of acres of Thomson's seedless grape vinyards. When ripe the grapes are harvested and placed near the vines on paper trays to dry out to turn to raisins. There are quite a few farm dogs as well as coyotes and foxes that feast and gorge themselves on these morsels. I have shot several coyotes on my ranch as well as neighbors' ranches with their bellys full of raisins over the years. I have seen coyotes that died of lead poisoning but I have never come across a dead coyote from raisin poisoning much less a farm dog.

 

[Nyboy]

Bob that is very interesting, the doom Sayers make it sound like a few grapes and giant vet bill or death

 

[Beekissed]

From what I've read, they state that "some dogs" have toxic reactions to raisins or grapes, causing their kidneys to shut down but they've yet to identify what~exactly~is in the grapes that would cause such a thing. Since it doesn't happen to all dogs, I'm thinking some dogs are genetically prone for kidney failure and just happen to have eaten grapes~not something commonly on a dog's menu~and they pick out that one component and blame it for the renal failure.

I've lived on this Earth a long time and have never met anyone in real life that has ever had a dog die from grape poisoning, so it can't be all that common. Maybe just one of those things that get repeated over and over but has very little basis in fact? Sort of like how if chickens eat apples it affects their laying...but no one stops to think that apples fall to the ground in the fall, right when laying is slowing down anyway. Purely coincidence.

Or that apple seeds have arsenic and can kill your chickens if they eat them. GREEN apple's seeds have higher levels of arsenic but rarely are chickens going to be eating unripened apples and still wouldn't ingest enough green apple seeds to get a lethal dose of arsenic. If they did, can anyone say without a doubt that the chicken died entirely due to the apple seed consumption and not because they already had underlying health issues that contributed to their death?

I do know foxes eat wild grapes all the time, so unless they have something dogs do not have in the way of neutralizing the toxic effects of grapes, I'm just not convinced they are lethal to canines.