Whole Prey For Dogs?

[FerretsnFalcons]

Hello everyone, I'm back again with more doggy diet questions.  So, I've been considering switching Charlie (German Shepherd) and the ferrets to whole prey. We recently bought a 15cu chest freezer, so we can buy in bulk from Rodentpro and save as much money as possible. I know that when feeding ferrets whole prey, you just chuck in some whole mice, rats, guinea pigs, etc. and they have the perfect amount of muscle meat, bone, and organs. But dogs need less bone (right?) so does this mean I have to substitute some whole prey meals with muscle meat meals to lower bone content? I tried looking on the Internet for some info on feeding dogs whole prey, but all the articles were on prey MODEL raw (or what we call frankenprey). But I'm talking about entire rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, quail, and chickens. Does anybody on here feed their dogs whole prey, or have any advice? Thanks in advance.

[Heather]

Just feed it. It's easy...the problem is being able to afford it. I've fed whole prey to dogs but it's really expensive.
ciao

[RedSky]

See that's exactly what's always confused me, generally they eat the whole thing (if they can) so any whole prey should be fine for any carnivore. I think it gets a little muddled when you start getting bigger, they might leave weight bearing bones and not eat all the skin/coat/hair so maybe that's why they don't need as much bone. But yeah, if you're feeding rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs then you should be good to go. I personally would be adding in a couple of meals of red meats (lamb ribs, pigs trotters, beef etc) each week. Same with ferrets really, I'd toss in a bit of red meat every now and then. Even a rib to pick clean.

[FerretsnFalcons]

Thank you guys, I think I'll feed almost all whole prey with a couple red meat meals and maybe some fish thrown in occasionally. I hope that'll reduce the cost some, too. When I feed him whole prey, should I feed him outside? I don't think my parents would appreciate feathers and fur and possibly intestines strewn across the kitchen floor. (giggle)

[Heather]

I feed outdoors
ciao

[RedSky]

Yes, I'd advise to feed outside or at least in a relatively empty room that can be quickly cleaned afterwards.
My pup was spoilt, I never sent him to eat outside if it was raining, which being in the UK is more often than not! But I know plenty of people on other raw feeding forums who's dogs eat outside without a problem come rain or shine. My Cookie probably would have done if I let him...
But then he didn't have whole prey.