(AF) NO Turkey Skin For DOGS

Awww.. pleeeease... I wanna bite.

 As many of you know, I have a few dogs ... a yard full of Boxers, and the new Fur Ball I rescued last weekend from certain death. As I was outside playing with my canine friends, my thoughts turned to Thanksgiving, I began to think about last year when, as many years as I have had dogs, I still didn't realize how dangerous it was to give a dog turkey skin. I thought I was giving mine a big treat by giving them the skin off of the turkey. But the next thing I knew, one wasn't feeling well at all and had horribly bloody stools!

Fortunately, he pulled through just fine and is now strong as ever. But we were extremely lucky. Apparently, at that stage, it could have just as easily meant death for him. I am sooo glad it wasn't, I learned my lesson and I definitely will never give my dogs skin off of poultry again! Maybe I will toss it out to the opossums so they will leave my chickens alone for a day.

I could sit here and explain to you just what exactly Turkey Skin can do to a dog, but here is an article that is already very well written on the subject, so I strongly suggest taking a peek at it. It also looks like a great site loaded with dog tips. I plan to spend a little time, soon, reading some more around the site, myself.

Also, make sure you DO NOT give your dogs (pets) any of those poultry bones either! You might argue, "But they eat them in the wild." Yes, but those haven't been cooked. (And they are naturally grown, not genetically modified, which totally changes things.)  When natural grown poultry is raw (fresh killed), the bones are still often soft and chewable for the animal eating it (though I still wouldn't suggest giving them even raw chicken bones, especially store bought.) But when the poultry has been cooked, those bones become brittle and splintery. Once inside your pet they can cause all kinds of problems, beginning with the mouth, all the way through to the end (if your pet is still alive by that point.)

Those splintery bones can lodge in your pet's mouth, throat, or anywhere along the way through his/her body. They can, and usually do, poke holes in their digestive track. Even worse, they can poke holes and/or rip and tear your beloved pet's intestines! Yes, sometimes these holes might heal on their own, but often times, your pets die instead.

Your pets may beg and drool for those holiday bones and skins, and it may be fun feeding them to them and watching how happy it makes them, but in the end, their suffering and your heart break (and possible high vet bills) just aren't worth that passing moment of gratitude. So this Thanksgiving, "treat" your pets wisely and keep the dangerous scraps away from them! I bag up my scraps and store them in the fridge until the morning the garbage runs. This keeps the scraps from stinking and keeps the pets out of them.

Thanksgiving Blessings to you and your loved ones, both human and furry!