# A Fine Dining Experience !!



## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Well,it's obvious that she is enjoying her snack!.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Mmmmm! Daisy sure does seem to enjoy her delicasey. The raw diet seems to be working well for her. She looks gorgeous.


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## KatzNK9 (Feb 27, 2007)

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Yummmmmmmy! LOL, those shots look a little fishy to me. Gotta love that enjoyment on her face!


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## GoldenShamus (Feb 26, 2007)

How funny! It might gross some people out, but I'm used to my dad who is a sport fishermen, so it doesn't gross me out, I just chucked watching her eat that fish! I wonder if Shamus would know what do do with it?


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## Kirby'sMom (Feb 26, 2007)

Oooooh, fish breath!! Here, Kirby would have to fight the cats off to get it!! I was cooking smelt last week and gave Kirby a couple raw ones. He wasn't crazy about it. But, Spooky, my black cat, really enjoyed it!!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Shamus would know exactly what to do with it  

`


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Have you tried to teach her how to fish for her own snack?.That would be cool!.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

She does catch her own fish !! Remember the video I posted? I didn't have to teach her, she taught herself. She LOVES her fish :bowl:


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## Brinkleysmom (Dec 17, 2005)

I guess you go with whatever works and it seems to work well for her. Thats great.


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## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

Great pictures JoEllen! Daisy does look great! Love that last pic - big tongue girl!


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

I love your pictures. Daisy looks BEAUTIFUL. Must be all that fish oil.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Those tongue shots are hard to get !! Split second timing :


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## justmejanis (Feb 25, 2007)

Totally grosses me out! On the other hand, she sure loves it. Great pics JoEllen. That is one smart cookie you have there.

Even though I think it is gross, I know it is wonderful for her. Good for her!


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

OH That is sooo gross. I wish I could feed raw but I think I would toss my cookies everytime I would watch him eat.....Did you let her give you a BIG kiss after that meal......LOL........great pictures...what a little cutie.


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Uhh....looks good? lol :yuck: I wasn't exactly expecting to see fish guts... haha.


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## daft007 (Apr 26, 2007)

Do you give her a whole fish or is it gutted and de-boned?


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

> Do you give her a whole fish or is it gutted and de-boned?


Whole fish, bones and all. And she lives to tell :bowl: Mackeral has very soft bones, so does trout. 

Yeah, GL ... a fine dining experience for a dog is sure different than it is for us!!  :doh:


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

That's for sure... you'll never catch me around a dead nasty fish...lol.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Fresh dead fish aren't nasty


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

LOL, well, I dont like fish period.... so... you'll never convince me...:

I only like fish as pets  

And I enjoy fishing, but I usually throw back what I catch because I feel bad for taking a life...lol.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I used to be the same way actually, never fished at all until I had Daisy. I guess I love my dog more than I love fish.

I'll probably be reincarnated as a fish now, huh :uhoh:


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## daft007 (Apr 26, 2007)

Jo Ellen said:


> Whole fish, bones and all. And she lives to tell :bowl: Mackeral has very soft bones, so does trout.


Are there any other kind of fish that have soft bones that they can digest? Id be interested in trying to give her a treat like that every month or two or just take her to the lake and she can attempt to catch her own.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Okay, well let me tell you how to fish with your dog. Go to a lake, not a crowded lake, just you and your dog. Take some bread, just a cheap loaf of bread. If you throw lilttle pieces into the water, just at the edge of the lake where it's not deep, you should see bluegill and sunfish come to the surface. They love bread!! Then just make sure your dog notices the fish. I bet as soon as she does, she'll stand still to watch them and that's where it all starts. At least that's where it started with my dog  

Daisy has no problem with the bluegills and the sunfish. Sometimes she'll catch a baby bass, those are fine too. She only catches the ones that come to the surface so they tend to be the smaller fish.

You can special order whole fish from your grocery store. Daisy would never catch a mackeral so those always come from the store. If you special order, make sure you specify the smaller size or you might end up with a Spanish Mackeral that costs $25 ... happened to me once LOL. Any type of trout is fine. I also give her raw catfish nuggets from time to time, those don't have bones.

Why don't you start out with a small trout. Maybe go fishing and catch one for her? I'd be interested to hear if your dog takes to fish like mine has. I sometimes wonder if she's just very unique. I do believe though, that dogs have a taste for fish, if given the opportunity.

Let me know how you do. Come back here or PM me. I posted a video of my dog fishing on the video forum (dog gone fishing). Check it out, took her over 2 years to refine her skill. And it is definitely a skill !! We have great fun together  

:wave:


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Aren't there parasites in some fish that can kill a dog?

Salmon for one, if I remember right... I don't know if I'd trust feeding a fresh raw fish to my dog... I would at least have it frozen for 4 or 5 days first to try and kill any living parasites and their cysts.

If I have some time tomorrow I'll try to look it up.



EDIT: I just quickly snatched this off the first site I found...

"Nanophyetus salmincola is a small intestinal fluke acquired by dogs when 
they consume raw salmon from the northwest. The disease exists only in 
the northwest. The parasite is mostly innocuous. However, within the 
parasite a more serious threat lives. Many of the flukes are infected 
with Neorickettsia helminthoeca (salmon poising), a rickettsia which 
causes fever, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea and death in up to 90% of the 
cases. Therapy for salmon poisoning involves supportive care including 
intravenous fluids and antibiotics. Prevention involves avoidance of raw 
freshwater fish. No therapy is recommended for infection with the fluke."




Fishing can be wonderful recreation, but sharing the catch with your dog can be an act of kindness that kills. Salmon Poisoning Disease is a potentially fatal condition seen in dogs that eat certain types of raw fish. Salmon (salmonid fish) and other anadromous fish (fish that swim upstream to breed) can be infected with a parasite called _Nanophyetus salmincola_. Overall, the parasite is relatively harmless. The danger occurs when the parasite itself is infected with a rickettsial organism called _Neorickettsia helminthoeca_. It’s this microorganism that causes salmon poisoning.​


“Salmon poisoning occurs most commonly west of the Cascade mountain range,” says Dr. Bill Foreyt, a veterinary parasitologist at Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He adds, “Canids (dogs) are the only species susceptible to salmon poisoning. That’s why cats, raccoons and bears eat raw fish regularly with out consequence.” 
Generally clinical signs appear within six days of a dog eating an infected fish. 
*Common symptoms of salmon poisoning include:*

vomiting
lack of appetite
fever
diarrhea
weakness
swollen lymph nodes 
dehydration
If untreated, death usually occurs within fourteen days of eating the infected fish. Ninety percent of dogs showing symptoms die if they are not treated. 




MORE EDITING: Something I just came across that I didn't know about from another website...

"Some raw fish can cause a deficiency of the vitamin thiamine. Symptoms of a thiamine deficiency include anorexia (complete loss of appetite), abnormal posture, weakness, seizures, and even death."


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I don't feed raw salmon for that very reason. Even though I'm on the East Coast and the danger is from Northwest salmon, I still don't because I don't trust truth in labeling ... where does it really come from ?? All of the mackeral and the trout she eats are frozen for weeks before I feed them to her.

And Daisy would never catch a salmon on her own. We don't fish in upstream waters so other types of upstream swimming fish are not an issue. We only fish at the lake.

Daisy's been catching and eating bluegills and sunfish for several years now. Never has she shown any signs of thiamine deficiency ... loss of apetite? Not Daisy !!  I'll have to do a search to see what types of fish cause thiamine deficiency ... I'm almost positive these are not bluegills, sunfish or baby bass.

This is good information and I appreciate you sharing it -- I assure you that we fish safely.

:wave:


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Fish that can cause a thiamin deficiency are herring, smelt and catfish. They contain a large amount of thiaminase which destroys thiamin. "Pets fed these raw meats as a _*sole source of food*_ will become thiamin deficient."

Water Soluble Vitamins - Vitamin C & Vitamin B Complex in Dogs

Even with raw fish, it boils down to basic knowledge and common sense.

The link I just posted has alot of good information on different kinds of vitamins.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

Those pictures of Daisy were wonderful!!! She's beautiful! 

Time to go get myself a fishing pole. They just stocked the local lake with trout. My oldest son fishes a lot and I'll have to beg him for his extras. The fish you call 'sunfish', I wonder if those are also called 'kivers' (not sure of the spelling) here in Massachusetts? There are tons of those in the lake. Thanks for sharing....now I'm going to go watch the video of her fishing.


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## sashac (Mar 13, 2006)

That is a great picture!! She looks like she's either pooped from all the eating, or that she's sad the mackerel is running out, near the end! Too cute!


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

I love to bring Luce fishing with me. She sits right by my side and stares out, waiting for me to bring one in. The problem is that when I do get one, she gets way too excited and no matter how many times I yell 'Leave It', shes going after that fish before I have a chance to unhook it... I'm just afraid shes gonna get a hook in her face one of these days 
I've thrown her a fresh bass and bluegill a couple times, but she won't try to eat it. She'll just carry it around and gnaw on it, then gets bored. She only eats fish when they've been aged and rotten


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## ty823 (Feb 7, 2006)

Jo Ellen said:


> If you throw lilttle pieces into the water, just at the edge of the lake where it's not deep, you should see bluegill and sunfish come to the surface.


How do you keep Daisy from just eating the bread that you throw in?


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

> How do you keep Daisy from just eating the bread that you throw in?


Keep the pieces very small, the smaller the better. Fish can find just little specs. Daisy doesn't seem so interested in the little pieces. But if I accidental drop a big piece in or a whole slice, she'll definitely eat it. Once she discovers that the bread brings the fish though, she's more interested in the fish.

ty823, Daisy is the same way with the end of the fishing line. I keep her far away from other fishers. She doesn't understand that every fish is not hers LOL. She does understand the word, Wait, and that seems to work well when the line is out. BUT, if there's a fish flopping on the end of the line and I'm reeling it in, all her learning goes out the window. Definitely a problem! When I'm fishing myself I used colored fishing line so I can tell always where it's at with respect to her, and I imagine I do just about the same thing you do, cast and reel away from her and just generally be very very careful. Daisy's had her fair share of aged and rotten fish too :yuck: In fact, fish is one of the few things she'll swim for so when I find one on the shore that's whole, I'll throw it way out for her to retrieve (they float). Good exercise, but it is kind of gross, huh? 

Speaking of extras, Gold'nchocolate, ask your son to save the fish heads and the guts. Ewwwwwww.....but the dogs love it, at least mine does. Not sure about the Kivers, I'll look them up in my field guide 

:wave:


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Okay, a kiver is a pumpkinseed. I see these sometimes. They are sunfish. There's many different kinds of sunfish.

Google Image Result for http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/fishspecs/pumpkinseed.gif


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

I did not know that....I learn something new everyday. :


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Hey, I've learned alot about fish, just watching my dog. I find them very fascinating, they're all different.


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## daft007 (Apr 26, 2007)

Ill have to try that. In our area(ND/MN) we have a ton of lakes full of sunnies and bass. We shall see how she does.


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