Bones

[Lite Beer]

Hi

I have been looking at web sites regarding giving bones to puppies or older dogs.

Some say it is ok if the bones are not cooked and others say never give bones to dogs.

Any opinions from you Doggie People out there.

Thanks.

[BambinA]

In my opinion, Bone as long bone (pig's femur or humorus), is good for chewing only (as for fun).However, I do not think it is a good idea to feed bone for a dog.

First of all, Bone is hard to digest.A dog will suffer from constipation.Secondly, Bone has less in nutrition because it's hard to digest.If you want your dog gets calcium from bone ,you need to feed a dog with Bone meal,grinded bone.Finally, Fractured bone especailly chicken bone is sharp. It may be a cause of a wound in intestine or raptured.

[thaigerd]

We give ours once a week some pieces of oxtail.

Not too hard and a long time to chew it.

Gerd

[Lite Beer]

Thanks for that.

No Bones for Lucky.

[Mossfinn]

Maybe a rethink here on my part.

I was always told never give chicken bones to a dog, not only because of the hazard of choking or damage because of sharps, but because of a theory that they might cause damage in the stomach because of reasons, that escape me right now.

But I give my two Chi's pork rib bones and the like.

Are you saying this is dangerous Bam, if so be as forthright as you can, if so I will stop immediately.

Moss

[BambinA]

Maybe a rethink here on my part.

I was always told never give chicken bones to a dog, not only because of the hazard of choking or damage because of sharps, but because of a theory that they might cause damage in the stomach because of reasons, that escape me right now.

But I give my two Chi's pork rib bones and the like.

Are you saying this is dangerous Bam, if so be as forthright as you can, if so I will stop immediately.

Moss

Although many people love to feed thier dogs with bones, there are many disadvantages as i said above.

Moreover, I got many patients (dogs) who suffer from bones.

For instance, Dog A got a piece of bone stuck in his hard palate.

Dog B got a piece of bone poke at her gum.

And Pup C got a wired bone at his anus (thanks god, he needed not to have any operation)

All bones i have mention are chicken bone.

However, long bones and ox tail bone are fine for chewing.

Well..I just tell you from my vet's experience

ps.For me, bones are ok for chewing but not for swallowing.Unless it is cartilage bone. And you guys had better escape to feed your dog with chicken bone.

** sorry for my pidgin english but i hope you farangs understand what i mean**

Edited August 15, 2007 by BambinA

[Lite Beer]

Maybe a rethink here on my part.

I was always told never give chicken bones to a dog, not only because of the hazard of choking or damage because of sharps, but because of a theory that they might cause damage in the stomach because of reasons, that escape me right now.

But I give my two Chi's pork rib bones and the like.

Are you saying this is dangerous Bam, if so be as forthright as you can, if so I will stop immediately.

Moss

Although many people love to feed thier dogs with bones, there are many disadvantages as i said above.

Moreover, I got many patients (dogs) who suffer from bones.

For instance, Dog A got a piece of bone stuck in his hard palate.

Dog B got a piece of bone poke at her gum.

And Pup C got a wired bone at his anus (thanks god, he needed not to have any operation)

All bones i have mention are chicken bone.

However, long bones and ox tail bone are fine for chewing.

Well..I just tell you from my vet's experience

ps.For me, bones are ok for chewing but not for swallowing.Unless it is cartilage bone. And you guys had better escape to feed your dog with chicken bone.

** sorry for my pidgin english but i hope you farangs understand what i mean**

Understand perfectly thanks Bambi.

Strange how things change. I always believed that dogs always have bones.

[elfe]

dogs love bones and they should have them.

but - with caution!

avoid any bones which they could bite off bigger pieces and swallow them. as bambina said, the pieces could do harm inside dog's body, like lying undigestable in the stomach, somtetimes for days, and will be vomitted out in the best case. or constipate them. or sharp pieces cutting their intestines or anus etc.

also if your dog is a hasty eater he can choke on swallowed big pieces or the chicken legs.

make sure the bones are very small, like in chicken necks, which is give raw at best. these you can even cut in small slices if you are worried or your dog wants to swallow the whole neck.

big bones (depending on size of your dog) are good to provide entertainment and the chewing keeps teeth clean and strong. also make sure there are no loose parts which your dog could bite off and choke etc on them.

for puppies the big bones are always fine as they cannot bite off bigger pieces.

i feed my puppies from early age raw chicken necks and beef back bones. from 4 months i feed them whole chicken carcasses. never had a problem but would not say that problems are impossible. what i leave out always are the chicken leg bones, they are dangerous. i let the dogs just bite and chew off the ends with the soft joints and throw away the middle part.

small pre-cut pork bones which should be boiled first, could give trouble, so avoid these.

most care is to be applied to dogs which are not used to bones yet, while introducing them to bones one should start with small amounts of chicken necks and see how it goes and then give other kinds.

always watch your dog closely while eating bones!

i feed my dogs bones on a almost daily basis, never had big problems apart from vomitting parts out after one or two days or constipation with a little blood when the almost undigested bones finally reached the end. these in dogs with no bone 'experience' or puppies. so watch out, better safe than sorry!

[elfe]

some pics of puppy raw feeding

[Nienke]

There is a huge difference between feeding cooked bones and feeding raw bones!

Major rule is: NEVER EVER FEED COOKED BONES! In Bambina's post she did not mention whether the bones stuck in the dog were cooked on raw. I suspect they were cooked bones. Cooking bones changes the chemical composition of it, making the bones extremely hard and killing or decreasing the bio-availability of the nutrients. Once it breaks it can splinter, which is very dangerous for the dog as it can perforate the stomach or intestines (this is NOT only poultry bones, this is the same with pork bones!).

In Thailand there are still many dogs (owned and not owned) that eat cooked bones, of which a lot are chicken bones.

Dogs are carnivores and their digestive sytem is designed to eat RAW meat and RAW bones and RAW organs. Evolution doesn't go that fast that it has changed the digestive sytem of a dog so much that it can't eat bones anymore.

Feeding raw meat and bones have enormous advantages for the dog, as all the goodies are in there in their original state. Raw bones are extremely nutrious, unlike Bambina states. The bone and bone marrow is full with nutrients, such as calcium. I have seen many dogs improving in health a lot after simply changing their diet to raw. This, of course, doesn't mean that by simply changing to raw all the health problems will be solved, as that depends on the problems the animal has.

When you give only bones or carcasses, there is chance on constipation, therefore it is always suggested to feed RAW MEATY BONES (approx. 50% bones and 50% meat) and not only bones.

For over 6 years I feed my dogs on a daily basis a raw food diet, and never once I had a problem with bones such as getting stuck. Of course, there's always a slight chance that this happens, nothing is prefect. There are also exceptions that can't handle a raw food diet anymore due to over and inbreeding, and the huge amounts of toxins that is put in the animals body throughout its life. But then, there are also dogs that choke on a piece of kibble and loads of dogs that get all sort of (skin) problems, just by eating kibble only.

Thousands of people all over the world feed their animals very happily a raw food diet, this include vets, (top) breeders, veterinary immunologists, veterinary nutritionists, (top) behaviorist and trainers, etc etc. And this group is growing fast.

So, YES, you can feed RAW bones to your dog! Best is, though, to feed it separate from rice or kibble.

Nienke

[dogit]

There is a huge difference between feeding cooked bones and feeding raw bones!

Major rule is: NEVER EVER FEED COOKED BONES! In Bambina's post she did not mention whether the bones stuck in the dog were cooked on raw. I suspect they were cooked bones. Cooking bones changes the chemical composition of it, making the bones extremely hard and killing or decreasing the bio-availability of the nutrients. Once it breaks it can splinter, which is very dangerous for the dog as it can perforate the stomach or intestines (this is NOT only poultry bones, this is the same with pork bones!).

In Thailand there are still many dogs (owned and not owned) that eat cooked bones, of which a lot are chicken bones.

Dogs are carnivores and their digestive sytem is designed to eat RAW meat and RAW bones and RAW organs. Evolution doesn't go that fast that it has changed the digestive sytem of a dog so much that it can't eat bones anymore.

Feeding raw meat and bones have enormous advantages for the dog, as all the goodies are in there in their original state. Raw bones are extremely nutrious, unlike Bambina states. The bone and bone marrow is full with nutrients, such as calcium. I have seen many dogs improving in health a lot after simply changing their diet to raw. This, of course, doesn't mean that by simply changing to raw all the health problems will be solved, as that depends on the problems the animal has.

When you give only bones or carcasses, there is chance on constipation, therefore it is always suggested to feed RAW MEATY BONES (approx. 50% bones and 50% meat) and not only bones.

For over 6 years I feed my dogs on a daily basis a raw food diet, and never once I had a problem with bones such as getting stuck. Of course, there's always a slight chance that this happens, nothing is prefect. There are also exceptions that can't handle a raw food diet anymore due to over and inbreeding, and the huge amounts of toxins that is put in the animals body throughout its life. But then, there are also dogs that choke on a piece of kibble and loads of dogs that get all sort of (skin) problems, just by eating kibble only.

Thousands of people all over the world feed their animals very happily a raw food diet, this include vets, (top) breeders, veterinary immunologists, veterinary nutritionists, (top) behaviorist and trainers, etc etc. And this group is growing fast.

So, YES, you can feed RAW bones to your dog! Best is, though, to feed it separate from rice or kibble.

Nienke

I have to agree I never quite understood the idea that uncooked food is bad for a dog, who cooked food for them before we came along? granted dogs have proberbly been changed by human breeding more than any other animal on earth but i think even a tiny pooch is still a wolf at heart , and still likes wolf basics like chewing on a bone every now and again

[Zpete]

dogs love bones and they should have them.

but - with caution!

avoid any bones which they could bite off bigger pieces and swallow them. as bambina said, the pieces could do harm inside dog's body, like lying undigestable in the stomach, somtetimes for days, and will be vomitted out in the best case. or constipate them. or sharp pieces cutting their intestines or anus etc.

also if your dog is a hasty eater he can choke on swallowed big pieces or the chicken legs.

make sure the bones are very small, like in chicken necks, which is give raw at best. these you can even cut in small slices if you are worried or your dog wants to swallow the whole neck.

big bones (depending on size of your dog) are good to provide entertainment and the chewing keeps teeth clean and strong. also make sure there are no loose parts which your dog could bite off and choke etc on them.

for puppies the big bones are always fine as they cannot bite off bigger pieces.

i feed my puppies from early age raw chicken necks and beef back bones. from 4 months i feed them whole chicken carcasses. never had a problem but would not say that problems are impossible. what i leave out always are the chicken leg bones, they are dangerous. i let the dogs just bite and chew off the ends with the soft joints and throw away the middle part.

small pre-cut pork bones which should be boiled first, could give trouble, so avoid these.

most care is to be applied to dogs which are not used to bones yet, while introducing them to bones one should start with small amounts of chicken necks and see how it goes and then give other kinds.

always watch your dog closely while eating bones!

i feed my dogs bones on a almost daily basis, never had big problems apart from vomitting parts out after one or two days or constipation with a little blood when the almost undigested bones finally reached the end. these in dogs with no bone 'experience' or puppies. so watch out, better safe than sorry!

DOGS NEED BONES

If you watch a cat eat, it carefully chews every morsel.

Dogs scoff their food as fast as they are able.

The bones help the digestion, no bones could cause possible digestive problems.

AVOID bones that will splinter.

Chicken necks, OK, but not much use as too soft.

Chicken leg bones may splinter, possibly causing internal damage

RAW beef bones are best.

Dogs will spend hours just gnawing at a bone.

I was a dog breeder for many years. A number of my clients avoided giving their dogs a bone and poor dogs suffered.

[Lite Beer]

Ok I have read all this and decided to go with the big raw beef bone that wont splinter or get stuck in his throat.

[elfe]

Ok I have read all this and decided to go with the big raw beef bone that wont splinter or get stuck in his throat.

wonderful

you can also give the chicken necks, best without the fatty skin. not dangerous and your dog can eat them not only chew! makes a meal.

[LookSaMoon]

Ok I have read all this and decided to go with the big raw beef bone that wont splinter or get stuck in his throat.

Your dog is really cute and he seemed to enjoy the bone.

[joeuk1]

You should not realy give bones to pups under 6 months old it will ruin there teeth , once they are 6 months and more its good to give a dog a big bone they enjoy them and it will keep the teeth clean .

My dogs always get a bone once a week .

JB