Giving bones to dogs yes/no?

[0742Sheff 10]

What are peoples thoughts on this these days?

 

I'm talking about big marrow bones. I have been re-reading a book i have on Staffies and it recommends giving your dog a big bone as a way of cleaning their teeth. The book is from 1995 and i am wondering if that advice is out of date these days.

 

I have been and bought Paddy a huge knuckle bone (He can hardly move it), and he loves it but, after about an hour i noticed he is already wearing his way through it so i have taken it off him until i find out more info.

[Frisbee95 10]

It's probably best to avoid load bearing bones of cattle ie legs including knuckles. All bones from a sheep or something smaller should be OK...avoid anything they can eat whole ie chicken wings (depends on the size of your dog). Pheasant bones do splinter badly even when raw so may be best avoiding these as well. Obviously all bones should be raw.

[hodgepig66 10]

My 3 dogs that have passed away all had bones and loved them....

I now have 3 dogs a dalmation,cocker,and rough collie all of them have bones on a regular basis.....

I must point out they are not suitable for all dogs,b ut unless you try you won't find out......good luck

[Strix 11]

We don't give Brude those stuffed bones anymore - since he broke a front tooth on one

Somebody gave him one last Christmas and he's now missing a canine

 

The oak smoked ones seem to be softer, so he's had a couple of those, but he gets bored of them quickly

 

We now stick to buffalo ears. It had been deer ears until the place we got them from changed the type. We avoid rawhide as it always has horrid splintery chips in it these days which he chokes on

[0742Sheff 10]

It sounds like giving him a bone to chew on might be okay then. I would never give him rawhide. I think it is too much of a choking risk.

[lostdane 10]

when my dogs have loose stools i occasionally give cooked beef bones, femur bones, at other times i give raw femur bones for the marrow inside, but saying that i own great danes, my vet does not dispute this feeding behavior, i also must stress my dogs are of a giant breed and have a food supplement of bone meal, which helps growth and also avoids there own bone de- devolpment, please seek your vets advice on this subject, rob

[H_Hounds 10]

Hi Rob

 

I get a bone from my butchers every few weeks for my dogs. He gives me raw beef bones, usually a cows leg. They go mental for them and it keeps them quiet for days!

 

I originally started doing this because when we rescued our great dane, she had quite a bit of plaque on her teeth and the vet said it would cost a minimum of £110 to descale them as they have to put them under. I thought this was extreme since her teeth were not at that stage so I gave her a bone from the butchers and she scraped her teeth on it and a few days later they were gleaming!

 

Avoid chicken bones and pork bones. Chicken bones can splinter and get stuck and pork bones can upset their stomach but your butcher would know this anyway.

 

Bones are natural for dogs but beware if you love your garden as ours is covered in holes with cows legs sticking out of them. My danes aren't the best at burying, they shuffles the soil around, lay the bone over the top, check to see if you're looking, then push the soil on top with their noses. My cocker does a far better job

 

Terri

[vwkittie 10]

Where is a good place to get large raw bones from? Our dog loves chewing and needs to keep her teeth clean

[JinxSta 10]

You can get them very cheap in castle market from the butchers

[H_Hounds 10]

The best place is your local butcher. I don't bother with the ones from pet shops because they are cooked, bleached and filled with rubbish. Some butchers give you bones for free if you buy your meat from them. Mine charges me £3 because I get a cows leg each lol so I'm happy to pay that as it's still cheap.

[theplasterer 10]

yes my dogs have chicken carcasus, lamb neck and beef shins and they dont do them any harm.

[Krush 10]

My two have bones every week, and they have never had such clean teeth!

We get beef bones from our butcher in Castle market, and have noticed that most of the butchers in there sell off bones and various other items quite cheaply (ours were treated to a trotter each for 60p! ~Brilliant~ )

As said before, bones are a natural part of a dogs diet, they are after all meat eating animals, but i would personally stay away from anything cooked, as this increases the risk of splintering.