# Bones, What Do You Give Your Dogs?



## Always51 (Feb 19, 2012)

what about a raw chicken carcass?... just let it replace a meal tho or you'll have one tubby puppy .. Napoleon goes nuts for them..


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Max is far more interested in his deer antler than his elk antler. 
Might be worth a try.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max has 2 or 3 "Nylabones". He seems to like them, and they last a long time.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I buy beef femurs or marrow bones at my supermarket. The butcher slices them to the size I request. I keep them in the freezer and Tucker gets one a couple times a week. Once he's hollowed out the bone by eating the marrow, I either toss the bone or use it like a Kong and fill it with something tasty. He adores his bones.


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## goldengirls550 (Jun 12, 2008)

My dogs get cow shin bones and elk antlers. Every so often, they will get a marrow bone, which they LOVE.


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## WasChampionFan (Mar 31, 2012)

I give no bones. People give weight bearing bones like femurs until the first broken premolar and then stop.

It is not worth the expense or risk. A broken upper tooth can be very troublesome given the roots are near the nasal cavity. Domestic dogs have nowhere near the teeth as wild dogs. 

Raw bones can break teeth too, once they dry they are just as hard.


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

You can usually find raw marrow bones in the meat section of the grocery store for about $4 for 2 - just make sure they are not the little rings, but the ones that are 4 or so inches long. I generally scoop out much of the marrow, and then freeze. This will keep Cookie busy for an hour or so. If your dog is new to eating marrow, then you should start slow as the marrow is very rich.

I place an old towel on the floor, and make sure Cookie stays on that. It can get a little bloody.

Then, once the bone is cleaned out, I stuff them with banana and freeze. Those make great treats for Cookie when I have to be on a conference call or something.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

I don't buy the raw bones from the butcher as they are messy and if left out attract ants.

Wyatt just gets his antler and liver stuffed pig twists.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

Always51 said:


> what about a raw chicken carcass?... just let it replace a meal tho or you'll have one tubby puppy .. Napoleon goes nuts for them..


Don't they splinter?


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## Always51 (Feb 19, 2012)

Wyatt's mommy said:


> Don't they splinter?


Not at all.. they seem to be really soft and pliable..Napoleon has had one every day since he was 5 months old...and as he will eat it all in one sitting there are no ants to attract..(he is feed totally raw tho and also has a breakfast of raw meat, offal and veggies as well)..His teeth are lovely...


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## Shay1 (Aug 10, 2011)

OutWest said:


> I buy beef femurs or marrow bones at my supermarket. The butcher slices them to the size I request. I keep them in the freezer and Tucker gets one a couple times a week. Once he's hollowed out the bone by eating the marrow, I either toss the bone or use it like a Kong and fill it with something tasty. He adores his bones.


The only thing with any weight bearing bones, is that there is always the chance of tooth damage because the bones are so thick. I stick with the soft bones like poultry necks, carcasses, legs, feet (good source of glucosomien), wings.


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## goldy1 (Aug 5, 2012)

Chance doesn't get bones anymore  due to he's a very aggressive chewer and tries to swallow them . Unbelievable but true.

If I give him one, I get the Red Barn 30 inch bully stick and take it away and discard it when its about 6 inches in length. Smaller than that, it's risky with him.

Prior, I used to buy Chance the shorter ones (8/10 inches). In a supervised situation once where we were all in the same room, Chance got a piece caught in his throat. He got panicky and started to crawl up on me on the couch. My husband jumped up, reached down Chance's throat and thankfully pulled it out. The stick was still hard. He swallowed it before it had softened up and become pliable. Called the emergency vet who said as long as he seemed okay now, no need to bring him in. So supervision and being right there with him, things can still happen!

I considered the Antlers after reading they were recommended in the Whole Dog Journal but decided not to risk it. Some comments from readers were decidedly against them because of injury to the teeth. The link to the WDJ article is below.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/15_01/features/Best-Dog-Chews-2011_20445-1.html

I have friends who use the antlers without a problem but their dogs aren't aggressive chewers like Chance. If your dog is a casual chewer, you probably have more options but always be with them when they are chewing any type of bone, just to be safe.


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## Desert Rat (Dec 18, 2008)

The breeder I purchased my goldens from is a big proponent of knuckle bones. I used to get the smoked knuckle bones with plenty of sinew on them (have to keep them frozen prior to use). I never had to take my dogs in to have their teeth cleaned. I moved to AZ a few years ago, and my new vet told me each of my dogs has a fractured molar and no more knuckle bones, nylabones, etc. The only thing she wants me to give them are the CET chews, which they love, but are gone in minutes where they used to gnaw on the knuckle bones for hours. 

Regarding chicken bones, raw bones are very pliable and edible. It is the cooking process that makes them brittle and makes splintering possible. A cooked beef bone can splinter or shatter as well. I don't think any well-cooked bones are good for dogs for that reason. The knuckle bones were slow smoked at low temp.


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## desi.n.nutro (Mar 18, 2011)

I only occasionally do bones. If I do, I prescribe to the theory of raw bones because I have seen that cooked bones splinter into smaller shreds more easily. Rawhides taught my dogs that ALL leather in the house is theirs. It took me a while to figure out why they would only eat leather shoes and my husbands wallet twice but none of the other things pups usually eat. :doh:The ahh-haa moment stopped the rawhides and none of the 6 dogs since ate leather.:

I agree with goldy1. Bully sticks are the best. I hate the smell and they get worse with slobber but the dogs love them and they last. I freshen up the breath afterwards with the Nutro Crunchy Apple treats in a kong. The routine comes in handy while company is at the house and we don't want them in the middle of 'everything' but their breath without the follow-up will ensure your company does not come back.


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

Our dogs get raw shank bones from the butcher. He slices them the size I want them and I freeze them and give them to them frozen. When they are frozen, they make a lot less mess. They can get the meat and most of the tallow out though even when they are frozen.

If your dog hasn't ever had them before-start slow. Give them to them for about an hour or so and then re-freeze. They can cause loose stools until they get used to them.

I haven't ever had a broken tooth on a bone but have had a few broken teeth over the years-a couple incisors and even a canine. It wasn't ever an issue with them though and as I said, they didn't break them chewing on the bones.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

desi.n.nutro said:


> I only occasionally do bones. If I do, I prescribe to the theory of raw bones because I have seen that cooked bones splinter into smaller shreds more easily. Rawhides taught my dogs that ALL leather in the house is theirs. It took me a while to figure out why they would only eat leather shoes and my husbands wallet twice but none of the other things pups usually eat. :doh:The ahh-haa moment stopped the rawhides and none of the 6 dogs since ate leather.:
> 
> I agree with goldy1. Bully sticks are the best. I hate the smell and they get worse with slobber but the dogs love them and they last. I freshen up the breath afterwards with the Nutro Crunchy Apple treats in a kong. The routine comes in handy while company is at the house and we don't want them in the middle of 'everything' but their breath without the follow-up will ensure your company does not come back.


You can buy bully sticks that have less of a smell. There's an online distributor that offers the less smelly ones. The smell of the regular ones is really strong! I can smell it from across the room when one of my dogs is chewing one.


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