What's your thoughts on feeding bones to your dog?

Yukon Mike

Yukon Mike

Well-known member
I helped a guy cut up a bunch of caribou and I have about 100 lbs of waste bones. I've always fed my dogs cooked leg bones off moose because they can't crack them, but what about smaller stuff that they will swallow? I have a whack of ribs, as well as back bones, shoulders, and neck bones. Am I asking for a vet bill or endangering their health if I feed them these things? Any problems with feeding them uncooked bones?

Jenny is an aggressive chewer, so I always feed her frozen cooked bones to slow her down from gobbling the meat all at once.

Mike
 
Mike,

As for myself, I do occasionally pick up a few LARGE bones from the locker, that I give my dog to chew on. These would be raw and uncooked. I keep my stash in the freezer and give him one once in a while. I few times I've given him a bone from a cooked roast or steak. Makes my heart skip a beat when I see him gulp the whole thing down in one swallow. I've went away from giving him ones he can swallow for the same concerns you have brought up. Don't know if it is justified, but it makes me feel better.
 
Don't give your dog animal bones,ever.They love them I know.Not only the danger of them gulping down a large piece,but the slivers they break off is like eating needles.A friend gave us a couple steralized chew bones and they seemed to be working ok,and lasted a long time.One of her Wimers would tose it on a hard floor and break it,(not good)and the next time my wife brought the same bones home my male dog,(I was watching him close)had a big sliver off in a few seconds,which I was able to pick up before he are it.You probably wont have a problem 95% of the time.I'd rather treat with small pieces of jerky.The pig ears and rawhide bones can be as bad because when they soften them up they will swallow them,causing a trip to the vet for surgery, if they don't pass it.MHO
 
While I give due respect to all other opinions it is mine that dogs were created to chew and eat bones. With that being said I do pull the very small sliver like part off of a chicken leg before giving it to Max. I can suggest that if you have a dog that gulps his down you can hold the end of it and keep eye contact with him...this usually encourages the dog to crunch the bone slowly so he wont bite "the hand that feeds him". Good Luck
 
Mike,

My wife noticed blood on the carpet one day and after a $600 vet bill for bone sliver extraction I don't do it anymore. I give him the rawhide chews but my vet tells me I shouldn't do that either. I just hate brushing their teeth though and the chews help keep the teeth clean.

Just my two cents.

Ed L.
 
Ed you wouldnt mind it as much if you didnt use your tooth brush on him..... poor dog.

Gordy is a AGRESSIVE chewer also and I stick to the Nyla bones the BIG ONES. Keeps him busy and no danger of
internal punctures. for the $12 they last him 6 months. Murphy had one his entire life not the chewer that gordy is that is for sure. Gordy gets his so prickly that man when you walk into it in the dark it draws blood lol.

I dont give him real bones but thats just my .02
 
FYI, a vet friend of mine told me once that if people would stop feeding their dogs people food he would go out of business. Mine get only commercial dog food and milk bone style treats.
 
ProPlan and Nylabones only here!!! Well, maybe the occasional bite of Little Debbie while in the duck blind......
 
Keeping a dogs teeth cleen are part of the deal.They retrieve for you ,and you care for them.Happy,Happy.But buy the dog his own brush.:^)
 
an "average" life span that is less than half that of our "family" dogs....part of the reason is diet. Wild Canids and Vulpids die regularly from perforated bowls caused by the diet that they were "created to eat".....nobody ever said that what you were "created to do" was necessarily "good for you"....

Steve
 
Thanks guys,

I guess in my heart I knew it was a bad idea too. Its not worth the risk. There are going to be some happy coyotes tonight!

Good point Steve; they have found up here that the average wolf has a life span of about 4 years. They don't start hunting big stuff until they are two and after that the wolves they studied often had healed broken ribs and facial fractures. It must suck to have to kill your food with your face, when it out weighs you by 800 lbs eh?

There's a fad diet of feeding raw meat to your pets going on up here right now. The dog food store has ordered in "special" turkey backs and necks for dog lovers. I see that going over like a lead balloon when Fido has the Hershey squirts all over the new carpet. Sled dogs eat raw fish, but there's a reason why they live outside I guess.

Thanks again for the replies guys, I appreciate it.


Mike
 
Alright you guys....HAHA......

I don't use mine I use my wifes battery operated one.
 
"nobody ever said that what you were "created to do" was necessarily "good for you".... "


And I can think of no better example of this than,,,,,,,,, forum moderators located in the pacific north-west.


Not to mention any names, BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


BTW Steve, Why does your profile say you are from the Northwet?
 
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it's a "euphemism" sort of like when you see "duck desert" or "no coaster" when talking about Iowa....

Oh....anytime you're ready to be the Moderator I'll gladly cede the job title to you.....

Steve
 
Alright you guys....HAHA......

I don't use mine I use my wifes battery operated one.
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Oh wow!!! I think I'll leave that alone.........
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+1 on that one Ed you just leaving that door WAY to WIDE open for this crowd..........

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
Come on...get your minds out of the gutter.....;-) funny as it is now that I think about it....

200px-Electrical_toothbrush_20050717_001.jpg
 
pointed out to me by some one here at work, concerning the rainfall you receive, I felt like the village idiot. As far as the moderator job goes, I'll tell you the same thing I tell my wife. "Just keep doing what you are doing honey. You're doing a fine job of it." hehe
 
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