Can my Dog eat Bone??

scilover

Hai.. This is my first time having a dog! Its golden retriever.. Can I feed my dog with bones as snacks? I read about it that it's actually not good, unless if I give edible bones..


You know, the one that you buy at the pet store.. A little confuse here.. Any suggestion?

JustAThought

I would say don’t.

Having had to pay for very expensive surgery and been totally traumatised by dog/raw bone issues I would say its not a good habbit to cultivate, given the choice.

A local young georgous dog recently died from splinters which caused infections and internal bleeding from a baked ‘dog’ bone bought in a major supermarket chain - 5 dYs in agony while they tried to save him and waIted for a positive miracle outcome from emergency and massively expensive surgery - poor dog died and whole family in mourning.

I would say the same about rawhide treats which there hve been endless tragic discussions and stories about - all heartbreaking. This despite them being on display in many petshops. Every time I went to the vets he warmed me never to give them to my dog - and had signs up to that effect in his surgery.

People talk about chicken bones cersus dried bones(cooked) versus raw diet but its really not really worth the expense of fixing it and the risk. Tarditionally a dog always hd a bone from the dinner or butchers but its now a highly formulated and chemically treated product often imported from the likes of chin or some third world country with dubious staandards nd nowhere near freah or healthy or recently dead by the time it gets to your dog.

Personally I’d not give your dog the habbit or take the risk with either.

Congrats on your new pet!!
Pic of cute GR!?

tk123

You can feed raw bones - avoid pet shop rawhide or cooked bones. So for a retriever I’d be starting on something like raw chicken legs or duck necks. Chicken wings and necks can be a bit small until you’re sure the dog is going to chew and not swallow them
whole. I don’t feed any weight baring bones (with the exception of chicken legs as they’re so soft) as they can break or crack teeth so no beef knuckle/marrow bones or beef ribs. I don’t feed turkey legs either as I’ve found they can splinter. Pork ribs are nice and soft for them
but some dogs don’t do well with pork.

If you don't want to feed actual bones.. you could go with natural chews eg pizzle, scalp etc - just be warned that can be a bit smelly

Ryath

tk123 wrote: »

If you don't want to feed actual bones.. you could go with natural chews eg pizzle, scalp etc - just be warned that can be a bit smelly

Any good sources of pizzle? It's the only thing we've found yet for our 10 month old retriever that last any length time. Don't want to feed him rawhide and he's not bothered about his nylobones. He's desperate for finding sticks on the garden. It was fine when he was small he just gnawed on them but the last few months he'll eat them if let.

We got him a XL yakker staff in pet shop said her dog had his months. Casper loved it but ate it in 3 days! @ €14 not really a long term option. The beef scalp from lidl isn't badly priced @2.50 but gets through one in minutes.

His first pizzle took an hour, he eat's them a bit quicker since but at least it keeps him busy for half an hour. Maxizoo ones seem good but a bit pricey at €10 for 8 or so. Zooplus ones are cheaper but I've seen reviews that they aren't as good?

Are Whimzees any good? Can find much mention of them the forum.

irish_goat

Why do you want to feed bones? If you're looking for something that will occupy them for a while a Kong toy filled with treats and frozen will usually keep them busy.

tk123

Ryath wrote: »

Any good sources of pizzle? It's the only thing we've found yet for our 10 month old retriever that last any length time. Don't want to feed him rawhide and he's not bothered about his nylobones. He's desperate for finding sticks on the garden. It was fine when he was small he just gnawed on them but the last few months he'll eat them if let.

We got him a XL yakker staff in pet shop said her dog had his months. Casper loved it but ate it in 3 days! @ €14 not really a long term option. The beef scalp from lidl isn't badly priced @2.50 but gets through one in minutes.

His first pizzle took an hour, he eat's them a bit quicker since but at least it keeps him busy for half an hour. Maxizoo ones seem good but a bit pricey at €10 for 8 or so. Zooplus ones are cheaper but I've seen reviews that they aren't as good?

Are Whimzees any good? Can find much mention of them the forum.

I think you did well with 3 days for the yak chew lol! I got them years ago and they lasted one session. I'm not a fan of the end piece and the possible chocking risk though.

There's a good few places with varying prices and origins eg :

https://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_treats_chews/popular_natural_chews
https://www.fetchyourpetneeds.ie/product-category/natural-dog-treats/
https://www.rirawhealthypettreats.com
https://www.jrpetproducts.com/?v=79cba1185463

Whimzees - yes I fed them last year as they're basically starch so fine for a dog with kidney issues.... I wasn't/aren't really a fan I think because I associate them with my dog being sick ... the dogs were fine with them though. I had couple of the balls with the hedgehog thing inside and they were at them for ages lol.

irish_goat wrote: »

Why do you want to feed bones? If you're looking for something that will occupy them for a while a Kong toy filled with treats and frozen will usually keep them busy.

I'd assume to clean teeth and just have a good chew lol. It's not the same as a kong imo

irish_goat

tk123 wrote: »

I'd assume to clean teeth and just have a good chew lol. It's not the same as a kong imo

Toys can offer that without the associated risks though.

tk123

irish_goat wrote: »

Toys can offer that without the associated risks though.

There's risks with anything though. We decide what is or isn't a risk based on our individual dogs. My friend's dog for example has had a plastic trowel handle and 2 tennis balls cause blockages that needed surgical intervention. Bailey has thrown up pieces of rubber as he likes to chew broken tennis balls sometimes - a pizzle/natural treat/bone would have digested no problems. I've been raw feeding 9 years now and the only injury has been to me with a bone poking me in the hand.

mp3guy

tk123 wrote: »

There's risks with anything though.

Different degrees of risk though.

Whimzees aren't too bad but are more a snack than a chew toy, our dog will demolish in about 10 minutes.

We use Nylabones, they last a few weeks.

Choc Chip

I'm with TK123. I gave a young collie foster a meaty bone this morning and he had his breakfast (the meat on the bone) from it, cleaned his teeth by chewing it, decided that he was full and wanted to bury it (i don't care and he had a great time deciding where to hide it, then digging a hole) and collapsed afterwards. I've had hours of working time today, free of being asked to throw a ball because of that bone. I love feeding mine raw bones.

TK123 has gone over the risks of cooked and weight-bearing bones - as long as you stick to those guidelines, I reckon the enjoyment my dogs get out of them far outweighs the risks of them.

And I'd be seriously peed off if he'd taken one of my kongs and buried it. Those things are expensive.

jimf

whatever about bones the lads above have already outlined the pros and cons

but under no circumstances would I give any dog rawhide chews even with lethal acid juices that dogs have in their stomachs they just struggle to break them down if at all

Gael23

Never cooked bones but you can give raw ones

peasant

As a simple snack to gnaw on, I'd go with carrots.
Raw carrots don't really have any nutritional value as they go straight through (dogs can't digest raw veg), but they are fun and make a nice crunchy sound

For something to keep them busy, we're currently using coffewood chew sticks


We're currently on our third one. The first two were really good. Hard chewing only resulted in slobbery sawdust, bit messy, but harmless.
The third one now is a bit more stick shape and I have to say that that one has splintered once or twice and I'd be weary of leaving the dog alone with it in case it does itself harm with the splinters, so not so sure anymore about them.

janmaree

A vet in my family has always been totally against bones of any kind, I think all the surgeries he did to repair damaged digestive systems helped to convince him. I know people have their own ideas on the subject but I've taken his advice all these years because I feel he knows what he's talking about. He certainly doesn't let his own dogs have them and neither do I. For what it's worth.

Dubl07

A frozen carrot is a brilliant chew-toy and you can buy a whole bag of fresh ones for buttons. For a teething dog, I'd quarter it lengthways so each piece has three sharpish corners, but otherwise it's grand to leave it intact.

tk123

Dubl07 wrote: »

A frozen carrot is a brilliant chew-toy and you can buy a whole bag of fresh ones for buttons. For a teething dog, I'd quarter it lengthways so each piece has three sharpish corners, but otherwise it's grand to leave it intact.

Maybe for a small dog? But tbe OP’s dog is a retriever who’s already been chewing away on pizzle sticks - a frozen carrot isn’t going to last long at all. Scalp is good because you can leave it the full length or cut it down into smaller portions.

I don’t think any vets I follow on FB has ever posted about dogs being cut open after eating bones - it’s always toys or soothers etc. Any I know of who post those what to avoid posters eg at Christmas always distinguish between cooked and raw bones.

charlietheminxx

I don’t give my dog bones at all, it’s just too risky in my view.

We give her Whimzees as a teeth clean, she loves them but she’s a staffie mix so we’d be lucky to get 10 minutes out of a large one!

The yak chews do last longer, I’ve found they’re better value to buy a multipack on Amazon. When they get small, I take it away and microwave it. It turns into a big cheesy crisp thing which Peppa loves to demolish!

coddlesangers

If you are happy to start your dog on a raw fed diet, bones will be no issue. However if you are feeding kibble and your dog only gets bones occasionally, its unlikely they will be all that adapted to digest them - a dogs stomach will adjust its acidity to dissolve bone in raw fed dogs over a period of a few weeks. If you are starting down this road, never ever feed cooked bones for the reasons others have mentioned, they can splinter. Our dog is raw fed, he eats bones pretty much every day as part of his diet. Many commercial dog treats are terrible for dogs nutritionally so I'd stay away personally from treats designed to look like bones or anything in general that has been treated to preserve it. Chicken necks and feet work very well to keep his teeth tartar free as a bonus!

Kattunge

Bones are a no no according to any vets I've spoken to. When I was growing up, people used to say that bones were great for keeping a dog's teeth in good nick but we had a couple of scary operations on family dogs involving the removal of bones. As a result, I try to keep my dog away from them. Occasionally, on a walk, she might find a bone and be delighted with herself. If I blow in her ear she drops it.

BigAl81

Would a big bone from the butcher, not cooked, and frozen by us for 5 days to kill any bacteria be ok?

Tried it this week for the first time with our 7 month old Cockapoo and she absolutely loves it!!