Bones ??Are they all OK?

Hi guys here's a queston for you.
Since being on Dogsey I have slowly started coming round to the idea of a more natural diet for dogs ( as a VN thats a big jump!! ) So I have started giving raw bones as treats, really, to my boys. I buy them (or get given them ) from the butcher or morrisons so it really depends on whats available as to what I can get. They are still fed on Autarky and they get a bone maybe 2 or 3 times a week as an extra ( Jack only has a small meal after cos he's so ickle)
I have in my freezer at the moment some very large lumps of cow (mainly halved vertebrae and ribs)and lots of halved lamb vertebrae and ribs too.

My boys adore their bones, but I admit I still get a tad nervous when Milo finishes off a set of ribs in about 5 minutes flat. Jack still does the watching thing to make sure its dead but he eats it all too if Milo doesn't steal it off him first!!

My question is this.. Are there any bones you just wouldn't feed and why?

Nothing cooked. Raw only. Apart from that I can't think of any bones I wouldn't give. I felt a little nervous the first time I gave my two salmon (whole but with the fillets removed), but now they eat it regularly and we've never had any problems.

I can't think of anything I wouldn't give mine either. My breeder is dead against feeding dogs pork, so I follow her advice on that, but lots of people on here feed pigs trotters and the like with no ill effects.

Sorry I should have said, everything I give is raw and quite often still frozen, although jack has usually let his defrost before he eats it!
Thats interesting thats there's nothing you consider off limits. These bovine vertebrae are enormous. Definitely Milo sized rather than Jack sized!

I feed only raw bones, anything else runs the risk of splinters.

The only type of bone I wouldn't be keen on feeding would be leg bones from large animals such as cattle. These bones are very dense and hard due to the amount of weight they have to carry. The risk it runs is that of cracking or chipping dogs' teeth.

I used to feed them ages ago, but Willow gradually became more enthusistic and a tougher bite when grinding on bones, so I stopped before she damaged her teeth on them.

Other than that, nothing else is springing to mind that I wouldn't feed.

Completey depends who you ask. I give them to Tonks as something to entertain her every now and again.

Lots of vets feel you shouldn't give them bones as the process of digesting them can lead to the bones (even crumbs they have gnawed off) becoming impacted in the dog.

I stopped given them to be last dog as they dig become impacted in him, and he had to have a liquid parafin enema


As a small pup, Tonks was constipated a couple of times after eating bones.

Yup dog will become constipated if you feed too much bones - I have made that mistake a couple of times with Ben
Really it seems that dogs dont need many bones at all - as a raw feeder I feed a bone a couple of times a week - and keep away from the really dense bones as Evie said

Just out of interest ben, what is your dog's staple diet? I feed mine mostly chicken carcasses. Would that be considered a bone?

The only bones I really avoid are lamb leg bones, as Loki bites really hard and has managed to splinter them in the past.

Oh dear I'm quite confused now

I finaly persuaded OH to stop feeding chicken legs because I thought the splinters were likely to cause damge internally. She now feeds them cooked chicken and turkey necks. There are no 'splinters' with these and the dogs break them down before swallowing and we've not seen any signs of constipation. These are the only bones we can get here and I always assumed they were safe.

Please tell me turkey & chicken necks will not become impacted inside the dog, they seem to really like them and I feel it gets something inside them since they are not terribly keen on the Royal Cannine
granules.

BTW what's the problem with cooking meat I always assumed it would get rid of any worms etc. OK I do know that a regular worming regime is essential for your dog but cooking seemed like a 'safety first' approach.

I would say chicken carcasses are too bony to be fed as a staple. Both Ben and I feed a prey model diet. Our dogs get 2-3% of their bodyweight in meat, organs and bones.

The ratio is approximately 80% muscle meat, 10% organ, 10% bones. So not much bone at all really.

The bones I give my dog: lamb ribs, pork ribs, pigs trotters, chicken wings, pork shank, pork shoulder with bone in, ox tail.

Chicken and turkey necks are good, but not cooked. Better to give them raw. But the main part of the food should come from muscle meat.

Raw is better because cooking the meat takes away most of the vital nutrition that a dog needs. My dog has been aw fed for a year now. I don't treat him for tapeworms as he can't tolerate the worming medication. But he hasn't had worms in that time. Through feeding meat bought from a butcher or supermarket (human food) then I don't think worms are a risk at all.

He's more likely to get them from eating rabbit poo.

HTH.