Give a dog a bone?

FAJ · Enlightened One

Give a dog a bone?

UndercoverElephant · Master

Blue dosn't get bones, he counts himself lucky that he gets pig's ears and hide chews, however, when I was a kid, the local butcher used to save marrow-bones for the Labs we were puppy walking for the guide dogs. If you manage to get hold of them, your dogs will love you forever, however, make sure they're outside - you'll know why when you see one!

Phil

CAROLE ROBINSON · Old Hand

Occasionally I have given our dogs cooked knuckle bones - they are a bit messy and best eaten outside. They clean the teeth beautifully. Always supervise tho'', can cause a little tension between dogs even if they have one each.

Carol · Master

I gave Luca and Eilidh a big bone each a couple of weeks ago to clean their teeth. Even though they were supervised when they were eating them, Luca still managed to swallow a bit about the size of a 10p piece.

We didn't even know he had eaten it. It was only the next morning when he brought it up that we realised. It gave me such a fright to think what could've happened if he hadn't got it back up that I don't think my two will be getting bones again any time soon.

C

Suzanne · Guru

Personal choice is that I would never give Murphy a bone. He only gets rawhide stuff...have heard horrible stories of bones splintering etc....

but Im sure there will be plenty of folk out there who have given them to their dogs for years to no avail...

Not sure if Im right but I dont think butchers are allowed to sell marrow bones anymore due to the BSC crisis....maybe wrong tho...

-- Edited by Suzanne at 17:45, 2005-04-12

Calatria · Master

Nylabones are quite good for "enthusiastic chewers", and are supposed to be safer than real bones. I never give rawhide chews, they have a bad effect on Belle's digestion (that, and everything else

).

Dave · Enlightened One

yeah not too sure if butchers are actually supposed to sell them anymore HOWEVER if you speak nicely to your local butcher I'm sure he'll do you a wee favour....

...We get bones for our mob, being a veggie the whole thing is quite frankly disgusting, we make sure we get REALLY big ones, again not up on animal carcass anatomy but I think they are joints with a bit of leg attatched..

...as long as they are big enough they should be OK, our gang love them and it keeps their teeth nice and clean..

bluesmumanddad · Master

Dave know what you mean! I'm a veggie too and first time I gave Blue a pigs ear I had to do it using tonges! My son was awfully concerned that there was going to be lots of earless pigs running around!!!

Suzanne · Guru

got given a pack of pigs ears for Murf once - couldnt even face the prospect of it so gave them away to a mates dog...such a vile image....(ex veggie of 7yrs)

greyflintstone · Master

We've used the smoked, unstuffed large bones for our two. The smell is revolting (even as a proud carnivore!), but it really seems to keep them entertained than an unsmoked one!

We've also had the stuffed ones - though with Wilma's dodgy digestion, we have to use the cheese stuffed ones. That really keeps them quiet for a couple of hours!

They like the rawhide ones, but have found that the large ones upset Pain in the Bum's tummy (yes, that's her official name! Alongside "Blondie" (she's all white!) and "Pinhead" (cos she's got a very small head on her big bod!!)).

weeewelamb · Old Hand

Hi all, Yes butchers can legally sell marrow bones to the public. Jonathan, my hubby, is a butcher and normally lets folk have them for free or a donation into the charity box. However. a word of warning, marrow bones are extremely hard and if fed too often can wear down the teeth.

I have been feeding a raw diet to between 5 and 9 dogs at a time, for the last five years. At least twice a week their diet consists of raw lamb rib bones or raw chicken wings which they crunch up and eat the whole lot. Lamb rib bones are much softer than marrow bones and a dogs digestive system is more than capable of dissolving and breaking these down.

And even the geriatrics have good teeth.

Julie

sha · Master

Hiya

I`m like Julie, my dogs only eat raw foods: meat & poultry including ALL the bones. Chicken wings make up about 60% of their diet. Please note bones are only ever given UNCOOKED. I realise it may be hard or horrifying for some people to feed their dogs this way. My dogs have been fed on BARF diet for 5 years - none have EVER chocked.

Sha

Suzanne · Guru

Hi Sharon - meant to ask this ages ago - what exactly is the BARF diet - does it not prove very expensive???

sha · Master

Hi Suzanne

BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones And Raw Food, other terms include;, evolutionary diet and natural diet. You feed - muscle meat, bones, fat, organ meat, vegetables and fruit. If you are interested, please read Give Your Dog A Bone by Dr Ian Billinghurst, it explains everything in detail, i have the book if you want to read it. You should be able to look up BARF on the net.

You had said Murphy can be picky and you sometimes have probs keeping weight on him. Try BARF - he will love it. Give him a raw chicken wing, don`t be scared he will not choke, or some raw meat, watch him devour it!

It is not an expensive way to feed dogs - i use the Offal Butcher in Duke St, Leith. Or Alex Munro.

I don`t eat meat, i have serious probs cutting it and breaking up chicken carcases - thats Pauls job!!!

FAJ · Enlightened One

Right, here goes for a totally thickie question......

Why is it that dogs' teeth don't break when they chomp on bones? I know that their jaws can exert more pressure than can humans', but are their teeth harder too?

(learning something new every day!!)

UndercoverElephant · Master

Hi Fiona,

I'm fairly sure that if you were so inclined, you would be able to gnaw bones too (certainly the lamb ribs) - problem is you wouldn't be able to digest them.

I suspect Dogs are very like Hyenas and Wolves in this respect and don't just eat the meat of their prey, but take all that they can. If there's nutition to be had, they'll have it.

Phil