My dog wont eat bones :(

[Tanya999]

HI

My 2 year old Shihtzu maltese cross is not interested in bones. He used to love them (raw lamb bones) but now I give them to him and he sniffs them but wont eat them.

HE used to rip them apart in 10 mins flat.

Can anyone think why this may be????

Thanks
Tanya

[binka_nugget]

i'm not sure...never happened to me. Maybe your dog just got sick of them?

[jingjing]

whether the dog have taken the vaccine or not recently:rolleyes:

[Tanya999]

I want him to eat them again because he seems happier when he has a bone to chew on during the day.

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by Tanya999
I want him to eat them again because he seems happier when he has a bone to chew on during the day.

You don't let him eat bones unsupervised do you?

[Zero]

Never happened to me eithor, My dog loves bones....

[Tonya]

Maybe he has teeth or gum problems.

[Tanya999]

You don't let him eat bones unsupervised do you?

Yes - is that bad???

I usually give him one to find during the day when Im at work so he gets to have a little hunt and a chew.

Actually the only thing that has changed is that I now give him chicken wings with most meals - someone suggested to me that he may be getting enough bone meal and so isnt interested. Any thoughts?

Tanya

[wolf_Q]

I'm not an expert here, but I, personally, would *never* let my dog eat a bone unattended. It's too dangerous...they could choke on it, etc. Actually, I won't give my dogs bones period, but that's just me, I know a lot of people give their dogs bones.

Maybe he had a bad experience chewing on a bone while you were away....who knows...

[slleipnir]

My RB dog never really chewed on bones either..maybe some just don't like it :confused:

[lv4dogs]

Does he seem to have trouble eating any harder foods? Like mentioned before maybe he has sore gums or a bad tooth? You say you feed chicken wing bones to him? I do too but they are raw, cooked chicken bones can splinter really easily. Maybe he had a bad experience w/ eating the bone? I would look at his mouth to make sure there are no injuries there.

[Tonya]

I only feed my dog big rawhides. My ex-husband's childhood dog got a bone stuck in its throat and it died a slow painful death so I've always been afraid of that.

[Kfamr]

Rawhides could be just as dangerous.... they're able to get big chuncks out- i take them away when they start getting too soft.

Maybe your dog just grew out of the chewing stage and doesn't want to anymore. Sort of then you're younger you likes some stuff then when you mature you don't like it anymore.

[AngelZoo]

Perhaps your dog just got tired of the type you were buying him.
I try to give my animals a variety of treats and chews.
I only give them to them un supervised unless I have a dog that doesn't get kicks out of ripping his toys to shreads ;)

Try these...

www.greenies.com

They are human grade and fully digestable, great for the teeth and gums, and most dogs love em! Helps improve their breath as well.

[Tanya999]

Thanks everyone for your replies - I dont think its that he has 'grown up' - he certainly does enough other silly puppy stuff - other Maltie parents will know what I mean ;)

I take your advice re bones and supervision though - thanks for your thoughts

Tanya