Bones...no Bones...what's The Deal ? ? ?

[Bigyummydog]

i gave MAXIMUS his first piece of chicken when he was two months old, bones and all...he chomped it down like a champ...recently i read something about chx bones, i don't remember what...then i read something else about all bones are not good...then i saw animal planet's 'that's my baby' a mom gave her verrry pregnant great dane, half a raw chx, right out of the package...after talking with the vet, MAXIMUS was cut off bones, all bones...and you know how he looooves chicken...now i feel like a bad mommy cuz i clean the meat off the bones ... ....and NOW i'm reading the 'brushing teeth thread' and almost everybody's getting bones but him... ....he's always had pearly white teeth and yummy breath, but now i notice his teeth are getting color....he never did cooperate with the t-brush, he would bite it and not let go....so we end up wrestling on the floor, with my hands in his mouth trying to get the stuff off with my finger nails...he won't bite my fingers...in fact, how do you get something out of a pit bull's mouth?...put your hands in there, his mouth pops right open when i do that....back to the bones....he says i neeeeeeed da bones...can anyone help???

[PJ's Mom]

I will give mine beef bones, but never, ever chicken bones. They're too soft and might break off and cut their throats. I will also give them rawhide sometimes, but since they're not too fond of it, it's never really been a concern.

[Giselle]

The difference is this:
Some people have gone through horror stories when dealing with kibble. Disatisfied with kibble and its supposed "100% completely balanced nutrition", many people have turned to feeding raw. Probably THE most popular method of feeding raw is BARF (Bones and Raw Food or Biologically appropriate raw food, I think), which was "created" (or published, rather) by Ian Billinghurst. His idea is to feed dogs a raw diet, mostly consumed of RMBs (raw meaty bones). One of the most popular items on his list of meals is raw chicken necks, legs, wings, and carcasses. This is where the distinction lies. Raw feeders feed exactly that- Raw bones. They believe that *because* the raw bones are soft, they can not cause the dog harm.

However, what we are ALL warning you of are *cooked* chicken bones. Cooked bone of any kind, but especially poultry, splinter easily and can tear away your dog's intestines and stomach and is possibly fatal. Avoid feeding cooked bones at all costs!!!

Since raw feeding is a rather controversial issue, many conventional vets advise against feeding raw bones of any sort (but mostly chicken) because they believe, raw or not, bones will splinter and cause tears in the gastrointestinal system. The Great Dane breeder is a raw feeder and was feeding her pregnant b*tch a typical BARF meal- raw pulped veggies, a chicken carcass, and I think there was some offal as well.

Since you're obviously very new to the concept of raw feeding, please spare your dog and try not to feed him raw bones just yet. There is a lot of research that goes into raw feeding, and I would suggest you read up a bit more on this before you hand your dog a raw bone. However, there is a rather safe alternative to feeding raw chicken. You can buy a huge raw marrow bone from your butcher and ask him to cut it into fourths. Freeze those bone parts and give one of them to Maximus no more than once or twice a week. Too much will wear out his teeth as weight bearing bones are always tougher and are for recreational use only. I hope this helps!

[Vette]

I know that if you give dogs cooked bones they become very britle and easily create lots of splinters and can get stuck in your dogs throat or stomach.

a friend of mine gives her dog raw chicken necks and stuff and her dog hasnt had any issues yet. but ill print out your post and show it to her.

[jackie]

I would never give my dogs chicken bones, raw or cooked. My boyfriend has seen firsthand a puppy die after eating chicken bones.

But i do give my dogs raw beef bones and they LOVE them. I only give them as a special treat once and awhile, and if they smell a bit stinky I pour boiling water over them first, just to kill off some of the bacteria. Don't give them small bones (esp a big boy like Maximus), my pups just seem to swallow them whole and then puke them up later. But when they get a big sized bone they can gnaw away happily for hours!

[lbaker]

Do be careful of those large round bones with the marrow. Dogs love them but I know of more than one instance (as does my vet) where a dog will get the bone stuck onto its lower jaw. The bone needs to be chisseled off

[finn's mom]

I feed Finn a raw diet, mostly consisting of chicken leg quarters. He gets raw pork, beef, and, fish, too. I feed him veggies and fruit when I eat them, but, not as a necessary part of his everyday diet. I had previously fed Bruno (two years prior to his death) a raw diet as well. He was pretty much at this death bed at that point, and, I was simply bowled over at the difference taking him off kibble made, it was like he was ten years younger.

Yes, feeding ANYTHING has it's risks. Dogs die every single day from diabetes, bloat, and, many other nutrition related diseases and problems. Yes, there is a chance that Finn could die from splintering chicken bones, just as there is a chance that he could choke from enhaling three cups of kibble at once. I don't give him really hard bones too often, like pork and beef, just because he can't really chew them. The chicken bones clean his teeth well enough, I don't really worry about giving him other bones to help out. Most vets get one chapter of nutrition when in college. It's just like regular doctors. Unless they specifically become a nutritionist or just simply go out of their way to learn more about the subject, they aren't any more educated in it than the pet owners. And, a lot of vets push whatever food they are selling at their office. It's a retail business when it comes right down to it, just like anything else, unfortunately. They will try to sell you things that you don't actually need (someone recently said something in uabassoon's post about paying too much for a fancy pill plunger, as an example). So, you will run into that a lot with vets. I was lucky enough to have a vet that also has an education in nutrition, and, is very open minded to learning new things.

Good luck, I'm sending you a pm as well, explaining a little more about feeding raw.

Kari

[gkristian]

i will NEVER give a dog cooked bones of any kind, but i think it's a great idea to give a dog uncooked bons for them to chew on. it now only keeps them occupied, but it also cleans their teeth. i give foxy a large chicken wing four time a week and a large bone twice a week. this gives him something to do and he also has clean teeth.

[sammy101]

i've always heard that chicken bones are very bad for dogs.a big no no!I never give my dogs chicken bones.They do get rib bones,after we eat most the meat of them I've never had a problem with rib bones,and steak bones.They are watched when theyre eating them.mine also get Rawhides.

[LorraineO]

tossing them a raw veggie every so often does the same thing,,, great for cleaning teeth...... I give my dogs marrow bones,,, they are cooked and they last forever with my two and they are STRONG chewers,, no problems yet,,, I do take them after some time as eventually the bones will break at the ends... but that takes a week or two for them...

[anna_66]

Porr Maximus, that boy needs his bones momma!

Have you ever tried the Sterilized bones?
These are a big favorite in my house, expecially the stuffed ones (chesse, liver)! They can chew, chew, chew and then chew some more and they don't splinter! Definately a wonderful idea If you can't find them in your area, just pm me and I'd be glad to pick you up one and send it to your big boy!

Also when we had Angus we would give them raw soup bones, again another favorite but sometimes a little too much of a favorite as Angus would protect them
That's one reason I've never given them to Bon, but since Maximus is an "only child" I don't foresee that happening at your house

[senorita02]

I dont feed my dogs bones ever, afraid they will get caught in their throat etc. my RB Border Collie had eaten a lambchop bone once, and it got caught in her jaw/throat area and they could not remove it, she didnt suffer any pain, but when she yawned her mouth would not close until like 2-3 tries, this went on til she was 16.

[PJ's Mom]

Originally posted by anna_66
Also when we had Angus we would give them raw soup bones, again another favorite but sometimes a little too much of a favorite as Angus would protect them
That's one reason I've never given them to Bon, but since Maximus is an "only child" I don't foresee that happening at your house

My RB Rottie loved raw soup bones! That was his Saturday treat.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Giselle gave you some great information on the BARF diet and why feeding cooked chicken bones is bad. Dusty suffers from allergies and a lot of people swear by raw as a fix for food allergies. For a lot of dogs it works. However, it turned out Dusty's allergies are from environmental allergens and not food related at all. So for convienence, I went back to a high quality kibble. Feeding raw takes more time and planning.

Anyway, about the bones... Raw beef and Buffalo bones (with a little meat on them for a special treat) will be very helpful in your big boy's desire to chew as they are very hard and do not spliter. Some pet stores that sell raw food carry them or you can always get a big knuckle soup bone at the local grocery store.

[wolfsoul]

Raw bones are good, as long as the dog is supervised, because it is possible for even a raw bone to splinter and you need to make sure the dog is eating it properly. I think that the larger cooked bones are fine as long as the dog is supervised. Cooked bones can splinter easily though, so I prefer raw bones. They are good for cleaning the teeth. Raw chicken bones are fine for smaller dogs, but I wouldn't give it to a larger dog because there is a chance they won't chew it properly and just swallow it whole. Most BARFers prefer chicken necks and backs, but every dog has it's preference. I've found that most dogs don't like turkey wings though. I've read that beef and lamb thigh bones should not be fed to inexperienced bone chewers.