Quote Originally Posted by Kfamr
A guy at my mom's new job gave a bag full of beef bones.. So today they're getting a beef bone each and a bit of chicken.
I cannot stress enough to be careful with beef bones. I gave them marrow, femur, and knuckle bones as treats and freely fed beef ribs because so many people on message boards were giving them with no ill effects. But I should have listened to the experienced feeders on the rawfeeding list who told me not too - Buck has already chipped an adult tooth and Luka also has a chipped tooth (and yes I know they are chipped from beef bones). It is also very common of dogs who do not chip teeth (normally these are dogs do not actually bite on these bones but rather knaw) to have their teeth wear down after years of recieving these bones.

In my opinion it is really not worth it to give them beef bones unless if it is slathered in meat, in which case you should remove the bone as soon as the meat is eaten. There are plenty more edible bones that will keep them busy, though it is never really a good idea to feed bones without meat on them. Your dog should get enough of a workout from it's meal to not need extra chewing in the day. Or, if s/he does, have some kongs around. My dogs hardly use their kongs and nylabones anymore except just to carry around, but I do notice an increase in chewing if I feed them boneless (this isn't often).

I steer clear of beef ribs now as well as any other beef bone with little to no meat. Same goes for bones of other large, heavy animals - buffalo, steer, moose, etc.

If you choose to continue to feed them, I would take away the bone if your dog is vigorously eating at it. They are likely to break or chip a tooth this way.


And Kay, I was not singling you out, just quoting your post