Raw Bones?

[hrcarol]

I'm not sure if I'm ready to take the plunge into feeding raw food all the time. But, I'm interested in giving my dogs raw bones because I heard it's good for keeping their teeth clean. Where do you get bones? Grocery store? Butcher? Pet store? And which bones are good? Which are bad? I thought that chicken bones are bad because they splinter but, I noticed from reading post that many of your dogs are eating them. Is it only the cooked bones that splinter?

 

[Toffee's Mom]

in short yes, cooked bones and weight bearing bones from big animals are a bad idea..
chicken is okay, for a dog's teeth a lot found that chicken/turkey necks were a great starter, that is what alot of people do and their dogs love it. I was surprised how Toffee didn't and still doesn't like to eat raw chicken.. took me a while to get him into it... but I stopped feeding chicken as I am not sure if he might be allergic to it

 

[marymrumfelt]

I'm not sure if I'm ready to take the plunge into feeding raw food all the time. But, I'm interested in giving my dogs raw bones because I heard it's good for keeping their teeth clean. Where do you get bones? Grocery store? Butcher? Pet store? And which bones are good? Which are bad? I thought that chicken bones are bad because they splinter but, I noticed from reading post that many of your dogs are eating them. Is it only the cooked bones that splinter?

First off, I think it's important to tell you that bones aren't exactly what keeps teeth clean in the raw diet. If you have a dog with already dirty teeth, the bones (given on a regular basis and consistently) will help remove the plaque. It takes a while, though, and would take even longer if they are eating kibble which is ridden with sugar and it would be hard for the bone to ever work, IMO, b/c if you're feeding kibble it's kind of a counter-balance. The thing that keeps raw fed doggies' teeth pearly white is eating LARGE pieces of MEAT. Not BONE! It's the tendons in the meat, like roasts/shoulders/etc, that floss their teeth when they bite into it. Those tendons and joints actually go in between the teeth and eliminate anything between them, therefor preventing decay.

With the being said, I'd be hesitant to give both b/c there's a lot of calcium (obviously) in bones and then it's in their kibble so how do you know you're not giving too much? I'd also be hesitant to do both as a dog whose never eaten raw has to build up the gut flora to deal with raw and that isn't going to happen by giving him an occasional piece of meat with a bone in it. That's why a lot of people start which chicken and stay with it until acclimated to raw meat as it's the easier meat to digest for them and as a whole causes less problems.

Don't feed weight-bearing bones meaning bones from cow/deer/moose/buffalo/etc If you're buying from grocery store that leaves you mainly with chicken/turkey/and pork. I don't do pork chops b/c the way they cut the bone is too sharp IMO.

I would recommend doing some research, exploring sites/forums/ on the calcium intake and also the gut flora issue I discussed.

 

[marymrumfelt]

in short yes, cooked bones and weight bearing bones from big animals are a bad idea..
chicken is okay, for a dog's teeth a lot found that chicken/turkey necks were a great starter, that is what alot of people do and their dogs love it. I was surprised how Toffee didn't and still doesn't like to eat raw chicken.. took me a while to get him into it... but I stopped feeding chicken as I am not sure if he might be allergic to it

Girl, mine look so sad when I give them chicken! I have read it's almost unheard of for a dog to actually be allergic to a (raw) protein source. Also, I'm scared of chicken necks! They are the perfect size to choke on! Turkey necks were good but my guys couldn't plow through them very easily. I love giving them ribs! They love them and it takes them sometimes 2-3 hours to eat them if I give them a huge wrack! I gave Hadley pig's feet and they helped clean her teeth.

Just be careful b/c you might bind your dog up to where it won't be able to poop! LOL Bone only makes up 10% of their diet so for my 20lb sheltie it's only 5.6 ounces a week and usually ends up being twice a week they get bone. What I do is give them their ribs or whatever (if it's a large piece) let them eat what I think is around 3 oz off it and then pick it back up and throw it back at them a few days later. I found giving chicken legs difficult b/c they usually weigh the full 5 oz and I couldn't pick it up half way through.

Does Toffee need a lot of bone? I've heard some dogs needing a whole lot! My gang seem to have good poops on 1-2 bone meals a week.

 

[hrcarol]

Thanks for the info. Why are weight bearing bones not good for dogs? When I look at the meat containing bones in the grocery store. A lot of it is cut into small sharp bones that could easily be choked on. Do your dogs consume the entire bone? Do you worry about them choking on the bone?

 

[marymrumfelt]

Thanks for the info. Why are weight bearing bones not good for dogs? When I look at the meat containing bones in the grocery store. A lot of it is cut into small sharp bones that could easily be choked on. Do your dogs consume the entire bone? Do you worry about them choking on the bone?

Weight bearing bones are too dense and could chip their teeth. I'm not sure what cuts you're referencing so I can't answer. The only ones I noticed being cut/small (which wouldn't help teeth anyway) were pork chops, but I don't have too much variety here. The point is to get something like a turkey neck or deer neck with lots of meat on it so they take their teeth and scrape them against the bone while pulling the meat off. Yes, they eat the entire bone most of the time. No, it doesn't worry me. Mine choke sometimes on meat, but have never even come close to choking on a bone. Most of the times when they choke on their meat it is because they didn't "chew" good enough so they will hork it back up and chew it better and then it's fine. With bone it's mostly crunch crunch and then gone. I try to give mine whole prey as much as I can. So I give them, say deer legs with tons of meat and then when they get to the bone I'll take it away. Or I would let them eat on a whole chicken or turkey for a week or so. The goal is LARGE pieces but that's sometimes hard for people to find. Do you know hunters? That helps a lot.