# Boiling Bones:



## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

For the last two months, Donatello has faithfully chewed on a lamb's leg, and a hoof. They're the only two bones he hasn't splintered and choked/gagged on... 

I was looking at them today; They're filthy! The lamb's leg has hair inside... **Blech!** lol! 

I'm short on the money this week, and I'd rather him just chew on these as these are his favorites. The hoof was cheap, but the lamb's leg was like $8.00 

I was just wondering, would it hurt to boil them in water for a few seconds, to "clean" them?

::EDIT:: I'm a bit of a clean freak, and I despise the idea of bacteria or "nasties" building up on things he chews on...


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I would never cook a bone in any way. If you must clean it try rinsing it off under water, let it dry a bit, and then freeze it. Freezing does not kill all bacteria but it does inactivate them, helping with the ick factor.


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## Sugar Daddy Otis (Jan 9, 2008)

I would never cook one either--not even for a minute

....but I did somehow wash one in the washer with Otis' blankets one day and it came out nice and clean lol


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

The bones I'm talking about are the kinds you can buy in PetCo; they're not raw, and I'm not talking about boiling them to cook them. So to speak, it's more or less submerging them in hot water.

I'm probably just OC. lol!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

The bones you buy at Petco are already cooked and I wouldn't give them to my dog at all.


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

It's a hoof and then the leg of a lamb; they are the only bones he can chew on without splintering and breaking off into little pieces.

I've tried giving him raw bones, and either I didn't give him the right ones or something, because he'd splinter those as well and throw them up later...


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## Donna5503 (Mar 13, 2009)

I wouldn't if I was you....they aren't real bones and boiling them will just make them really eicky....rinse them off with cold water.


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## Best*In*Show (Mar 14, 2009)

I don't know if this will help at all - but a study was done on salmonella killing methods. The bug likes to hang out in kitchen sponges. So, they boiled one and then nuked another (wetted down) for one minute, and then two mintues. The sponge that had been nuked was supremely less germ filled than the boiled one -- surprisingly so. The wetted sponge that had been nuked for 2 minutes was essentially sterile. If these were my bones, I would wash them with an anti-bacterial soap in warm water, and if I was still concerned, I would wet it down a bit and nuke for 30 seconds to a minute. I would test the consistency to see how it does and make sure it's safe. I might also dip it in boiling water for a few seconds after I washed it and again, check the consistency to see if it's safe.

The bones are actually probably fine, but I sometimes think it would be neat to have testing kits for stuff like this. They have a very neat laboratory down the street that does all kinds of tests for soil, etc, etc, but they're like 25 dollars each -- so you wouldn't be saving anything!!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

My solution is to get raw bones from the butcher and pitch 'em when they get scuzzy.

I can get a dozen-or-so for the price of one of the pet store bones and they're safer and better for the dog.


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

RonE- I don't live anywhere close to a butcher, so that poses a problem... I've even gone so far as to check with the meat department in the supermarket's to see if they would possibly have anything and they look at me like I'm crazy and ultimately tell me they can't help me.

Best*In*Show- Thanks for your input! That's great, and that's all I was really wanting to do with his bones, (dip them in boiling water) just to sterilize them... Bacteria grows on any kind of surface, and I can only imagine the kind of bacteria on those things! **Blech! Some people must have thought I meant boil the bones for like 20 minutes.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

deege39 said:


> The bones I'm talking about are the kinds you can buy in PetCo; they're not raw, and I'm not talking about boiling them to cook them. So to speak, it's more or less submerging them in hot water.
> 
> I'm probably just OC. lol!


These bones aren't safe for dogs, so throw them away and get your dog a raw bone. Most supermarkets have soup bones, getting them fozen, and will cut them to size for you.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Please don't feed the bones that are sold in pet stores. They are processed and can splint just as easily as a cooked bone.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

Another thing to note, is some of the cooked bones are hard as rocks. I know dogs that teeth have weared down to pretty much nothing, because they had chewed on those cooked bones all their life. Im thinking of knucle bones for big dogs, but I would think smaller cooked bones could have the same affect on little dogs.


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## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

Deege, where do you get chicken wings and drumsticks?


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## FourIsCompany (Apr 18, 2009)

rosemaryninja said:


> Deege, where do you get chicken wings and drumsticks?


That's what I was going to suggest. Sometimes I get turkey wings and drumsticks, too. Or necks and backs.


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

Okay, well- The hoof and the leg-of-lamb he's chewing on are the only two bones he can't and hasn't splintered, I should take a picture of these to show you, they're thick and hard like a rock. 

I'm now more concerned with what DobManiac mentioned then him splintering them 

I've tossed out all the other bones he's managed to splinter, and on occasion when I do go out and buy new bones, I'm very thorough and selective when choosing something. 

I've given him raw bones before, and he's chewed them up only to later throw them back up.


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## Nargle (Oct 1, 2007)

Maybe instead of bones, you could buy him a Kong instead? I wash Sasha's out by hand in water that's as hot as I can stand and a little anti-bacterial dish soap, but I'm sure you could boil it without a problem. You could also use a Clarinet mouthpiece brush from any music store if you don't want to stick your fingers in there. Also, the biscuits and such that you can stuff them with seem much more sanitary then any bone, and you could also try stuffing it with something like cheeze (I've tried lunch meat and peanutbutter, but they are sort of messy) The little cubed cheeses work best, I've found, as the shredded stuff just kind of tends to fall right out. I also bake my own biscuits to stick in the Kong. Use a gingerbread man shaped cookie cutter, it fits very nicely inside a kong =D


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## deege39 (Dec 29, 2008)

I've really been thinking about getting a Kong for him, I just wasn't too positive on how well it works on keeping down the tarter on their teeth.

In the long run it'd be cheaper, I know that for sure.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

deege39 said:


> Okay, well- The hoof and the leg-of-lamb he's chewing on are the only two bones he can't and hasn't splintered, I should take a picture of these to show you, they're thick and hard like a rock.
> 
> I'm now more concerned with what DobManiac mentioned then him splintering them .


I know what you mean about them being hard as a rock. He could also crack a tooth on them or splinter a tooth. 

My vet has mentioned compressed rawhides. Of course alarms go off in my head with the hard "rawhide." But these are supposed to be safer and softer. The dogs only tear off small slivers instead of big pieces. So there isn't the same danger from blockages. 

I haven't tried it yet, so I couldn't give you my personal recomendation. But she is a good vet, even feeds her dogs Wellness Core. You might try one, and see how your dog eats it. If it looks dangerous, then take it away and never buy another one.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Go look at the chewies. There are a lot of different shapes and types. All you need is for it to be washable and have some way of sticking some little goodies inside. I even have a purple ribbed thing with a harder core that is meant to clean teeth like a real bone with meat! There are softer ribs on the outside and a 'marrow' hole through the middle. Agree if germs are a concern then a rubber toy is much easier to keep clean. I just put my chew toys in the dishwasher. 

I do think a raw bone with meat on it scrubs and flosses the teeth very nicely but I toss it after the meat is gone. Gnawing on a hard bone or trying to break it is very hard on teeth. The beef ribs are usually $1.50 a pound and are about 2 per pound so $.75 a piece. Cheaper than a pig ear, last longer and do more for the teeth. Pork or lamb ribs are completely edible but cost more and don't last as long. Guess you don't want to do that if your dog doesn't digest bone well. Raw bone digest much better than cooked bone though.

I *used* to buy compressed rawhide and it is safer from the chewing angle. However over the years the quality has gone down so far even I noticed. The inside of all of them would be black. They didn't used to be, I think the black is mold and I won't buy them any longer.

What about deer antlers? They could easily be scrubbed clean and are supposed to last a long time.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

Kathyy said:


> I *used* to buy compressed rawhide and it is safer from the chewing angle. However over the years the quality has gone down so far even I noticed. The inside of all of them would be black. They didn't used to be, I think the black is mold and I won't buy them any longer.


Thats interesting. Thanks for the advice.

What raw bones do you use as chews? I started my dogs on BAARF a few weeks ago, but so far everything they have had has been edible. 

What would be a good raw bone for big dogs?


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Stick to edible! My dog Max isn't a big dog, only 38 pounds or so but thinks he can eat any bone now, NOT good. I can no longer give the raw beef ribs as he is determined to break them and eat them. Try bones that are too large to completely finish up like WHOLE pork neck pieces [weigh a couple pounds] and feet. He chews as long as he likes so the teeth get clean but doesn't eat too much. Pork feet look fatty but have less than ribs and that skin is very hard to chew up. Or you could offer up inedible bone well covered with meat like a whole beef shank and take it away once the bone eating attempts start. Or whole pork shoulder. Max surprised me, I gave him the shoulder bone and instead of chewing the meat off he went right through bone and all.

Any new protein needs to be offered a bit at a time. Don't give a pig foot to a dog that hasn't ever had pork, give him a bit a day until it is fine and increase the amount to half a meal at least before giving large pork bones. And always supervise dogs with bone! Be prepared with a trade so if you get concerned you can get the bone away from the dog. I could get that naked rib from Max with a bit of liver or something.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

They had pork neck bones for the first time today. They were a really good size, but not the whole neck bones. These took them a while to get through. About 30 minutes, but it took Dusk an hour since he had the biggest pieces.

I was hoping to get a bone they could clean off outside, and then bring it inside for a recreational chew. But I don't want to chance them getting too determined. I saw beef rib bones on sale a couple of days ago, but I wasn't sure if they were edible or not. I might give them a try, and be prepared with some grilled chicken or something if I they start to look unsafe.

Are pork necks the best kind of pork for a bony pork meal? These were the hardest bones I have given so far. They have also had chicken, turkey, and cooked sardines in water.


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