# Raw Bones for Dogs?



## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

I am adopting a 6 month old golden retriever puppy this weekend, and am wondering what my best options for bones are. The guy who is fostering him now says that he's a big chewer, and I want to do whatever I can to manage that. He is crate trained, so won't be destroying my house when I'm gone

So I have heard that getting raw bones from butchers is really great for puppies and keeps them really occupied. I like this idea because bully sticks, etc are so expensive and I'd like to give my new boy more natural chew toys anyways. Is this a terrible idea, or if it's not, what are some good rules of thumb when getting raw bones? Which bones are best to get, and do they go bad if the meat isn't chewed off promptly? I've heard anything cooked as far as bones go is bad for dogs.

My other question is about KONG filling. I am going to give him a Kong when he has to be kenneled. I am hoping that this will make the kennel seem more appealing, and keep his mind occupied. What is best/safest to fill those things with? I've heard peanut butter, but is that a safe thing for a dog to eat daily? 

Any recommendations to keep my new boys' mouth busy with something besides my furniture would be much appreciated! I don't think he has been getting enough exercise in foster, and I plan on wearing him out as much as possible, so I'm sure that will help too.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I give butcher bones once a week or so. My dogs LOVE them.

I also fill kongs with their regular dog food with hotdogs, cheese, left-overs etc all mixed in. Then I rinse it with water and freeze the whole thing. It takes a long time for a dog to clear them out!

I also take hollowed out 4 inch bones and fill then with the same stuff and freeze them too.

Sometimes my dogs eat all of their meals from frozen kongs when the weather is bad just to keep them occupied.

Congrats on the new dog!


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## Active Dog (Jan 18, 2010)

Raw bones are fine, but make sure you keep an eye on him so he doesn't swallow big pieces. And you are right, never give a dog or cat a cooked bone, they splinter and can kill you pet. But no worries about raw bones, my dog eats them all the time, its a part of her raw diet. I am not sure what to recommend for a puppy so I will leave that to someone else 

As for the kong, peanut butter is fine but I like to mix it up with some of my dogs canned food. She eats Blue Buffalo and they have a nice smooth can food that works great. I than pop it in the freezer and it freezes WAY faster than PB.


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## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

Okay, good to know. This puppy may be 6 months old, but he weighs 60 pounds already. There is just so much conflicting information on the internet. Some sites say that the parasites and such that are on raw meat (even when it's fresh) will mess up a dogs system. A person said their dog died from breaking a piece off a knuckle bone and swallowing it. Some say rawhide is fine, others say rawhide is basically the worst thing you can give them. 

It's seems to me that really any bone that your dog can chew for any length of time has the potential to choke your dog. Soft bones last all of 30 seconds. Cooked bones splinter. My current dog just isn't a big chewer, so it's never really been a priority. I was thinking I would even start my current dog on knuckle bones because I've read that those are super good for their teeth. 

So if I go to the supermarket butcher and ask for a knuckle bone, what else should I specify??
Thanks for all of the advice!


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## amdeblaey (Jun 27, 2009)

I buy my dogs ribs from the grocery store and that's what they chew on-I just cut off the fat-some of those ribs are really fatty. I use to get my bones from the butcher-but they would just give me a bag of random bones-most of which were weight baring, and gave my one lab the poops really bad. 

Also there are a lot of people on the forum that give deer antlers. It's just a matter of finding them-or finding someone who deer hunts, and are willing to give up their antlers.


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## Kawgirl (Feb 1, 2009)

I know that lots of people on here give raw bones, but you might want to look at this link also? 

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm208365.htm

It doesn't specify between raw and cooked and I know that there is a difference..still for me, I am a big chicken/worry wart so I just don't want to take the chance, especially with my small dog.


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## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

Hmmm...well this is what I'm talking about. There is just so much conflicting information about what is and isn't okay. Like rawhide. Most things I read made rawhide sound like the dog chew from hell. But both of my dogs chewed rawhide for years and I never had an issue (call me uneducated). 

Raw bones sound good because of marrow and teeth cleaning capacity, but then I have heard horror stories from some people. Hmmmm....


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Raw bones are safe. Dogs digestive tracts are made to handle any bacteria that may be present in raw meat/bones. 

My 14 month old Saints favorite recreational chew is beef rib bones. Straight from the grocery store, separated into single bone portions. I usually offer them frozen and it'll take him about 45 minutes to strip all the meat off. He will then continue to seek out his bone when he feels the need to chew. 

He's also had beef knuckle bones and femurs & deer legs (shoulder to just above the hoof). These should be given with supervision only. Heavy chewing on weight baring bones can cause tooth damage. Buster only gets these very rarely, 3-4 times per year. For my big boy anything smaller is an edible bone. Pork ribs, for instance, he can be given a rack and eat the entire thing.


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## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

So knuckles and ribs are good. I've heard too that cow bones are the best. The smaller ones from smaller animals are more likely to lodge in their throats. 

Do you just go up to the meat counter and ask for these bones? Or do you call first?


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## LuvMyAngels (May 24, 2009)

Weight baring bones should only be given supervised and limited amounts of time due to the risk of tooth damage. Ribs- I supervised at first, now that I know his normal routine with them he's allowed free access to them...once he's cleaned the meat off, he can have them where ever he chooses.

Just ask when you're at the grocery store. They may not always have them you could also ask when a good time to check back would be. Usually the best time to check is whenever the store does their cutting for the day, here its first thing in the morning...especially days they get a truck in. My husband works in the meat department at a local grocery store so he'll occasionally bring home a bone for Buster.


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## DarkUncle (Feb 10, 2010)

Sorry to jump in but here's a question I have. What's a weight bearing bone and what isn't?

Thanks,
Chris


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## dieterherzog (Sep 28, 2009)

Weight bearing bones are from the feet/leg area since the legs carry the weight of the animal hence "weight bearing". That's why you should never give your dog (or at least I never do), bones that are labeled for "soup" because you never know what area the bone is from.

Cow femur is okay for larger dogs with strong jaws and teeth but for smaller dogs, it might break their teeth. I usually stick with meaty ribs - I find beef back ribs are cheap and works the best as a raw meaty bone. Cow knuckle and femur works for recreational chewing only. I don't know if I would necessarily give a leg bone to a puppy seeing as their teeth are still growing, maybe someone can chime in on this. Oxtails work well but can be really expensive. 

Don't worry about bacteria. My dog gets raw food and he sleeps with me and licks me in the face ALL the time. Some people might find that gross, I don't really care. You're more likely to contract food poisoning from your local Mexican restaurant that being slobbered all over from a raw-fed dog. Seventh Generation has a new disinfecting cleaner that uses thyme oil to get rid of bacteria and you can use that to clean out your puppy's kennel and any other surface. Using regular vinegar with a few drops of tea tree oil and water should also work. 

I would only worry about contamination if (a) you have little crawling babies (b) compromised immune system (c) you live in a tremendously hot climate where food spoils super quick.


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## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't worried about bacteria in relation to me at all. I work in the burn ICU, so I've pretty much been exposed to everything under the sun. I just don't want my dog getting diarrhea, because that is usually bad news for my carpet. 

I went to the store today and got some knuckles. I'm not getting the puppy until tomorrow, but I thought I'd try it out on my older dog. It's been two hours, and I don't think she's come up for air yet. She is one happy dog right now. 

Can't wait to entertain my puppy for hours!


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## Bubbly (Mar 20, 2010)

I finally gave Bubbles a raw bone for the first time last week and she loved it. I gave her a bison rib bone that I got from my butcher. At first I was a little leery and I watched her poop like a hawk for 3 days! She seemed to really enjoy herself with it. I gave it to her on the deck so I didn't have to worry about cleaning out the floor afterwards. Wish you luck with the puppy. Bubbles only took 30 minutes to work off the rib.


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## zoey'smom (Apr 24, 2010)

I want to post this as a warning to everyone considering giving their dog any real bones. Wednesday it was raining and I couldn't take my best friend (Jack Russell Terrier) of ten years for a walk so I stopped at the store to get her a bone. I found a large ham bone in the dog section that was flavored and shrink wrapped. She loved it and ate half of it throughout the course of the evening. At 1 AM she woke me to go outside. From that time on she started vomiting, mostly bone at first. She was also very thirsty. I figured it was an upset tummy from the bone but didn't realize the enormity of what was happening to her. She rapidly declined and was vomiting blood by the afternoon the next day with extreme abdominal pain. I rushed her to the vet who told me HAM and HAM BONES cooked or raw is the WORST thing you can ever give a dog. It is extremely salty and very fatty. She was having an acute pancreatic attack that led to dehydration from vomiting. She aspirated vomit and had early stages of pneumonia as well as having a mass of bone in her small intestine.
She is currently in the hospital on an IV of fluids, electrolytes, and antibiotics and we are praying she will pass the bone. 
I had NO idea when I bought my best friend a treat--that is marketed for dogs-- that it would nearly kill her!!


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## TxRider (Apr 22, 2009)

Well I haven't given my dogs many bones, but I do watch at the store for meat sales.

The TOTW I buy them as about $1.50 a pound, so meat that is cheaper is tempting

I used to cook up cheap chicken meat for treats, but tonight they had chicken leg quarters for .70 per pound. The girls each got on tonight and loved it, bones and all.

I gave them out in the back yard, and before walking out gave the dogs the "you hungry? want some food?" which lets them know some food is coming, when timid Kaya got a look and smell of what it was she got a look not quite like anything I have seen from her before.. 

Now hopefully they won't squirt all over the house tonight in the middle of the night.

Dunno if the leg and thigh bones will do much for cleaning their teeth though.

The sell boneless ribs at my local store, I think I'll ask for some of the bones.


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## grace (Apr 15, 2010)

So I got my puppy, and he's been great! Way better than I imagined. No accidents, slept through the entire night without making a peep, and is really receptive to training. 

Anyways, the people I bought him from said they boil raw bones just to get rid of parasites/worms. Is this a legitimate concern, and is boiling bones for 10 minutes okay? They said it's probably not necessary if he is on a good worming regimen. So if I were to give him heartgard plus (covers some intestinal worms as well), would that be okay? 

Sorry for all of the questions. I just keep hearing so much conflicting information. Some sites have said that boiling bones for 10 minutes doesn't make them brittle, so it's a good safety precaution that doesn't destroy the integrity of the bone.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Buy BBQ beef ribs. Cut into single ribs and remove the wiggly bone at the top. Freeze the extras and serve up one every couple days. Do not cook, remove bone if pup tries to break it but gnawing on the end is fine. If pup is larger leave a couple ribs together, super fun to get the meat off. Never leave a dog alone with a bone. Just the slight anxiety of you moving out of sight might cause trouble.

If you buy human meat it isn't going to have parasites. It will be fresh and low in bacteria count. The bone will be soft and hard to break into sharp bits but easy to gnaw off small amounts. Max can completely eat chicken and pork bones safely IF they are surrounded by lots of meat. A lot of bone can cause constipation.

Femurs are the largest bone in that cow's body and are very hard, do not offer them. The knuckles are softer, some are spongy especially from young animals. Weight bearing is round in cross section bones. Max can eat some lamb and pork weight bearing but I will not offer beef or venison or ostrich or even turkey.

Zoey'sMom, I am so sorry about your buddy. I am feeding cheap meat that is heavily salted to the dogs and worry so much. I cook it three times tossing the water from each boiling. So far so good. I suspect part of the problem was the amount. That was a large amount of food for a small dog. I remember when I gave raw fed Max a 16 ounce pork shoulder bone and he ate the whole thing. That was 1.6x the usual amount I fed him. Turned out fine but best to work up to big meals. Or big snacks. If you give x calories in a snack, reduce the next meal by x amount. Not that that would have helped in this case.

Kongs? Anything. Max gets ground beef with chicken foot stuck in for filling or I wedge a couple bits of dried lamb lung in them. Sassy won't anymore but the same lung or peanut butter plus kibble was a hit. I like to be evil and wedge stuff in so they work harder for less reward. A bit of bread will not come out at all and the last bit of ground beef has to be helped out by me. You do not have to stuff the thing full, I would smear peanut butter around the inside. I never did but dampen part of his kibble, stuff the kong and freeze it. Sounds like a good idea to me.


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## SandyPuppy (Aug 8, 2009)

grace said:


> Hmmm...well this is what I'm talking about. There is just so much conflicting information about what is and isn't okay. Like rawhide. Most things I read made rawhide sound like the dog chew from hell. But both of my dogs chewed rawhide for years and I never had an issue (call me uneducated).
> 
> Raw bones sound good because of marrow and teeth cleaning capacity, but then I have heard horror stories from some people. Hmmmm....


I had the same problem. I'd never personally witnessed or knew anyone who'd actually had problems with rawhide chews so I used them with all my foster dogs. Until Sandy started puking up blood and chunks of rawhide. No more rawhide for anyone ever again in my house. I think that some dogs have problems with it and some don't and it all depends on how they go about eating it, but I will never risk using it again. I just thank God that Sandy wasn't seriously injured or needed surgery or something. All my current dogs get raw bones.


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## rescue luvr (Apr 25, 2010)

this has been a great thread. I always have the same questions about bones. Obviously, the dogs love them, but I always get so nervous. I guess I will be trying rib bones next.


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## Francesca (Apr 26, 2010)

Cooked bones are quite dangerous. Let me repeat this for good measure: raw bones are completely digestible and are not dangerous for your animal. Yes, problems can occur with raw bones, just as problems can occur with feeding the "safer" kibble (bloat, choking, telescoping bowel, aspirated kibble leading to pneumonia, etc.). If you are concerned about choking or about bones getting stuck or about broken teeth, here are some things you can do:

•Feed appropriately sized pieces. 
•Feed raw meaty bones frozen or partially frozen.
•Do not feed the big weight-bearing bones of large herbivores. 
•Feed MEATY bones that are surrounded by and wrapped up in plenty of meat. 
•If you are still worried, learn the doggie heimelich maneuver and monitor the dog while it eats (which should be done anyway, regardless of what the dog is fed!). 

Bones from prey are required by wolves as the major source of calcium and phosphorus for the maintenance of their own skeletons. Bones, in fact, are a surprisingly well-balanced food for canids.


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