# Bones



## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

I'd like some thoughts on bones

It's a confusing world when the things the pet shop sells are things that many people argue against (I suppose I know that from pet food as much as anything)

I know cooked bones aren't good. I had bought air dried venison marrow bones, but then these aren't raw so I imagine still harder (?). I was always with him and little bits sometimes splintered off which I took away (Gandhi doesn't seem to mind this, he concentrates on the main bit), but also we were worried about his teeth as I recently read about bones being a risk for chipping or breaking teeth. 

Someone advised us to get a raw bone from the butchers so we've done that, haven't given it to him yet but it's some kind of beef bone. 

What about the fact that it's raw and he will likely drag it onto the rug - would this be a hygiene concern? It's still got some meat on it

This is a bit of a new world to us as up to now he was quite happy with the easy chew antlers as something to chew on, but he seems to have got bored of them

Any advice welcome


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

I know where you're coming from and haven't any advice on bones but Poppy chooses her bull horn above all else, she's gnawed right to the middle, which I assume is the good stuff and it starts to smell very strong, Gandhi might like that?


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

We give only raw meaty beef marrow bones from the butcher, just the short round ones I assume are sawed leg bones and we only give them outdoors. When they are all white and free of any sign of gunk we allow them inside for gnawing purposes.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

No bones in my house. My last dog, Skipper, broke his carnassial tooth on a bone and then had to have the tooth removed at the vet.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Ouch! Was he used to them? We have always done this with all our dogs and never have had a broken tooth yet.


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## Lindor (Feb 3, 2014)

I would give them once in a while but he was never an aggressive chewer.


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

Lindor said:


> No bones in my house. My last dog, Skipper, broke his carnassial tooth on a bone and then had to have the tooth removed at the vet.


Do you know what type of bone it was?

This is my concern, but at the same time Gandhi is looking for something to chew so I'm a bit torn


Fairlie that makes sense with starting it outdoors


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

Mazzapoo said:


> I know where you're coming from and haven't any advice on bones but Poppy chooses her bull horn above all else, she's gnawed right to the middle, which I assume is the good stuff and it starts to smell very strong, Gandhi might like that?


How hard on the teeth is that in comparison to a bone?


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Well essentially I suppose it's made of hair! Yes it's hard but as she gnaws, little strips of fibre can come off, not (so far) any splinters, as I assume would happen with bone and I don't think she's trying to crunch it, just scrape. She's never had a bone so I can't compare directly although I prefer the bull horn to the antler which is rock hard.


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

Mazzapoo said:


> Well essentially I suppose it's made of hair! Yes it's hard but as she gnaws, little strips of fibre can come off, not (so far) any splinters, as I assume would happen with bone and I don't think she's trying to crunch it, just scrape. She's never had a bone so I can't compare directly although I prefer the bull horn to the antler which is rock hard.


The antlers are rock hard, I don't know how any dogs manage the ones that aren't easy chew! The easy chew ones are split down the middle and Gandhi gnaws on the inside bit and as it gets wet it goes a bit soft anyway. When he's finished with it it's just an empty outside bit left. I heard of a dog breaking their tooth on an antler but I can only assume that was a closed full one

It's a shame Gandhi has got bored of them. We also have a root wood chew for him which is good and doesn't splinter, but again he is only interested for a little bit


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Yes we have that too, not very interesting to Poppy that one but occasionally it gets sought out for a gnaw. Do you give him pizzle, the bigger ones last a while here, or are you looking for a less edible chew?


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## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

i give ginger beef soup bones from the food store, she don't chew the out side to hard but she can really get to chewing the inside where the marrow is and she loves then and the ones i get don't have much meat on the out sides ether.she will chew on one for days


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## Miss Lilly (Sep 12, 2014)

Hi
Miss Lilly loves her antler too and so far no problems with teeth or splinters. I find that she too eventually gets bored of it (after days of gnawing) and then I just take it away for a few days. When she gets it back she gets very excited and involved in gnawing it all over again. I do this with all her things (toys, non-edible chews) and rotate them so that she always has a small selection to play with / chew on.

Other than that she gets a frozen chicken wing (raw and definitely only outside) now and again as well as chicken feet, venison and rabbit ears (dried and 'puffed' as they tend to last longer), pizzles etc. She does get bones (including the venison marrow bones) but only under supervision as they tend to splinter. I did give her an empty hoof which she loved but I hated ... and I'm afraid to say I removed it from her pretty quickly!

Hope this helps


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## erinafare (Dec 9, 2012)

All good advice plenty of choices some a little harder to get hold of well in the area I live.
A big NO NO do not buy pre-packed from the cheap discount stores. dogs have died or large vet bills where the splinters have gone into intestine and split it. One dog when operated on had black goo containing lots of splintered bone he is still in intensive care.
Jan bought Ozzy a ham bone from one of the stores and he was poorly but managed to bring it up black goo with splinters in. This particular product has been taken off the shelves.


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## Yogi bear (Feb 25, 2013)

We don't tend to use bones (i'm too scared!) but have found the bull horn as an alternative to the antler chews good. I rotate the chews and hide the antlers for a couple of days otherwise he gets bored. X


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the opinions

I will get him a bull horn and see what he makes of it 

It's a good point about rotating things and putting them away for a while to make them more interesting


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## erinafare (Dec 9, 2012)

Where do you buy bull horns x


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

PAH do them and loads of places online, ebay even!

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wc...fIkFULcN4K8YExDWzjc81r7pjCVewGWnRhBoC-fLw_wcB


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## erinafare (Dec 9, 2012)

Mazzapoo said:


> PAH do them and loads of places online, ebay even!
> 
> http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wc...fIkFULcN4K8YExDWzjc81r7pjCVewGWnRhBoC-fLw_wcB


Not seen them there perhaps I haven't looked properly xx


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

erinafare said:


> Not seen them there perhaps I haven't looked properly xx


I hadn't noticed them before either

Just ordered one from amazon


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## Hollysefton (Sep 28, 2013)

I give Murphy a couple of raw chicken wings a week, and a pizzle to chew on while I'm at work. He got bored of his stag after a few weeks! I get big raw meaty bones from the butcher and once a week he has half an hour gnawing on that. I always hold the wings/bones for him. This prevents the 'being dragged all over the house' problem, and stops him from gulping down the wings. Also it's a nice bonding experience as he's basically gnawing and cleaning his teeth while I'm holding it, he's very gentle near my fingers and I can practice his 'leave it' commands too.

I use Nutriment so I know he already has enough bone content in his food, the bones are really just for him to clean his teeth and his joy at doing it! 


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Weller has raw rib bones, half Sheeps head and raw paddy wack. He has them outside, never inside as apart from the smell and mess I don't want the dog disturbed by the kids while he enjoys his treat. He has had bull horns and antlers but has bored of them and I also use the bones as a meal substitute once a week. You can liven up the antlers by smearing some butter, cream cheese, coconut oil or peanut butter in the chewed end.
All of the bones I mention are sold through Natural instinct so it takes the guess work out of getting the type of bones right.
I think the chance of cracking a tooth is far outweighed by the benefits of giving a dog a nice bone to chew on.


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## Grove (Oct 17, 2012)

wellerfeller said:


> Weller has raw rib bones, half Sheeps head and raw paddy wack. He has them outside, never inside as apart from the smell and mess I don't want the dog disturbed by the kids while he enjoys his treat. He has had bull horns and antlers but has bored of them and I also use the bones as a meal substitute once a week. You can liven up the antlers by smearing some butter, cream cheese, coconut oil or peanut butter in the chewed end.
> All of the bones I mention are sold through Natural instinct so it takes the guess work out of getting the type of bones right.
> I think the chance of cracking a tooth is far outweighed by the benefits of giving a dog a nice bone to chew on.


Thanks for this tip - just looked into the Natural Instinct website and there's a lot of choice


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

wellerfeller said:


> Weller has raw rib bones, half Sheeps head and raw paddy wack. He has them outside, never inside as apart from the smell and mess I don't want the dog disturbed by the kids while he enjoys his treat. He has had bull horns and antlers but has bored of them and I also use the bones as a meal substitute once a week. You can liven up the antlers by smearing some butter, cream cheese, coconut oil or peanut butter in the chewed end.
> 
> All of the bones I mention are sold through Natural instinct so it takes the guess work out of getting the type of bones right.
> 
> I think the chance of cracking a tooth is far outweighed by the benefits of giving a dog a nice bone to chew on.



Karen,
my two crunch through chicken wings, drumsticks, turkey necks without a problem. I got some pork ribs to vary their bones to include something other than poultry. Would those be okay for them to eat the actual bones? Or just to gnaw the meat off. 
Maureen


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Yes that's ok. Weller eats the whole thing. The only bit he left of the sheeps head was the teeth!!!
The ribs, he eats most of. He might leave the last little bit.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

Oh dear, I love feeding raw but I'm just not sure I could deal with a whole head 

Glad he didn't eat the teeth


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## janice griffiths (Nov 4, 2014)

*Pigs Ears*

My dogs old and young have baked pigs ears they clean there teeth and they last ages x


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

RuthMill said:


> Oh dear, I love feeding raw but I'm just not sure I could deal with a whole head
> 
> Glad he didn't eat the teeth


It's only half a head!


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

wellerfeller said:


> It's only half a head!


I actually think I'm going to have to order some. Feel like the girls are missing out


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