[I still care]

Could you give me some advice on bones? I was always told never to give a dog bones, but someone told me its alright if they are raw. Is that all kinds of bones?

[Glacier Honey]

There are three very good books about the RAW diet then you can order on line or probably find on e-bay.

Give your dog a bone
Raw Meaty Bones

I have give my books away but my dogs are thriving on this diet. They eat no commercial dog food at all.

[R. Scott]

Chicken and fish bones could cause trouble because they easily splinter. Beef, pig, sheep etc. are usually safe.

[proudofthesouth]

A few times a year I will give my dog real smoked beef or pork bones. Petsmart and Petco sell them. When I had outside dogs I would give them raw ox bones on occassion.

[passionfruit]

We give our dog cooked bones if they are beef pork or lamb. No chicken or turkey bones though, we have heard that they can splinter and hurt our dog.

[Brytani]

The rule with bones for dogs is this. NEVER give a dog chicken or poultry bones of anykind. They can splinter during chewing and choke the dog.

As for meat and pork bones, they are ok as long the pork bones are the nuckle portion and both are cooked. There are numerous "recipes" on the net you can find on how to process bones for dogs.

I guarantee you someone on here will disagree with my comments and tell you they've fed chicken bones etc to their dogs for years with no problem. Some dogs can handle it, however no Vet will ever recommend giving them to a dog.

It's like chocolate. Dogs can be deathly allergic to chocolate. Last May I lost my Brittany/Springer Spaniel baby, Leetah, to liver cancer. She could eat chocolate with no problems. Even at one point getting a hold of a ziplock bag filled with 2 dozen cookies and having an evening snack while we were out. However my next-door neighbor lost her poodle this past Christmas when her dog got into some chocolate she was using to bake with. The dog was dead before they could get it into the car to the vet.

The point of this long post is simple. Why take chances? If you want to give your dogs bones for chewing go to a reputable pet store and purchase good quality bones at the right size for your pet.

[Dustbunny]

We have always given our dogs bones raw. When we butched a beefer or a deer. We never cleaned all the meat from the bones, just stuck them in a bag in the freezer. Just take a couple out and give them to the dogs while they were outside in their yard. Giving them to them inside makes too much of a mess. Their coats shine with health and their teeth are clean. We also never feed any dry dog food or treat that has soy in it.