[Rahat]

Hard Natural Bones are a natural way to clean teeth and exercise muscles. They improve a dog’s dental health by giving the dog a chance to exercise gums and scrape teeth. Natural Bones can be fed anytime as a snack or reward, as a substitute for chewing furniture (especially useful for teething puppies!), to occupy a dog during travel time or to help alleviate separation anxiety. They provide an enjoyable chewing experience and satisfy a dogs natural carnivorous instincts.

[theBCnut]

But you need to be very aware of your dog’s chewing style. Hard bones, i.e. weight bearing bones are the ones that are more likely to cause teeth fractures in dogs that are serious chewers.

Also, these are marrow bones and marrow is a high fat substance which may be inappropriate for some dogs. Marrow can be scooped out of bones and replaced with something else, like frozen yogurt or canned dog food.

[Duke The Boxer]

Patty can you recommend me a bone for duke. He is a heavy chewer and loves rope toys. But I want to give him bones except I’m worried about one of his teeth fracturing. Please help.

[theBCnut]

Have you ever tried a turkey neck? Or rib bones? Ribs are softer than weight bearing bones, but are hard enough for a pretty good chewing workout. They are my favorite for teeth cleaning for my dogs.

[Duke The Boxer]

Nope I haven’t tried. I will definitely look for them. But I guess you get them local? I’m thinking maybe through hare today gone tomorrow.

[theBCnut]

I haven’t got turkey necks from them, but I’ve gotten all different ribs from them.

[newmom]

I just gave Charlie a ham bone from a sprial ham. All the excess gloppy fat was trimmed off leaving a bit of the ham stuck to the bone. I watched him as he eats it and he seems to be devouring it. When I try to get close to him he picks it up and goes somewhere else (outside). Is a ham bone okay, not a danger if he eats it all? He is careful as he eats but I can tell that this is heaven on earth to hime. I had no idea that he would devour this bone as he loves to just gnaw on the marrow bones, and slowly chewing the rims. I hope that I haven’t given him a harmful treat. Thanks for the help. Bev aka Charlies Mom

[theBCnut]

Cooked bones are not OK, raw bones are OK.

[CSollers]

It is my understanding that cooked boned are more prone to splintering as they’re chewed. I’d take the ham bone away from him.

[newmom]

Thank you, Patty and CSollers…..the bone is gone and I will not give him any more cooked bones. Is this true for chicken leg bones and all bones? No cooked bones? Live and learn. That was one huge bone to eat! I’ll watch him closely for a few days to be sure there are no adverse effects. Thanks again..many times over!

[theBCnut]

I give my dogs raw bones all the time, chicken, turkey, duck, goat, sheep, pig, beef, you name it, but I won’t give any cooked bones because the cooking changes how they break. Cooked bones can splinter and perforate the intestines.

[newmom]

I hope that this bone did not splinter and will cause Charlie problems. I’ll watch him very closely for a while until they pass. Thanks so much for the input. I will not give him any bones that have been cooked in any way. He really did enjoy that bone, course he loves to eat—period. He’s a trip !

[theBCnut]

My vet always suggested feeding bits of bread to help bones pass.

[newmom]

I’ll give him a couple of bits tonight …. thanks

[DogFoodie]

I remember that was a suggestion that was made to me last Christmas after Sam ate a glass ball ornament off of the tree.

[dogspotindia]

I am agree with your statement that raw bones are good for the dental exercise.

[stevebcny]

What about the smoked bones you see for sale?

[theBCnut]

I don’t know how they can smoke a bone without cooking it to some degree. I do know that some of the things they use for smoke flavor are known for causing cancer. I wouldn’t risk it.

[Cyndi]

I bought one of those smoked bones one time for my doberman when I had him. Those damn things break up into big shards of really sharp pieces! My dog was not happy because I immediately took it away from him. Never buy those things!

[Shasta220]

I know raw bones are the best, but I’ll face it: two of my dogs don’t like raw meat NEARLY as much as cooked, so the raw bone (off of the deer/elk we hunt usually) just stays outside in their kennel, and starts to stink the place up. So we end up smoking the bones (using our own wood chips…) #1. The dogs seem to like it more #2. It’s a lot easier to leave the extra ones on the shelf when they’re smoked (and there’s no room in the freezer to hold extra raw bones usually).
I wonder if smoking them just long enough to preserve the meat-scraps would keep the bone at the same “texture”?

We learned the truth of weight-bearing bones the hard way. Poor Cassy has a nice big hole in her head now, LOL!

[Shasta220]

Jastech, I honestly don’t always trust Nylabone. I’ve heard some pretty weird stories about them, and if you have a super strong chewer, a plastic bone probably isn’t the best thing for your dog to be tearing pieces off of.

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