Giving bones to dogs is absolutely not safe. ESPECIALLY cooked bones and rawhides. Store-bought bones like knuckles, pig ears, et cetera are potentially harmful or even deadly for dogs. This is because they can chew it up into pieces and eat the pieces. These pieces can cause obstructions, bloat, tears in the digestive tract, et cetera. My boyfriend worked at a vet for two years and it is absolutely without question that dogs should never be given bones or store bought bone chews. They love them but it is just not worth the risk. If your dog eats pieces of a bone/rawhide and does not die, the vet bill will be $1,000 or so just for exploratory surgery to diagnose the problem. Then actually removing the shards, checking for serious injury, medications, the hospital stay, et cetera. Our dog ate shards of bone and was very sick for three days, then finally threw them back up. We didn't know why he was puking and having diarrhea and refusing to eat, and could not afford a vet. Thank god he threw them up and they didn't move on to cause cuts and obstructions in his body- the pieces were sharp! The time we had to bring our dog to the emergency vet at past 12 in the morning, there were three people there because their dog had swallowed bone/rawhide pieces and was sick. Three people, past midnight! Just do not give your dogs these things, people. Get a kong toy and fill it with peanut butter and treats instead. I have heard good things about deer antlers and that they last a long time and do not splinter, but have not tried them yet.
