Feeding Bones to Dogs

I know there has been a lot of controversy about feeding bones to dogs. Do you feel it is safe to feed your dog the leftover food bones?
What is a safer alternative to bones?

I think it's safe and we've never seen any side effects with our 1.5 year old chihuahua mix. We just always make sure we give him bigger bones, like, beef and pork bones. We never give him chicken bones, though. I think the only concern we ever had was if the bone was going to be big enough that he wouldn't swallow it. So, usually we just give him the bigger ones to prevent that from happening. We haven't had even one problem yet.

I hope my two-cents worth helped.

I do not give dogs chicken bones because they splinter so easily or pork chop bones for the same reason. However; I will give a dog the bone from pork roast or ham plus I give them beef bones as long as they are not thin. Just so log as the bones are dense and not easily broken.

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.

(08-16-2014 05:46 AM)chevonmickle21 Wrote:  I know there has been a lot of controversy about feeding bones to dogs. Do you feel it is safe to feed your dog the leftover food bones?
What is a safer alternative to bones?

Oh I've been to the same dilemma before. Bones are prone to chipping and cracking into sharp little pieces that really poses dangers to your dog buddies. They can even get indigestion which are sometimes fatal with those little sharp edges into their tummies. I'v found a safe alternative using Milkotein. Its a hard chewable dog treat that is sd hard as a bone without the risk of chipping and chunking into pieces. What's best about it was that its got more protein than any other dog treat and last for days. Just re heat them in the microwave and your buddies will surely feast on again. Reading more about it, Milkotein helps fight tartar which is good dental health for your buddies. Milkotein is available in Amazon and through their website: paraspets[dot]com. Try it, I'm sure you and your dog will like it.

I have never seen any side effects with our 10 year yellow lab (except extreme excitement whenever he sees them!, haha). However, you do have to know what kinds of bones are good and which are bad. There are some bones that can harm, or even kill your dog. Cooked bones are usually dangerous because the cooking process makes bones more brittle, which increases the likelihood they might splinter and cause internal injury to your dog.

The FDA (in 2010) listed these risks for cooked bones
-Broken teeth
-Mouth or tongue issues
-Bone getting looped around the dog's lower jaw
-Bone getting stuck in the esophagus
-Bone getting stuck in the windpipe
-Bone getting stuck in stomach
-Bone getting stuck in intestines
-Constipation due to bone fragments
-Severe bleeding from the rectum
-Peritonitis (a difficult to treat bacterial infection of the abdomen)

Raw bones are usually the safest outlet! That is what we have always used.

Dogs love bones as soon as their were born. Although there are problems that may occur, I will feed bones to them. They will learn to protect themselves, isn't it ?

I do not recommend giving dogs bones by any means. It can cause intestinal issues which can be harmful to your pet. I would not recommend rawhide bones either. Some breeds of dogs may able to tolerate these types of bones more so than others.

We don't give our pit bull any bones at all. DEFINITELY never ever cooked bones. They splinter, as has been mentioned. Also, our vet said that anything she chews on should have a slight amount of give, which bones don't. We have, on occasion, given her pet shop bones that were gifts from people, but found that with her incredibly strong jaws she goes through them in an hour. We got her a Nylabone and it has been amazing! It's the first thing she hasn't destroyed in a day, in fact it's going on a solid month of regular gnawing