Bone Question

[christinepi]

I've fed my hound marrow bones so far w/o problems, but am becoming more aware of the potential dangers to his teeth, so I might stop that altogether. But I've just had a cow raising neighbor deliver 10lbs right into my freezer of what I thought would be marrow bones only (and the kind they sell in supermarkets--the hollow cylinder with marrow in it); turns out it's a mix of knuckle and marrow bones and all sorts of pointy flat-ish and rib like pieces. I have this hunch that this might not be a good idea, but am I just being paranoid or would it indeed be smarter to not feed these bones? And then switch to bully sticks entirely?

 

And how much stock do 10lbs of bones make?!

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

I have never had any issues with feeding raw bones to my dogs as long as you have an appropriate sized bone for your dog you should be ok. I have gotten all kinds of strange bones from the butcher... half a cow pelvis, a sternum, a chunk of femur, knuckle bones and they were happy hounds

here are some pictures of some of the iszes of bones i get Bones

[Guest Swifthounds]

The bones you want to avoid are specifically the weight bearing bones of large ungulates. Dense bones like the leg bones of cattle carry more than a thousand pounds of weight and sometimes close to a ton. You'd also want to avoid dense bones with no meat on them (a slab (not individual pieces) of beef rib or pork rib with meat on it is fine).

 

Are lots of people feeding them without major catastrophe? Yes. Does that mean they're doing no damage? Nope.

 

My raw fed hounds can power through some pretty tough things, but they have teeth that are a fraction of the hardness of a cow femur. Why risk being on the inevitable losing end of that equation?

 

Marketing props to the companies and pet specialty stores selling these bones to the public. In terms of marketing an otherwise waste product they would have to pay someone to haul away, it's genius.

[Guest sheila]

I'm another one that gives my dogs raw bones (never smoked bones like they sell in specialty pet stores) and have never had an issue. Is there a potential for a problem? Of course. There is a potential for a problem every time I take my dogs out for a walk too, but I don't stop taking my dogs for a walk just because there *might* be a problem.

The dogs I've had that chew raw bones have never needed a dental.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Of course you can have all of the dental benefits of a marrow bone and more by feeding a meaty bony item that doesn't present risks to tooth at all.

[christinepi]

So what would I ask for exactly at the butcher's to get this type of meat bone? As a mostly vegetarian, I'm really clueless on cuts and cow/pig body part names. And what size is good/safe?

[Guest Swifthounds]

I am mostly vegetarian as well (eat fish, shellfish and eggs/dairy but no beef, pork, or poultry). My hounds are all raw fed and I had to really "begin at the beginning" having never really bought meat items before.

 

Some examples of safe good beginner* meaty bones:

- chicken backs or chicken back pieces (pretty much the softest bones in a chicken)

- split chicken breasts

- chicken leg quarters

- turkey necks, duck necks (you can try chicken necks of your hound isn't a "gulper"

 

 

*Beginner meaning good, soft bones that are more easily digestible by a dog not used to edible bone.