I brought a bag of beef bones from the butcher for £1:34 and oh my they are amazing! 4 hours Molly was in the garden yesterday playing with her bone. Chew, play, bury, dig up, repeat. And she's been outside 2 hours already this morning with it! And I still have loads left in the freezer!
It amazes me how much dogs love bones. Snowie can gnaw on a beef marrow bone for ages. Clearly this is something about dogs that I cannot relate to, but if he spends so much time doing it, I'll keep up the supply! Our garden does look a bit like a horror movie with bones lying around! I limit the number of beef bones cos he eats bones and I prefer him to chew on softer bones like lamb bones. But for recreation, you can't beat a beef marrow bone.
Just be careful with marrow bones as they are extremely hard and can damage doggie teeth I stopped buying them when I learned about it here on the forum. Nobody wants to pay out for dog dental as it costs a fortune. Consumable meaty bones like beef or lamb ribs are better x
The first lab I had as a child loved bones and she would always find a way to escape from the garden to walk the half a mile to the parade of shops where the butchers was. She would sit in the doorway until he gave her a bone and sometimes, if he didn't have one, he would go up the road to another butcher to get a bone from there ! All the while our lab was sitting patiently in the doorway. She'd then walk home with it and woe betide anyone who tried to get between her and her bone! She was in the local paper because she was such a regular visitor.
Couldn't agree more. Can wear down teeth apparently. And break teeth if your dog wants to crunch down rather than gnaw. So best to know your dog and supervise accordingly. Thankfully Snowie is not a hard chewer. But I did notice that his canines were a lot cleaner after a beef marrow bone gnawing session (even though he's raw-fed, he still gets a little plaque on his canines). Usual eadible bones for him are venison and ostrich neck vertebrae and lamb bones. I have found the ribs quite hard - he sometimes leaves shards uneaten.
I get all Snowie's raw meat and bones home-delivered by a guy who goes by the company name The Natural Connection. When he's out of stock of venison vertebrae (past two months), I go to Flash Meats in Salt River for ostrich neck and meaty lamb bones. I'm not keen on going to the butchery - not my favourite place! Hence why I prefer home delivery. But you could try any butchery or supermarket butchery and ask what off-cuts they might have. Where about are you? There's a company Doggobone that provides prepared raw meals, bones are crushed, everything minced up. Well-regarded company and they have suppliers all over SA. We started with them but see that Snowie likes to chew his food so I prefer to give him whole meat and bone.
We don't do bones. Do meat instead. That's what they are trying to get off them. For me, and I apologize in advance , bones are like a form of baby sitter. Your dog is driving you crazy and you don't have time then hand over a bone. It's like plopping your kid in front of a tv. But like I said. Many apologies. It's just how I feel about it. Sorry if I offended anyone.
Meaty bones - I'm guessing are countrywide. You don't have to buy special "dog" food. I feed "human-grade" meat and meaty bones.
Dogs need the nutrients from bones: calcium etc. If you don't at least supplement with crushed bones or a nutrient equivalent, your dog might be missing essential nutrients. Furthermore the metabolism of meat uses calcium in its chemical processes so your dog might end up with a calcium deficiency if you only feed meat. The same happens in humans btw. Bones also keep teeth clean. Gum disease due to plaque build-up in dogs is very prevalent according to a report I saw from a vet.
Dog loves bones... its bring happiness for no apparent reason. They will keep on chewing it then afterward hide or bury it. There's something bone that makes it special for our pets. Oh well as long as they are happy, but you got to keep an eye on them as they might be choked while playing with the glorious bones.
Do throw out any bones after a day. If you leave them lying around they dry out and get harder and harder and that's a recipe for broken teeth. Believe me, you don't want to put your dog through the agony of a split molar and the subsequent treatment (I learned the hard way). I avoid all mammal weight bearing bones to stay on the safe side. Even if you don't ever have to deal with a broken tooth, repeated gnawing at hard bones will wear teeth down and they will not last your dog's (hopefully long) lifetime. I feed bones but only things that can be crunched up and swallowed in minutes.
Brady (9 months) LOVES bones. And elk or deer antlers. He so thoroughly gnaws and chews the bones that after a few days they are down to nubbins. He also has had major bouts of diarrhea...of course in the middle of the night....and I wonder if the diarrhea is related to the amount of bone chewing he does. He also chews on Nylabones and other chew toys but bones are clearly a favorite. Should I limit his bone consumption? He does spend time with me off leash in woods, and I watch him closely so I don't think he might be eating something that causes the diarrhea.
