I know feeding can be a controversial subject but I wonder if I might ask for a little advice/views. We feed our 11-month-old fox red lab Wilson on kibble, with additional blueberries, cucumber, carrots and occasionally a little cottage cheese/plain yoghurt. He also has the odd bit of raw mince when we are cooking with it. For chews he has beef scalp, filled marrow bones, pressed rawhide, antler, and Himalayan yak milk bars. My question is could I give him a raw bone (like a raw beef knuckle bone) as a long-lasting chew? He gets through most things quite quickly (apart from the antler and I don't give him that very often because I worry about him breaking a tooth) so I'd love to give him a good bone to chew on that might last for some length of time. But will that be OK if he is largely on a non-raw diet? Thanks.
Hi there, I'm afraid that there is no definitive answer to that one. There is a general view that bones are best fed as a part of a raw diet rather than for recreational chewing purposes. One concern is breaking a tooth (weight bearing bones of large mammals tend to be the hardest, as do antlers) and the other concern is that small chips that are broken off big bones and swallowed may accumulate and cause an intestinal blockage. Of course many dogs do have recreational bones and come to no harm, but there do seem to be some risks and unfortunately we don't really know the extent of those risks. For what it's worth, I don't feed recreational bones to my dogs at all, and never give weight bearing bones or antlers in any form. Sorry that there isn't a clear cut answer to that one
I am very leery of giving bones, that's not to say I don't but I am very careful. I get meaty ribs, from the butcher and occasionally feed them those. They enjoy chewing and tearing the meat off the bone, then I tend to swap for something else. I never leave bones out, as they dehydrate and get even harder. I tend to avoid long lasting chews, and instead, prefer puzzle games, where they have to work out how to get the treats out, frozen kongs, kong wobblers, busy buddies (similar range to the kong family..) and sniffle mats are also a good idea
Pongo gets bones as a treat - when we have a chicken and spatchcock it he gets the backbone or the neck, and we sometimes get him lamb ribs from the butcher as a treat. They are good for freezing, and as a frozen treat they last longer too. When he was younger a frozen lamb rib would last him 20 minutes or so, and they were wonderful when he was teething (the cold soothed his gums). His normal diet is kibble (plus a few bits, like you) and bones don't seem to cause him any problems.
Th Thanks for your reply Pippa, that's really helpful. I thought it might be a difficult one because I know some people who give their dogs bones with no problems at all (that they know of anyway!) and others say they never do. It's really useful to have your view, thank you.
Thanks very much for the reply. That's interesting about letting them tear the meat off and then taking the bone away. I hadn't thought of that - I was thinking about chewing on the bone too (Wilson not me!) - but might give that a try occasionally. We have a very good local butcher so I could have a chat with him. Puzzle games are a good idea too. We have frozen Kongs and a Kong Wobbler but they seem to last for increasingly shorter times. A sniffle mat is a good one, thanks.
Thanks Rosie, it's nice to hear of someone who hasn't any problems with feeding bones. It really seems to be a case of some don't and some do. I like the idea of something like lamb ribs as a treat - and freezing is a good idea.
I do but I can’t say it lasts all that long! I have a fix red as well. I get large marrow bones and she loves them. I give one frozen every few days.
Our Fox red is raw fed, she's been eating whole chicken legs and chicken carcasses as long as we've had her (from 10 weeks old). We just keep an eye on her if she's eating anything with bone in it..
Thanks for that. Where do you buy your large marrow bones from please ... a butcher's? Wilson has had the odd small filled marrow bone but I haven't seen any large ones - and are yours filled? Great that you have a fox red too! I would ask how old but I seem to be peppering you with questions
That's interesting, thanks. We looked at raw feeding when Wilson was younger but have to say we didn't have the confidence to take it any further. So many things we looked at seemed to make a big issue of getting the balance of nutrients absolutely right so it was all a bit overwhelming. We may look at it again though as I'm still interested in it.
No problem! Im in the states and a specialty pet shop carries them. The grocery shops also have them - I’d ask the butcher. Just bones - not filled with anything. They usually still have a bit of meat and fat on them as well as all the morrow. She’s almost 8 months! I’ve learned to give her one in the garden if I’m having friends over to grill and I want a bit of peace. Gets me up to an hour and also calms her down!
Ah brilliant, thanks for that, much appreciated. I'm in the UK but I'll talk to our local butcher and see what he can do.
I just started feeding raw after a long stint of feeding home-cooked. My worry with a raw 'long lasting' bone is that a raw bone is raw. As in, it will go bad and start to stink. I do feed bones but as Pippa says, not weight-bearing. My favourites currently turkey necks. They're great and take a while for Carbon to eat, but it's still only about 10 minutes maximum. It's not in place of a chew to keep him busy. That's what his Kongs are for. People make a big deal over the whole balance thing. If your dog is otherwise healthy (this point is important), my honest feeling after nearly 20 years of feeding lots of different dogs either raw or home cooked is that you REALLY don't need to worry about it so much. When raw first started to come back in with the BARF/Feed Your Dog a Bone thing, we were all pretty much guessing. And yet dogs did great on the diet. A lot of the 'scientifically balanced' paranoia comes from dog food company marketing...which now raw food suppliers are now also using to get people to buy packaged raw food. So don't be afraid to just jump in...or even just try raw for a few days a week as an addition to what your dog already has.
Oh, I forgot to add that the woman who runs the store where I'm getting all Carbon's raw food said it's important not to feed the bones to them frozen as it could be too hard on their teeth. I'd never actually heard that before and in fact used to feed frozen chicken carcasses to my first Rottie as it would make him eat them more slowly. I thought at the time that if he didn't inhale them it would actually make him gnaw more and be safer. I don't know what the truth is on thawed vs. frozen, but thought I'd pass that along. And if anyone else has an opinion on the matter, it would be interesting to hear.
I have not heard this either, I guess most bones are hard enough as it is, although a chicken carcass I guess would be much softer, likewise, poultry necks and the like. Like you, if I want to give them something to keep them occupied, it is always a kong, or kong wobbler.
Thank you so much Emily - and apologies for the late reply. That's so very helpful. I have thought the balance thing is a bit over the top because I certainly don't eat a balanced diet all the time and I seem to be OK I'd also read that you shouldn't mix raw and kibble but I know others do it without any issues. I'm very interested in it although my husband is less keen so we'll chat about it again. I also take the point about a long-lasting raw bone going bad. I guess I was hoping to find something that would keep him occupied for longer than 10 minutes as he seems to go through most things very quickly. I like the idea of turkey necks to give it a try. Interesting about the frozen vs fresh as well. I worry a bit about teeth breaking so would probably start with fresh first. Thanks for your advice and views - it's much appreciated!
Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. It sounds like poultry is the thing to try first. He gets regular Kongs and we have a Kong wobbler but I've only put kibble in that. Perhaps I need to be a bit more creative! And I believe there is a larger size Kong that I could get to last longer. Thanks again.
Hi there, thanks for the reply and apologies for my late response. That's useful to know. Out of interest, does feeding raw birds make your fox red seek out dead birds etc while out on walks? We walk mainly in fields near us and Wilson often finds (and eats if we can't get it off him) dead things and I've wondered if feeding raw would make that worse, or make him less interested. Thanks. Just realised I'd already replied to you - so sorry! I'm getting confused with the number of replies - it's great to get so many, all good food for thought
