Bones

[Emma Hall]

Hi all,

I've got a 6 month old husky and we gave her her first raw lamb bone last week, which she broke down and ate every morsel.

when at the vets for a 6 month health check we mentioned this and they told us she shouldn't have bones, as she cannot pass it, and would just end up with a stomach full of bone and have to be opened up to get removed

this does not sound right to me, as surely there are bits of bone in raw food and if they were scavenging in the wild, which is their instinct, they would break down bones.

should I give her bones to eat or not......

she absolutely loved it though.........

thanks in advance for advice

 

[wolfpup]

This is Marley when he was around 20 weeks old thoroughly enjoying himself.    I usually gave him single lamb rib bones (raw of course) but this one was intended for Lunar (13 yrs old).  Dog's stomach acid is 5 times stronger than ours and is meant to dissolve bone  -  he lost all his baby teeth on raw bones  (saved my furniture).   I used to have a vet who told me I would end up killing my dog because I gave him bones  -  I changed vets.

Mine get at least 3 single lamb's ribs daily  -  as the bone contribution to their raw diet (80, 10, 10 rough ratio).  It is the highlight of their day  (apart from w.a.l.k.i.e.s. of course).

As pups in the wild they would gnaw on bones for the calcium, minerals, marrow etc as well as cleaning their teeth by pulling shreds of meat away from the bone.

99% of dogs will not swallow big lumps of bone  -  they gnaw off little bits and chomp on that a while before swallowing.

Personally I would not worry  -  let your pup have fun

 

 

[Marc]

At 6 month old, there is absolutely no reason whatever you shouldnt be giving bones. Just ensure its not cooked, and only raw that you are giving. 

[Emma Hall]

thank you,

[Markulous]

We've no problem giving ours bones, providing they're raw and providing they're not weight-bearing bones (as these can be overlarge, can break into chunks and can damage teeth). Usually, the bones/calcium they get is in the form of chicken carcasses, backs or necks, occasionally lamb ribs and, if reduced, whole mackerel, sardines or salmon

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

A lot of vets don't like raw feeding 

[chelseafan]

Hi, I’m a raw feeder and mine have raw lamb bones regularly, I agree with the fact that some vets can be funny about feeding raw, one of the vets I saw at my surgery commented on how shiny their fur is and asked me what I feed them, when I told her raw her attitude changed. The only thing I’d say to be wary of is if you feed lamb chops, just take the round bone off as the vet told me about numerous operations she’d performed on dogs that had blockages due to that particular bone. I prefer to give lamb steaks rather than chops, lamb neck fillet and ribs are prob the favourites of mine.

[PaulG]

I feed my dogs raw food and they love the turkey necks. I just have to teach them that they are not allowed to eat them on my bed

[Marc]

9 minutes ago, PaulG said:

I feed my dogs raw food and they love the turkey necks. I just have to teach them that they are not allowed to eat them on my bed

Urgh LOL

[petertmartin]

I waited until ours was 6 months old before introducing bones although I don't feed raw I give frozen bones once or twice a week (usually lamb necks or kangaroo tails) occasionally she will bring in pieces and drop them in front of us in the kitchen as if to say this is for you 😅

She doesn't seem to eat the actual bone anyway just gnaws on them. 

The other trick I use is freezing them in water so it's a giant ice block lasts for a lot longer. 

[ARMANI & ALINAH]

Aww, your girl is a sweetheart for "sharing" pieces of her bone so you don't feel left out!! Mine would love that giant I've cube too!!

🤗🐺🐺🐾🐾

[Luna-tic]

I give Luna bones all the time. She has beef short ribs, pork ribs, oxtail, lamb shanks and chicken thighs. She’s not had any problem, mine is the holes all over the garden where she buries them [emoji23] They’re all raw. I think if you match the size of bone to the size of dog you should be ok, my daughter's Parson's Terrier was given spare ribs, he swallowed the knob end off one and needed surgery.


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[Atlas_Aus]

I have always fed my previous dogs raw bones and won't be stopping now with our Husky. 

Always find it amazing so called 'experts', in this case Vets want to preach one way or another. It's like child "experts" dispensing their wisdom on everybody except they have never had a child themselves....

[Andy]

Before we domesticated dogs 10,000 years ago all dogs had to hunt and catch their own food.

So they are designed to eat raw, bones and all.