A client of mine recently asked me what type of chew toys are safe, cost effective, and delicious because her dog has been biting important items in her home while she is at work.
In my opinion, one of the best kept chew "toy" secrets out there is at your local grocery store. Raw leg bones can keep your dogs busy for hours and will not make much of a dent in your bank account. For a $4.78 for three bones your dog's teeth will be strong and healthy and will also have fresh breath!
Even if your large dog seems more comfortable with small bones do not allow it because it is unsafe for them. In Daisy's case, she snuck a client's small bone into her mouth and onto her jaw causing me to pay a hefty fee at the vet's office to have the bone removed)so please be careful that your dog(s)do not follow in Daisy's footsteps!
Smaller cut marrow bones for small dog breeds are a bargain at $3.00 - $4.00 per package and will provide months of entertainment!
Store the bones in the freezer until they are given to your dog(s) to keep them fresh.
Remember, when bones are fresh they do not have an odor but they are definitely messy. For Daisy and for your dogs please have your dogs chew the bones while on a towel, in a crate, or on the kitchen floor and be sure to clean the areas thoroughly when your dogs are through chewing.
I hope this advice is helpful for those who are looking for a safe, economical way to keep your dogs entertained!
great post; thanks for the info. I may have to try smaller marrow bones fro C&L.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. I take it these are beef bones you're using? I would love to get some for Riley as she does not let me brush her teeth...it's a huge struggle!
ReplyDeleteElyse (and Riley)
Thanks for posting this. I'm waiting to make my first venture in to raw meaty bones with Marge - we have a chicken neck in my Grandma's freezer that I keep forgetting about..
ReplyDeleteWhen Daisy has the bones, does she eat the actual bone, or just rip the little bits of meat off?
You read it right! Eight dogs in the house. One day, there were 10 when 2 more pugs came to visit. But that's a story for another day.
ReplyDeleteThe girls get bones like that, but ours are rib bones. I get a slab of ribs and cut between the bones. There's 12-16 bones in a package for about $10-12. They always get a rib bone when it's time for nail trims. The rest get wrapped in parchment paper, popped into a baggie and frozen. The things we do for our dogs!
Ryker loves his marrow bones but Ox tails are his favorite! They are really just cow tails nowadays. I get the meaty ones and it pretty much makes a meal for him.
ReplyDeleteRaw meaty bones seem to work so well for some dogs. A friend convinced me to try giving them to our three dogs (we had three then). We even gave our dogs exactly the same kind of bone as my friend had been giving to her Lab for 10 years.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can tell where this story is going. A number of days later, one of our dogs got an intestinal obstruction, and it was a piece of bone blocking his intestine from that raw meaty bone. Although the whole ordeal was scary, it turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise because when the vets opened him up to take out the piece of bone, they found cancer on his spleen and liver. They removed *all* the cancer along with a piece of bone from his intestine, and he lived another 2 years before dying from something unrelated (he was already relatively old when he had the intestinal obstruction). So, I credit that raw meaty bone for saving his life and giving us another 2 years with him!
But, I'm terrified to try it again with my aggressive chewers. I brush their teeth every day - maybe that makes up for it?
We love beef shin bones split down the middle! Our favourites are lamb shanks. But we can only have bones outside.
ReplyDeleteXXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella
Thanks for the information. We haven't tried that for Holly yet. She loves the Busy Bones and any other kind you can buy at the pet stores. She really loves them so I know she would love that kind. We'll give it a try!! Lots of love, Debbie and Holly
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! I failed to mention that COOKED BONES ARE A NO-NO because the cooking process greatly complicates digestion of the bone. There's a far greater chance of bowel obstruction when the bone is cooked. Raw bones, still with a layer of meat on the bone but with as little fat as possible, are a safer choice for a dog treat.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super post.... butt I truly hope Marge never gets that CHICKEN NECK. Chicken and Turkey bones can KILL US!!!!!! Beef or Deer ONLY... not even pork bones!!!
ReplyDeleteI love raw beef or deer bones!!! Butt mom never lets me have them inside the house... until I have them TOTALLY clean and grease free. NO PROBLEM.
Again.. I think this is an EXCELLENT POST!!! We should ALL have beef or deer bones!!!
I have honestly never heard of chicken necks being dangerous for dogs to consume raw. Lots of the raw feeders that I know feed a very varied menu to their dogs and chicken, including bones, is almost always one of the staples. I have heard of pork, fish, and other more exotic meats on occasion also being offered.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I have not yet even seen the bone in question so if it was too small or something I'd scrap it, but I have definitely heard of dogs eating raw chicken bones in their entirety.
Maybe I'm missing something?
Thanks for the great post! Mom needs to get me some of these :)
ReplyDeleteI could be offbase, but I think I've heard of the chicken bones having a tendency to splinter, which increases the risk of damaging internally, not to mention "getting stuck". Don't take my word for it, though!
ReplyDeleteI thank you greatly for this post! I've wondered what kind of bones to get, how to give them, just totally felt at a loss on how to handle raw bones for the dogs. And that price cinched it! lol Thanks!!
Wow! Me and Charlie are now more knowledgeable about bones! Yay!!We are so glad that beautiful Daisy gets the bestest bones ever!! Take care
ReplyDeletex
We are drooling! We LOVE raw bones. They are such a treat!
ReplyDeleteLove ya lots
Maggie and Mitch
Licking chops over here. But I tink Mom is scared to give us da bones since da vet told her da story of having to do surgery on a dog dat somehow managed to get his tongue stuck in da bone. Ouch!
ReplyDeleteWe also use raw bones for cleaning teeth. Aschiuta loves them, but she can get very possessive and she'd rather chew the bone whole rather than let us take it. The bones we get sometimes tend to break into splinters after a while of chewing, so we have to take that part away.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a great way for dogs to get calcium.
We've done the raw beef marrow bones in the past as well... just curious, how much of the bone do you allow Daisy to eat in one sitting and do you store in the fridge in between?
ReplyDeleteOh, YEAH! We LOVE the raw meaty bones! Mom & Dad make us chew 'em outside most of the time 'cause they don't like the smell - but WE DO! Sometimes we sneak 'em into the house after we've chewed off the gooey stuff. Yummmmm. . . .
ReplyDeleteThe Road Dogs
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 60% or more of raw poultry and other raw meats sold at retail carry some type of disease causing bacteria. The FDA allows this because meats and bones you purchase from the grocery store are "intended" to be cooked. It is best to purchase raw bones for your pet at a pet supply store because the raw bones they sell are likely purchased from a raw pet food manufacture and these companies have zero tolerance for bacteria like salmonella in their products. Also pet food manufactures cut their bones to the ideal size and package them together so you can select the appropriate size for your pet.
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