Feeding Bones

Bones can be a useful and healthy part of a dog's diet, or they can be fatal. This section considers how to prevent the later.

 

Ground Bones

Ground bones are added to many dog foods as a source of calcium and other nutrients. In this form, it is a healthy and natural part of their diet. Provided that one does not provide excessive amounts (too much can cause bone problems), it is safe.

 

Raw Bones

Some people feed raw bones to their dogs. Such bones are generally greatly enjoyed by the dogs, provide mental stimulation and exercise the muscles of the jaw. They can also be useful in cleaning the teeth, reducing tartar and associated gum disease. In addition, the marrow present in raw bones contains valuable nutrients, in addition to the calcium in the bones themselves. However, there are a number of potential issues with raw bones:

  • Splinters. Raw bones can splinter and the resulting splinters can pierce the mouth, throat, stomach or intestines of the dog. In some cases the resulting injuries are minor, in other cases prompt surgery may be required in order to stop the dog dying from infection or blood loss.
  • Choking. Dogs can choke on bones.
  • Diarrhoea. The high fat content in bone marrow can cause diarrhoea. This can be avoided by not feeding large amounts of bone in a single day, or by removing some of the marrow (e.g. scooping it out with a spoon).
  • Tooth damage. Although apparently not common, there have been instances of dogs breaking or damaging teeth while chewing on bones. This would seem to be more likely in very young dogs (whose teeth are not yet fully hardened) and old dogs (whose teeth may already be weakened). There have also been reports of excessive wear on teeth of dogs which are frequently fed bones.   

Large knucklebones are one of the best types of raw bones to feed a dog. A dog will normally begin eating on the cartilage and soft tissue, which does not pose any risk of splinters and no significant risk of tooth damage. Because they are large, the dog is unable to swallow them whole (so no risk of choking). Furthermore, the bony part tends to be relatively soft and unlikely to form splinters. However, if there is hard bone connected to the knuckle, one may wish to take the bone away from the dog after it has finished eating the soft part but before it starts on the hard brittle part, in order to avoid bone splinters.

 

Some bones have a higher risk. For example, raw pork bones are reported to be more likely to splinter and raw pork (attached to the bone) is more likely to have harmful bacteria or parasites. Chicken bones are prone to splintering. Small bones should be avoided as dogs may attempt to swallow them whole, possibly leading to choking. Bones which have been cut (e.g. a cattle leg bone) are more likely to splinter and therefore should be avoided.

 

Dogs are more likely to attempt to swallow bones whole or to break hard bones if they are hungry. Consequently, providing a bone after meal time may be preferable to providing it before. Likewise, if there are other dogs present, such behaviour is more likely, so one may wish to separate dogs when providing them bones, or put the dogs in a quiet area where they will not be disturbed.

 

It may also be beneficial to be present while your dogs are eating bones. This way you can react if they choke, and you can remove knucklebones after they have eaten the soft portions.

 

Cartilage

Cartilage is similar to bone, but less hard and brittle. As such, it provides many of the benefits of bones (calcium and other nutrients, recreational values) but avoids all or most of the risks. It is found on the joint end of bones (e.g. the milky coloured material at the end of a leg bones).

 

Fish bones

The bones of a number of the smaller fish (e.g. canned sardines, canned salmon) appear to be safe. In medium-sized fish, I would consider the backbone to be relatively safe but not the pointed side bones.

 

Cooked Bones

 

In general, one should avoid feeding cooked bones to dogs. The reason for this is that cooked bones are much more likely to splinter and cause internal injury than raw bones.