# Eating COOKED bones on the street!



## cochon (Sep 28, 2009)

As some of you may know, I am fostering a dog. He was first picked up by Animal Care & Control as a stray at 6 months and then lived with someone until he was 3.5, when they gave him up to a kill shelter.

Right now, I am feeding him Orijen Six Fish dog food. I switch between that and Innova. He is somewhat overweight (was when I first got him and is getting leaner), but he acts like he is always hungry. He is a 72-pound dog (the vet says he needs to be 65), and he eats 3/4 of a cup of food twice a day and is barely losing weight. Of course, we also live in a city, so he doesn't get to run leash-free as much as he wants.

Here's the problem, he will pick up bones off of the street. I have learned to be vigilant about it, but it still happens sometimes. Once he gets a bone, he will not let go. I have tried to pull them out of his mouth, but it just doesn't work. I worry about this a lot. Mostly, it's cooked chicken bones. We have not had problems so far, but I know it can be dangerous. My main question is, besides being vigilant and training him better, what should I do if he eats a bone. Should I feed him something, so that there is a cushion. What should I do to minimize the possibility of damage. Some of these bones have looked SHARP.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Maybe keep something even more tasty with you every time you go out on the street so if he does get a cooked bone you can divert his attention to the treat you give him so he will drop the bone. Then take the bone up and away from him.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

You're just gonna have to learn to keep a close eye out for those bones. You will never teach him not to eat them. I don't know what you should do AFTER he eats them. I doubt anything will help. I like Danemama's suggestion. The treat will have to be a super good one to be better than a bone.


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

try to walk on streets that arent bone infested?

i know, a smart **s response. id say vigilance is the best bet. 1 1/2 cups a day isnt much food for a dog that size. he could probably eat more and still lose weight, but he would need more activity.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

cochon said:


> As some of you may know, I am fostering a dog. He was first picked up by Animal Care & Control as a stray at 6 months and then lived with someone until he was 3.5, when they gave him up to a kill shelter.
> 
> Right now, I am feeding him Orijen Six Fish dog food. I switch between that and Innova. He is somewhat overweight (was when I first got him and is getting leaner), but he acts like he is always hungry. He is a 72-pound dog (the vet says he needs to be 65), and he eats 3/4 of a cup of food twice a day and is barely losing weight. Of course, we also live in a city, so he doesn't get to run leash-free as much as he wants.
> 
> Here's the problem, he will pick up bones off of the street. I have learned to be vigilant about it, but it still happens sometimes. Once he gets a bone, he will not let go. I have tried to pull them out of his mouth, but it just doesn't work. I worry about this a lot. Mostly, it's cooked chicken bones. We have not had problems so far, but I know it can be dangerous. My main question is, besides being vigilant and training him better, what should I do if he eats a bone. Should I feed him something, so that there is a cushion. What should I do to minimize the possibility of damage. Some of these bones have looked SHARP.


not to be rude but where do you live tht your street is polluted with cooked chicken bone?n


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Like a hotdog or a cheese stick or something you know your dog will go bananas for.


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## cochon (Sep 28, 2009)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5, I live in a big city, and there is a lot of trash on the streets, especially right before the garbage is picked up. Things also get mixed in with old leaves/dirt and can be hard to see at night.

I will make sure to get some good treats and be more careful. It hasn't happened for a while, so, hopefully, it will stay that way.


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## sal101011 (Jan 17, 2010)

taking danemama's suggestion a step further which i think is a great suggestion, maybe also carry a chew, something that he will not gobble up immediately, i just gave my rotties a chew from free range, it is called free range braided bully sticks, they loved it. i am thinking if you take him out for a walk with that in this mouth, he wont let go of it which forces him to not try and eat something else, it may be annoying that he will be walking with a chew, so hopfully you dont walk him for too long. i think the food intake is sufficient if you want him to lose weight, i feed my rottie who is around 90lbs 2.5 cups per day for Orijen Adult.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

buddy97 said:


> try to walk on streets that arent bone infested?
> 
> i know, a smart **s response. id say vigilance is the best bet. 1 1/2 cups a day isnt much food for a dog that size. he could probably eat more and still lose weight, but he would need more activity.


IN MY THRead,danemama told me that sine my dogs stools were on the soft side ishould feed my dog 1.5 cups a day and he is 75 pounds. i felt wrong doing that so i just cut him back to 2 cup/day hoping he adjuts tot his diet.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> IN MY THRead,danemama told me that sine my dogs stools were on the soft side ishould feed my dog 1.5 cups a day and he is 75 pounds. i felt wrong doing that so i just cut him back to 2 cup/day hoping he adjuts tot his diet.


I don't see the relevance in these situations. We are talking about two completely different dogs in two completely different situations. Considering this dog should weigh ~65 pound 1.5 cups of Orijen (a higher quality food than Canidae) seems like a decent amount to me. If you are insinuating her dog needs to eat more so he doesn't eat chicken bones off the street I think you are mistaken. For the fact that he just likes to eat garbage (chicken bones) off the street like a lot of dogs do.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

i was backing up the fact tha the dog oesnt need to eat more than 1.5. buddy was saying that's not much food, i just threw another point of view in there, how youve suggested my 75 pound dog eat 1.5 cups of canidae. you feel canidae is lwoer quality than orijen,and since this is so even less of orijen should be fed.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> i was backing up the fact tha the dog oesnt need to eat more than 1.5. buddy was saying that's not much food, i just threw another point of view in there, how youve suggested my 75 pound dog eat 1.5 cups of canidae. you feel canidae is lwoer quality than orijen,and since this is so even less of orijen should be fed.


But what does this have to do with her dog getting at bones on the street???


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

it doesnt have anything to do with it, thats why i quoted a post that had something to do with it.....

did you eeven read the post i quoted my response...


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> i was backing up the fact tha the dog oesnt need to eat more than 1.5. buddy was saying that's not much food, i just threw another point of view in there, how youve suggested my 75 pound dog eat 1.5 cups of canidae. you feel canidae is lwoer quality than orijen,and since this is so even less of orijen should be fed.





dont know how a 75 lb dog gets by on less than 750 calories a day. i know it varies by dog, size, activity level, metabolism, etc...so this calculator isnt going to be spot on for any given dog.


Find Dog Calories - From this unique Dog Calorie Calculator


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

buddy97 said:


> dont know how a 75 lb dog gets by on less than 750 calories a day. i know it varies by dog, size, activity level, metabolism, etc...so this calculator isnt going to be spot on for any given dog.
> 
> 
> Find Dog Calories - From this unique Dog Calorie Calculator


yeah i agree that's why i didnt listen to her. 2 cups is low enough for a 75 pounder.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

RC- when you complain about your dog having diarrhea and we (yes, not just me who suggested it) suggest cutting back on food, THAT is why it was suggested feeding less to your dog. And not necessarily keeping that as a maintenance level of food. You should really consider listening to what people have to say here. It doesn't look good on your part when you post up looking for help and then openly admit to not taking that advice. People will stop being so open to helping you if they know you won't heed it.

Buddy- you also realize that every dog needs a different amount per day in calories based on age, activity level, etc and not to just base amount of food off of weight...right?


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I like the idea of having a treat ~something much better than the chicken bone's on the street also! But what about if you put chicken in a baggie in your pocket or perhaps one of those treat bags and if the dog picks up the bone on the street, you can entice him with the chicken you have in your pocket or treat bag. Make sure the dog knows you have this chicken. I know it would be a pain the dog will constatnly be wanting whats in your pocket or treat bag, but this way he will be paying attention to that pocket or treat bag versus the bones people leave laying around! Just a thought!:wink:


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## buddy97 (Mar 29, 2010)

danemama08 said:


> Buddy- you also realize that every dog needs a different amount per day in calories based on age, activity level, etc and not to just base amount of food off of weight...right?


in my post above, i stated: _"i know it varies by dog, size, activity level, metabolism, etc...so this calculator isnt going to be spot on for any given dog."_

also, that calculator asks for the dogs lifestyle (working, lactating, etc,,,) in addition to activity level, but i still allowed that it cant be perfectly accurate.

even allowing for that, 725 calories for a 75 lb dog would be extrordinarily low, but it is certainly possible an older, rather inactive dog would get by on that(not to mention many people give their dogs "treats" throughout the day, so the true calorie count would be higher.)


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

RCTRIPLEFRESH5 said:


> yeah i agree that's why i didnt listen to her. 2 cups is low enough for a 75 pounder.


The amount recommended to you was for an individual situation during an adjustment period of a new food, for a dog experiencing diarrhea. That is ENTIRELY different than a recommended amount for maintaining weight over a period of time. Please do not name drop and point fingers inaccurately, . Lets keep this discussion friendly, guys, AND on topic._ The OP did not ask for amount recommendations to begin with. _ so I'm not sure why that even got dragged in.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Back to the bone issue.....just a thought - maybe you could start at home by teaching 'drop it'. Whenever the dog has something in its mouth you could offer a yummy treat that is worth more than what is in his mouth so he will drop what he has and take the treat instead. You'd need to say 'drop it' the second he lets go of the item so he can put 2 and 2 together.
That way if he grabs something off the street he will know that when you say 'drop it', he is going to get rewarded with something a lot better.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

Along with the Drop It, which would obviously be AFTER he picked something up.
In our class, we learn Leave It. It is a REALLY hard one when your dog is Food motivated! Training a food motivated dog is fairly easy, until you want him to "Leave" food!! 
I think the best suggestion is to have high value treats with you at all times. Which isn't a bad idea even if there aren't any bones around. If you need to distract him from another dog, cat, or something that has his attention a tasty hot dog, or string cheese can bring his attention back to you in no time!

Good luck


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