# raw meaty bones



## geneseeker66 (Jun 20, 2010)

I am curious as to what kind of bones are considered good raw meaty bones. I do not feed raw but have always given my dogs marrow bones from the butcher. My senior dog-15yrs. next week is having problems with her teeth starting to break so I stopped the bones. I followed a link here to find out the bones I were giving are considered rec. bones. What kind are better? My dogs teeth have not broken down below the pulp which is good and I don't want to give her something that will cause more harm to her teeth but both my dogs really miss their bones and they are getting tarter build up like never before without their bones. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

All RAW bones are good to feed your dog EXCEPT the weigh bearing bones of large animals. This exception would include the marrow bones sold in grocery store and pet shops and butcher shops. These bones are very dense and can break dog's teeth. Never feed your dog cooked bones under any circumstances. I don't feed my dogs any bare bones. They only get bones that are raw and covered in a generous amout of meat. Also I don't feed irregular unnatural shapped bones such at T-bones.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Beef ribs are a great RMB and I always have plenty on hand for the dogs to chew on.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Pork ribs too. I cut off a section of 3 - 5 ribs to feed to my 75lb dog. Giving a dog a bone that is small enough to swallow whole poses a choking hazard. Also, pork ribs tend to be cheaper than beef in my area.


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## harrkim120 (Feb 2, 2010)

The bone that gives my pooches the best workout are turkey necks. They have to gnaw quite a bit on them to get anywhere. :biggrin:


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## 3RingCircus (May 24, 2010)

whiteleo said:


> Beef ribs are a great RMB and I always have plenty on hand for the dogs to chew on.


Beef ribs are okay for 100 + pound dogs as well?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

3RingCircus said:


> Beef ribs are okay for 100 + pound dogs as well?


Oh yes. We feed them all the time to our girls and Bailey is ~120#. I give them several ribs stuck together for them to figure out!


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## geneseeker66 (Jun 20, 2010)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will give the ribs and turkey neck a try. My dogs weigh about 50 and 67 lbs and are power chewers.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

3RingCircus said:


> Beef ribs are okay for 100 + pound dogs as well?


Yes!! Aspen is 115 lbs. and he enjoys them quite well...

I cut the rack in half and give him about 4-5 ribs stuck together...

He'll finish them in about 30 min. Bone and all and no problems at all...


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## m&mluvpugs (Feb 7, 2010)

what about for smaller dogs? we are new to raw, and i was looking at chicken leg drumsticks, (legs are weight bearing, but chickens are considered ok right?) but my husband stopped me from buying them saying the bones were way too big for our pugs... is it just something you monitor while they are eating? or what would be a good alternative RMB to start with, we are very grateful for any suggestions and or input.

tia.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Chicken drumsticks would be ok for your dogs. My cats eat chicken drumsticks regularly. They don't always eat all the bone but thats ok, they don't need to eat all the bone. They should also be able to handle thighs and bone in breasts.

Chickens don't have any weight to bear. :smile:


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Drumsticks and wings should be just fine for your dogs, although wings are sooooo expensive unless you find a good sale.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

m&mluvpugs said:


> what about for smaller dogs? we are new to raw, and i was looking at chicken leg drumsticks, (legs are weight bearing, but chickens are considered ok right?) but my husband stopped me from buying them saying the bones were way too big for our pugs... is it just something you monitor while they are eating? or what would be a good alternative RMB to start with, we are very grateful for any suggestions and or input.
> 
> tia.


i have a pug and he's a gulper, too.....he thinks his mouth was made for raw...

if he would just slow down.....LOL...but he's sooooooooooooo food driven....plus the shape of his mouth and the crooked teeth make some bones that are suitable for my corgi mix just a wee bit much for him..

BUT...we feed them anyway, because he gnaws.

what he CAN eat without difficulty....
any part of a chicken
turkey necks
pork ribs
lamb shoulder steaks

neither dog of mine has been able to eat a beef rib...but they've only been on raw for three months....

here's the thing....and maybe it's just a d'uh moment for me...

their jaws have gotten stronger, as have their neck muscles.....their teeth are cleaner, so i am going to presume that their gums, being healthier, are better able to gnaw and crunch and do all the things dogs do when eating....

if they don't have gingivitis, they have no discomfort in their mouths....which means they can enjoy and eat with abandon that which they can eat.

i always supervise my dogs....not out of fear....hell, they could choke on kibble....

i was experimenting with oxtails.....and found that most of it is cartilage and after that, the tiny round piece of bone was just small enough that i took it away...i probably won't give them oxtails again.

but they eat sardines, whole....including head and tail....

we haven't done tilapia yet, but fish have bones....which are soft enough and perfect for pugs...

for whatever reason, both of my dogs have better stools when i give them a little more than ten per cent bone...but that could change...too..

it's my understanding that it takes at least six months for them to detox from a lifetime of kibble..

they also have a learning curve with how to eat this stuff that makes my pug dance....and the ten year old corgi dance...

their digestive systems have to adapt....

personally, i would do as was recommended to me....i started with chicken backs, minus skin and organs......they need to learn how to eat all over again....and then give them a drumstick....

because you have pugs, you're not going to be feeding them much more than 6-8 ounces a day, depending on their ideal weight and level of activity....

go slowly and try not to be too fearful..if your pugs are anything like mine and others i've read about....it will certainly be an adventure to watch them eat.....


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## jiml (Jun 29, 2010)

I have a question. 

would the type of bones presented depend on the individual dog? I have read that some vets that recommend against RAW say they have seen bone related fatalities. 

what i mean is for example I remember as a kid having 2 dogs who my father gave rawhide bones. One calmly chewed the bones with no problems. the other would attempt to swallow huge pieces.

Are some of the "fatalities" from people not knowing their dog?


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

jiml said:


> would the type of bones presented depend on the individual dog?


You NEVER want to feed a cooked bone. They are brittle and can splinter into real sharp pieces.

In general you dont want to feed a bone by itself. Bones covered in meat are much better to give your dog. You don't want to feed an bone that your dog can swallow without chewing. This depends on the size of the dog. My Great Danes can swallow chicken necks, drumsticks, and thigh bones without chewing and it goes right down, no problem. A smaller dog could get choked on such a bone. Even smaller dogs couldn't swallow them without chewing.

You don't want to feed weight bearing bones of large animals such as cows, buffalo, etc.



> I have read that some vets that recommend against RAW say they have seen bone related fatalities.


If you question them more closely you will fine either the bone was cooked or you will find they never personally saw one but knew another vet who says he did.



> Are some of the "fatalities" from people not knowing their dog?


I have been raw feeding for 8 years. I have been on many discussion groups like this one. I have seen literally 100s of thousands of posts. I can remember exactly 2 posts where a dog died from a bone. One bone got stuck in the throad and one in the intestine.

I also saw a post one time where the lady wrote to say that her dog had swallowed a chicken drumstick whole. She rushed him to the ER vet who x-rayed the dog and saw a drumstick in the dog's stomach. He charged her $2000 for emergency surgery.

My thought was, "Lady, where did the vet expect the drumstick to be? He swallowed it. Of course it would be in his stomach. If it had been left there, it would have digested and nothing would have been seen of it again." I think this happens MUCH more than it should. This might be the basis of a lot of vet reports where the vet sincerely thought he saved the dog's life but if he had don't nothing, the dog would have been ok in a few hours. My dogs swallow whole drumsticks every couple of months.


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