# Do frozen bones shatter more?



## SonyaBullyDog (Jun 6, 2011)

I'm currently giving frozen drumsticks as I'm teaching my dog to chew the food. However, last night when I was holding the drumstick and she bit half of the bone off, I saw a really sharp edge of the bone. Are frozen bones more likely to puncture the esophagus and the stomach/ intestinal lining?

Thanks!


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I really have seen some very sharp points, and felt them with my finger, but I don't worry much as they are generally digested before they ever hit the intestines, as for puncturing the stomach or esophogus I'm not sure that would happen to be completely honest as long as they are eating it with meat, the meat acts like a buffer between everything sort of like a nice padding.

Frozen or thawed there are going to be sharp points, but you have to think of it like sharp things we eat, tortilla chips have gone down my throat and scraped it up, even cut my gums... Cap'n crunch comes to mind too... :lol:

I used the same way to deal with Tobi and his roughness taking stuff out of my hands, it not only taught him to chew meaty bones better, but also bite control with peoples fingers near.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Frozen bones would in fact be more brittle but in reality the esophagus and intestinal lining are very , very tough and would take more than a bone to puncture it.

I don't feed frozen food to my bullies, they love food and I have one who pretty much will eat anything and everything food wise. (she's dancing right now next to me cause she thinks she needs more breakfast) I would just start defrosting her food the night before to ease your mind and let her figure out how to eat, or you could just get bigger pieces of chicken like quarters and let her have a go at those and see how she does and see if she learns to chew those any better.


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I feed lucky frozen chicken thighs/drumsticks (I sometimes to forget to get them out of the freezer the night before) As others have said the intestines and stomach are very strong so a frozen bone won't cause any damage, besides it would probably have started to defrost by the time it gets there anyway


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## SonyaBullyDog (Jun 6, 2011)

Thanks! Ok, I'll get some chicken quarters instead of drumsticks next and thaw them out. Actually, should I do the chicken backs next or just go straight to quarters? Or should I alternate? This is just for the end of this and next week.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Don't worry about backs, IMO, they are really bony and fatty, Leg quarters are awesome sources of meat and bone, but more meat than bone so it makes it much better. Backs are usually better for dogs that have a hard time keeping firm stools on the transition.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Like Tobi said, Backs are for dogs that are having a harder time trasitioning. I never used backs for my bunch and if her poo is good and firm with the drummie's then I would go ahead and see how she does with the quarters, you may need to try smaller quarters at first because there will be more meat to bone ratio so her poo may be a bit soft or maybe you will be luky and no problems at all.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

SonyaBullyDog said:


> I'm currently giving frozen drumsticks as I'm teaching my dog to chew the food.


Don't expect dogs to eat with the same manners as humans. Dogs don't "chew". They crunch, crack, and break bones and tear off meat. We humans chew our food into a mush before swallowing. Or saliva contains amylase which aids in digestion of plant matter. With humans, digestion begins in the mouth during the chewing phase.

Dogs, on the other hand, don't have amylase in their saliva nor do they have the type teeth necessary for chewing food. Again, their teeth are designed to rip and tear meat and break bones. A dog simply crunches his food until it is small enough to fit down their throat. Amazingly large pieces will fit down a dog's throat. Digestion, for a dog, begins in the stomach.

My dogs regularly swallow chicken quarters whole after 3 or 4 crunches. If they get the opportunity to steal one of the cat's chicken drumsticks, they will swallow it whole. In the wild, a preditor must eat its food fast before a larger preditor comes along and takes it away from him.



> However, last night when I was holding the drumstick and she bit half of the bone off, I saw a really sharp edge of the bone. Are frozen bones more likely to puncture the esophagus and the stomach/ intestinal lining?


A bone puncturing anything in the GI tract is highly highly unlikely. The solution to your problem is to feed your dog animal parts that he can't swallow whole. I think chicken quarters would be a good place to start as long as stools are firm. Soft stools would call for chicken backs in the diet. Stop holding food for him. That is a habit you don't want to get into and can be very difficult to break.

Just hand him an animal part large enough that he must crunch it some and get out of his way. He will figure out how to do it. :smile:


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## Nani (Apr 14, 2010)

Tobi said:


> Frozen or thawed there are going to be sharp points, but you have to think of it like sharp things we eat, tortilla chips have gone down my throat and scraped it up, even cut my gums... Cap'n crunch comes to mind too... :lol:
> .


Totally!!!! I love cap'n crunch but, OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! chips and salsa are my fave but I've stabbed myself many times with those crunchy corners!!!

For your question I feed my dogs semi-frozen sometimes. I have wondered as well but they crunch up the bone with the meat still surrounding the bone. I would not let them eat 100% frozen or just frozen bone.


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## SonyaBullyDog (Jun 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone! Got the fresh chicken quarters. I'll try tonight and see how it goes.


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