bones from butchers?

Smashing

There's nowt wrong with supervised feeding of raw bones.
Some of the healthiest dogs I know are fed on a BARF (bones and raw food) diet.
Owners need to do their own research in order to make an informed decision about what they feed their dog.

piratess

Ours has a raw bone from the butchers once a fortnight and its not doing him any harm atall! ... like pboae says there is risk with everything you give your dog! ...
as long as raw, they are supervised etc then i dont see the problem! ...

foreign_correspondent

I did read somewhere that a large number of dogs choke on dental chews and the like, as they are pliable and windpipe sized, but many people still feed them. (google 'dog choke greenies' - greenies are a popular US brand of dog chew which have allegedly choked many dogs!)

Personally I would say dogs evolved eating bones, not artificially produced flavoured and coloured dental sticks.

I sometimes wonder if the pet food industry is behind some of the 'never feed your dogs bones' hysteria... after all bones are free, but dog chews are profitable.

MrsTinks

Bones are certainly far more natural than the high calorie fancy shaped alternatives you can buy. Kira has one at least every week and she loves it. No she's never left alone when she has it (and boy is she miffed if I have to pop out and I take it from her! Talk about filthy looks!)
I'd honestly be more worries about other things she might chew and swallow than raw bone. Now by raw I mean RAW and FRESH so the bone hasn't dried out which yes can definitely be splintery!
And at 3 1/2 she's got gorgeous white gnashers! Not a fleck of tartar in sight

foreign_correspondent

my dog is cheerfully gnawing on a nice beef bone behind me. She gets more excited when she sees me get a bone out of the freezer for her than shedoes for any other treat - and I am sure it is better for her than some artificually made up substitute.

BigMummaF

Pup has had one beef bone today & the rest are in the pot bubbling away for tomorrow's meal for him:p Looks to be a fair bit of meat on them too, so worth the pound I paid.

He had kennel cough last week & I was a bit worried that he wasn't drinking much, but the vet said because he has a really good HM diet, he gets a great deal of fluid from the rice, pasta, veg, gravy etc...especially gravy made from bones!!!

greenmoneysaver_2

maytaurus, what aload of bull!!!!

Omnivores are more likely to eat bones than cranivores!!!! I would do your research a bit better before posting.

I agree with your post, but only if you include the ward RAW!

I would be careful of bones small enough to swallow, but on the whole big, raw bones for chewing can be a normal part of dog (and cat, longer post required for that info) diet, and many have evidence of benefit for teeth, and general nutrition.

If dogs had eaten bones in the wild and been so sick they would have died out before being domesticated.