Dog - weak back legs - building up

Sally_A

Cod liver oil capsules are also available, if your dogs joints are creaky.

Oddjob

I know a lot of people feed raw chicken bones to dogs but I have to admit that I am really scared that they would splinter and get stuck or he would choke on them. Also, as the house is mainly carpetted, there's nowhere realy for him to eat them. I have some huge chicken drumsticks/thighs in the freezer at the moment, but would be scared to give him any.

Sally_A

The thinking behind this is that raw chicken bones are bendy, only by cooking are they made brittle.

Oddjob

Sally_A wrote: »

Cod liver oil capsules are also available, if your dogs joints are creaky.

You don't seem to have a 'Thanks' button for some reason on this post?

His joints aren't really creaky to be honest, he has a jointstick every day and there is Glucosamine MSM etc in his dried food.

Oddjob

Sally_A wrote: »

The thinking behind this is that raw chicken bones are bendy, only by cooking are they made brittle.

I've not noticed them to be bendy?
In fact, when I was trying to get one of these huge chicken joints into a small pan the other day, it certainly didn't bend lol!!

He's a devil for gobbling things down though without chewing them properly, I don't give him things like pigs ears etc because he just softens them then swallows them. I'd be worried that he'd do the same with raw chicken bones, chomp on them until he could swallow them in big lumps.

Oddjob

I'll perhaps have to bite the bullet and get some chicken wings when I go to the supermarket on Tuesday. See if he'll chew them properly.

Fire_Fox

Hold one end of the bone and only let him chew the other. Or get larger meaty bones that he has to spend time gnawing on.

Dollardog

I am like you Oddjob, I always worry about giving my dog bones and him not chewing them properly and getting them stuck or them splintering. The only time I give my dog a bone is when he can be outside for a while and I can get a raw marrowbone type of bone - ha ha, I know he can't swallow that whole!!

He chews it for a while then loses interest in it. He actually doesn't like holding things like that in his paws, don't think he likes to get them dirty!!

Oddjob

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Hold one end of the bone and only let him chew the other. Or get larger meaty bones that he has to spend time gnawing on.

I got half a dozen meaty chicken thigh bones yesterday.
I tried him with a couple this morning, I gave him the first one as it was, he got the whole lot in his mouth and I had visions of him swallowing it whole, so I got it off him and held one end as you suggested.
I got him to split it into three, but he didn't really hew the bones much after breaking them, they went straight down, so much for cleaning his teeth!!
The second one, I took most of the meat off and held the bone for him to chew, again, he broke it off into three parts and swallowed it, when I gave him the meat off it, that got about three attempts at chewing, rolled round his mouth a few times, then swallowed in a lump!! I though he might sick it back but it stayed down.

I did wonder about perhaps getting oxtail? Anyone tried their dog with that raw? The bones on that don't look splintery.

Fire_Fox

Maybe try training him? Hold the end or even the whole thing with just a small part sticking out of your hand. If he tries to bite big chunks you put the bone behind your back, repeatedly until he learns being delicate gets him the reward. Otherwise you can feed turkey necks or meaty bird carcasses (ribs and back) which are all very soft bones.