emmathebean:

Oh, great question! This is actually an interesting topic, because like dog food people tend to have some varying opinions on this (from what I’ve experienced).

There are some people who believe that bones are unsafe for dogs and that only rawhides, nylabones etc are.

I’m of the opinion, that sometimes people love their dogs so much they forget that dogs are carnivores. To borrow a quote from a raw site, “Your dog is a carnivore. That means they love to eat other animals. Dogs will happily eat the internal organs, the meat, and the bones from other animals. It doesn’t matter whether you are talking about a Chihuahua, a Poodle or a Great Dane—they love to eat this way!”

So with that in mind, and bringing this post back around, bones are completely natural parts of dog diets. In fact, it’s nutritious and some believe maintain better dental hygiene. They also are a good tool to keep a dog busy, and work out muscles that help your dog digest.

With all that said, that doesn’t mean you should give your dog every bone that you come across.

Here are some popular/general tips for bones:

1) No Cooked bones, especially Chicken. I’ve always been told this is a big no, because they have a chance to splinter causing internal damage to your dog. In addition to all that, nutritional value of cooked bones are less than that of a raw bone.

2) Keep an eye on your dog bones, and use some good judgement. Do they look too sharp? Or if they get too small, I throw them away. I don’t want Emma swallowing a small bone whole, and causing an obstruction.

3) Rawhides - BE CAREFUL. I know a lot of people give these to their dogs (not me), but there are some horror stories out there of them swelling and causing internal blockages.

4) If you can find them, bones with marrow are especially good. And as I stated earlier, Raw bones tend to generally more nutritious.

Let me close by saying I’m not an expert.. if I’m wrong on any point - please let me know. I’m always in the process of learning. What I do know if from my own experiences, my friends who feed their dogs RAW diets (that bias probably leaked in here..), and from personal research.

Octaffle and CandidCanines: I know you both are going to read this, and I’m sure you both have great points to add. If you have some time, please do so. :)

Side Note: Emma has been happily gnawing on her lamb for 3 days now, a couple small parts broke off which I threw away. But, other than that she loves it. More than the bones with marrow I got her.. (she’s so weird sometimes)… Also, personal favorite chews of her’s, if anyone is interested, are cow tracheas, her new lamb bone, pig stripes, and bully sticks. Best Bully Sticks has a really solid variety pack with some jerky she really seems to enjoy too.