This is a general topic in that it pertains to all dogs.. It was written not because of my research, but because of my personal, positive experience feeding bones.
Should You feed Bones To Your Dog?
Over the years I have heard many different versions and arguments about the bone feeding theory. So much so, that if I were to follow most of this advice, I would be the world’s most confused man. My experiences as a dog man have thought me to rely on my instincts and also some common sense.
When it comes to the topic of feeding or not feeding bones to my dogs, I have implemented much common sense that has worked to my dogs benefit.
Dogs In Trinidad
Growing up in Trinidad, every dog ate bones. In fact, most of the times back in those days, we did not feed our dogs kibbles. They mostly ate the left overs from our meals. I am not saying that they were the healthiest dogs, even though in my eyes they seemed fine.
Being fed bones was just a natural thing that happened to every dog in Trinidad and many parts of the Caribbean. It still is the case today. This may explain why I never saw a case of rickets until I migrated to the USA. Our dogs in Trinidad had lots of bones and sunshine, which meant they were eating a diet rich in calcium and had more than their share of vitamin D, two of the main ingredients required in preventing rickets.
Never A Dead Dog.
I said all of the above to say that In all of my years of feeding bones to my dogs, I have never experienced one death or incident because of it.
Yes it it true that studies and cases have proven that dogs can die because of punctures in their intestines due to bone fragments. It is also true that bones are good for dogs, I still feed them to my Bullies.
Raw Bones Vs Cooked Bones
There is also an argument about feeding raw bones as opposed to cooked ones. Again, dogs in Trinidad ate both raw and cooked bones.
As time has passed and we have proceeded with modern technology, we now know that raw bones are less likely to cause harm to your dogs intestines. There are also more nutritious. For me, this ends the argument or questions. Feeding Raw bones are not more harmful to your dogs than feeding kibbles. My puppy died of bloat that was possibly caused by the gasses building up in her belly from eating kibbles.
Which Bones Are Safer For Dogs
The safest bones to feed dog are chicken or turkey necks, backs, breast and feet. I usually stay away from harder types of bones such as beef bones, because they can cause some damage to a dogs teeth and gums.
Once in a while I also feed raw leg bones.I stay away from cooked bones because they can easily splinter and possibly do some damage to a dog’s intestines.
There is some risk in everything we feed our dogs, eating raw bones is not any higher on the list than most things that have been claimed to be good for them. After all it’s what they enjoyed in the wild, right?
As a side note, feeding crushed eggshells are also a great source of calcium for your dogs..
Bullies Rock!!
