Recomended Bones For A Pup

[NoodleNut]

Hi All,

After the saga I had with Noodle swallowing one of her chicken neck's whole the other weekend I have become a bit paranoid about giving her bones.

As a child I had a dog that my grandmother (after being cautioned from my mother) fed out dog cooked bones and he ended up with a perforated bowel ... obviously not great memories and pretty traumatic as I recall.

So, apart from chicken necks (now restricted to me watching her the entire time) what do other DOL's suggest I give her to gnaw on to keep those lovely new pearly whites clean, satisfy the urge to chew and not cost me a trip to the vet with a perforated bowel?

Chicken frames? (read this on the nutrition thread)

Thank you.

[persephone]

Raw chicken/turkey wings, chicken frames, roo tails, lamb brisket/flaps/necks (UNCUT) ....

I didn't think you would be still giving her a chicken neck after the scare ...

if she DOES swallow it.. you cannot really grab it out of her throat in a hurry.....give her BIGGER / odd-shaped bones which are less likely to be swallowed whole

Edited May 28, 2008 by persephone

[DeltaCharlie]

Frozen bones.

I feed every bone frozen until I am positive the dog has learnt to chew it properly, even then I usually feed them frozen to be sure. Even my sister's AmStaff will meticulously chew a chicken neck if fed to her frozen, its simply too cold to swallow in one go.

Also has the upside of making it last longer and she will appreciate it if she is still teething as it will numb the gums for her.

[Joan of Arc]

Chicken frames, roo tails, and lamb bones such as necks or flaps but certainly no beef.

[lovemesideways]

I get lamb cutoff's for rover, then freeze them. $4.

Also go to the butcher and ask if they have any bones. I got marrow bones for rover and had the butcher cut them in half. No chance of swallowing anything bad, rover just chews and enjoooys

[Gayle.]

Chicken frames, chicken marylands......I defy any dog to swallow one of them whole!

[Guest Tess32]

Chicken frames, chicken marylands......I defy any dog to swallow one of them whole!

I have seen a video online of a rather large mastiff X TRYING to swallow a maryland whole.

[CliftonPark]

Be careful with chicken wings too. I thought my pups were chewing them well as I taught them to chew by holding one end of wing to start with and then this week one of them crunched the wing twice and swallowed it. I spent rest of day stressing out that it would get stuck. It didn't, but found big enough bone pieces in poop to worry me about letting them have wings again. I'm going to try chicken frames. I've also tried lamb shanks and they chew those really well and bone too big to swallow. I don't let them have any bones unsupervised though.

[persephone]

It all depends on the dog's size, I think.

A border collie or lab may well try and swallow a chicken wing whole.. but a smaller dog/pup would need to chew it before hand.

Just a thought.............

[BIG-DOG-LOVER]

Never heard about freezing the bones before but that's a great idea.

Would be very much welcomed for a teething pup I'm sure :rolleyes:

[Caesars mum]

mine will swollow chicken necks whole even when I tried freezing them. So I got turkey necks from woolies, they are great.

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Well I buy bones and frames in bulk (way cheaper from a butcher that way) so I have to freeze them or other wise they will go off, plus that way they have it for longer, can't swallow and espcially good in summer for heat and teething puppies. I even freeze brisket bones! :rolleyes:

[First Time Puppy Owner]

mine will swollow chicken necks whole even when I tried freezing them. So I got turkey necks from woolies, they are great.

Six chicken necks frozen together in a ball can't be swallowed! :rolleyes:

[NoodleNut]

Frozen bones.

I feed every bone frozen until I am positive the dog has learnt to chew it properly, even then I usually feed them frozen to be sure.

Yep, been doing this with the chicken necks too - sometimes 2 or 3 frozen together as other members have suggested .. only problem is I think she ferrets them away and hence they defrost! grrr! Little minx! Obviously tast better after a few days ... Ick!!

I will ty the chicken frames and other cute people have suggested .. only problem is ..

Noodle was speyed yesterday ... in overnight as she was getting into her stitches pretty much when she woke up and they gave her some pain relief ...

Poor sweetheart.

She is sitting on the floor looking very forelorn in an Elizabethan collar!

Not a happy girl and no bones for her for at least a week or so .. pretty much impossible to eat anything with that collar on.

I took her collar off for her to eat tonight and the minute she had finished she tried to go for the stitches so back on it went.

I fed her a second small meal just now with the collar on but in a small dish I had to hold .... gonna be a LONG two weeks before those stitches come out.

[Rambo my bambino]

Hi all, im new here so sorry if i stuff my posting up at first.

About frozen bones..

i was at training the other night (community based) and admitted to giving my 4month staffy frozen bones and the trainer glared at me and told me that puppies shouldnt be given bones and surely not frozen bones untill 18months old as the bones can deform the new teeth coming out and lead to gum and teeth problems later in life!!

i had never heard this and am now unsure what to do (hence why im here looking for advice!)

my pup, Rambo, loves it, the frozen bones help her desire to chew everything and keep her occupied while im at work???

anyone know anything about this?

thanks

[Guest Tess32]

The trainer is very ill informed (that's the nicest way I could say this!). Bones deform teeth now? Goodness me. The bones will get the teeth OUT during the teething stage, and you will have clean adult teeth from the beginning.

I would not feed frozen bones of heavy leg bones etc, only edible bones - they are perfectly fine for your pup and in the best interests of his health.

[DeltaCharlie]

Is this a qualified trainer or just a normal trainer for a local club? Either way they have their facts wrong, I spoke to a lot of people when I got Delta as I wanted to start her off on raw straight away. I was already feeding it to Cody by this stage, but had never fed it to a puppy and wanted to get it right. Everyone I spoke to (nutrition people in the States, vets, other trainers etc) all told me that bones would be fine and that was how I heard about feeding them frozen.

I am a trainer for one of my agility clubs and Im sure I have said some things that people find a little odd, although I try to refrain from commenting on things I don't really know much about. I have heard other trainers give some ridiculous advice to people though... While your trainer is probably a dog lover (although Ive met a few who aren't) and they are not intentionally giving you bad advice, it pays to ask around and get a range of opinions rather than rely on one persons point of view.

Delta was able to eat bones fine when she had her Elizabethan collar on and so was my current foster. Have you tried giving them to her? They cant hold them with their paws so it takes longer to eat them, but they do manage it alright.

[persephone]

The trainer is very ill informed (that's the nicest way I could say this!). Bones deform teeth now? Goodness me. The bones will get the teeth OUT during the teething stage, and you will have clean adult teeth from the beginning.

I would not feed frozen bones of heavy leg bones etc, only edible bones - they are perfectly fine for your pup and in the best interests of his health.

[Jigsaw]

Where would I be without frozen bones. Frozen chicken carcasses and frozen wings - two together, great for getting those baby teeth out and keeping the teeth strong and clean.

I sympathise Noodlenut, my last dog was a sook whenever he had stitches and was depressed and looked miserable in his Elizabethan collar. My pup Paxy behaved like there was nothing wrong with her! Didn't even look at her stitches but she did test them to the limit and now has a lump of scar tissue.

[Rambo my bambino]

she is a trainer from a local club... thanks for your reassurance,

now that ive looked it up im happy that i was going with my gut instinct, if Rambo didnt like it or it was hurting her i would be able to tell then i wouldnt give it to her!!