Bones For Small Dogs

[chuckie500]

If you own a small dog can u pls tell me what bones you give yours and if they just chew on it or eat the whole thing.

My vet advised lamb shanks and of course they only are supposed to tear the meat off it and chew a bit on the bone and not actually eat the bone itself. But I would like some other alternatives too.

Thanks

Edited April 14, 2007 by chuckie500

[jelly]

I have a Schipperke, they're about 7kgs or so. I'm not sure if you mean smaller than that. We give him raw chicken wings, ocassionally raw chicken necks. They eat the lot bones and all.

I did try him on lamb I think but he seemed to have (a VERY mild) skin reaction to that, now we stick to chicken. We give him pigs ears as well.

What kind of dog, or what size is s/he?

Edited April 12, 2007 by jelly

[TeamSnag]

Beef brisket bones u can get them from woolies or coles just ask... they can eat the whole thing... i have a 7 month old dashie and he dosent have a prob with eating them.. also the big ones u can cut them up

cheers

[BC]

I use chicken necks and find the dogs eat the whole thing, not just the meat.

[westielover]

Chicken necks, chicken wings, chicken carcasses, lamb riblets, pork spare ribs (american style), chopped chuncks of turkey necks, lamb shanks (one of my westies eats the entire shank!!), rabbit chuncks, - all raw of course.

I have also read in Tom Lonsdale's Raw Meaty Bones book that it's good to give a whole raw fish every now and then - but I haven't dont it yet.

[kendall]

My mum gives her little dogs chicken wings and necks.

[chuckie500]

mine are shih tzu crosses. They weigh about 8kg. I did try chicken wings, but one of mine is a gulper and just gulped it down in 2 secs without chewing. I thought well that didn't help your teeth and who knows how that will end up in your insides! Well he was ok, but i've been a bit cautious with bones since. I did try brisket bones but the cuts i got were very fatty.

I will try pork spare ribs, they sound good. And chicken necks.

Edited April 13, 2007 by chuckie500

[Maile]

Chicken wings good. My dogs love chicken frames, and they are very cheap too. I could get them at $1 a bag for 10-12 pcs.

Raw of course.

[Dogsrules]

What about lamb neck ? I tried it with mine and they love it, gone without a trace. I also fed them chicken necks, carcass, wings.

[chuckie500]

Lambs neck are a cheaper as lamb shanks r a bit expensive. Dogsrule, od they eat the entire neck bone so that nothing is left? what sort of dogs do you have?

[Dogsrules]

Yup. nothin left. But the neck was from Coles and got cut quiet smallist. It still take them a good few hours to chew them out, by the next day, no leftover. Mine are crosses ( Maltese x, Shih Tzu x, Cavalier x ) so should be similar size to your dog.

[Guest kitakins]

ive always wondered, what is softer? chicken wings or chicken necks?

[chuckie500]

i think chicken wings are quite tough, esp the two bone joint part. i think necks would be easier to digest. mine just eat these things in 30 seconds. maybe the lamb shanks are best becasue that takes them about half an hour & then thats dinner. Call me paranoid, but i just imagine bones being stuck in there and worry they'll have an obstruction.

[Shihzoo]

I feed my shih tzu (7.6kg) chicken necks and chicken wings. The chicken necks I hold one end so he has to chew it as otherwise he GULPS - he's a pig though!! hehee

[chuckie500]

Shihzoo - mine are shih tzu crosses. DON"T hold the end or if you do wrap your fingers in a towel. I used to hold bones to as my Sam would gulp the whole thing. Then one day I was holding a bone for him and he acidently slipped into my finger and ....slice. My poor dog didn't know what happened. I was telling him (in a non verbal sense) to bite the end. It cut 2/3 of the way round the end of my finger. Cut the nail in half. I has to wrap my finger in a tea towel and drove to hospital. I was admitted that night and was in theatre for debridement and sutures. Had to stay overnight of course. I had to get a friend to look after my dogs at the last minute. Their teeth are designed to slice and tear flesh. SO be careful. Don't have my experience.

[PossumCorner]

.... it's good to give a whole raw fish every now and then - but I haven't dont it yet.

I'd read this too so buy salmon from the fish shop - $1.00 each for a head and tail and almost half a metre inbetween, just the side meat taken off but still a fair bit of salmon meat left on. Fresh. Although Frodo won't touch them (it took six months to kid him into eating a chicken neck or wing, he is Mr Picky Picky about everything) Piper and Young Rheneas would kill for fish any day. It takes them a long time to eat one, they are very very careful of all the bones. But love them. Chicken necks/wings wasted on these two, they swallow small chickens whole.

If there is any first hand info about anything wrong with feeding whole fish, I'd be glad to know. In Thailand etc the fishing village dogs live on fish and maybe some rice as their entire diet and seem fine, but maybe if there is a problem we didn't hear about it.

[niki schaef]

a whole fish? really! wow i would never have thought of that! how do the dogs go with all the bones? i would be too worried about them getting stuck. i give my terrier x chicken necks but they seem to give him the runs. also have tried lamb off-cuts from super-market, and a 'bag of dog bones' from our local butcher. get all sorts of yummy things in there, its like a show bag for ted!! anything that keeps him busy during the day i'm willing to try!!

slight hi-jack sorry- has anyone had trouble with bones ever? eg. chipped teeth, throat/stomach obstruction etc? just curious...