I used to feed my doggy poison. :D

[Quartzy]

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[Bearsy <3]

[size=90]I don't think I've updated in this thread yet? C:
Anyway, as of last Friday I'm now the proud owner of a little mongrel. He was adopted from Battersea, so came with a packet of dry Pedigree and a couple of cans of their wet food because he has mild kennel cough.

[IAmLink]

Hai, back.

I know that it's better for bones to be in a dogs diet, but I was just wondering if there would be a possibilty that while the dog would be eating the bone, that the bone would break in two, or maybe just splinter, and that the shards might hurt the dog, maybe even lodging in the throat.. Just wondering if that could be a potential danger of feeding your dog bones.

Peace out,

HyperJax

If the bones are raw bones (NOT cooked!) then, no, they will not splinter ^^

That is a very common myth with people who are against the raw diet. Raw bones are softer and more maleable whereas cooked bones WILL splinter and possibly cause a choking hazard. That's why it's so terrible that people sell cooked bones all the time in pet food stores.

However, certain raw bones are different from others. You want to try and avoid big, weight-bearing bones like beef bones. Those kinds of bones are much harder and can possible chip your dog's teeth. If you have a small dog, also be a bit wary about pork bones as they can also be a bit too hard, however they are usually ok for larger breed dogs. Other bones like chicken, rabbit, goat, and lamb bones are perfectly fine because they are softer and your dog's teeth are very strong :3

Just be careful that, if your dog is a gulper, make sure the bones you give him/her are bigger than he/she can swallow. Some dogs will try and swallow a bone whole so you must always keep an eye on them while they are eating ;3

I have to take that rule a step farther because I have to actually hold onto whatever Okami is eating, just so she doesn't try to swallow more than she can chew xD

[Taako]

I have never been a believer in IAMS, I have never given my dog Ruby any food besides Wellness and Taste of the Wild. She loves both of them, and is very healthy.

[Quartzy]

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[Marley.&.Me]

My vets told us to use:



She said it's the best food out there

[Marley.&.Me]

Actually it looks like this--

[Cardinal]

Greenday: Vets normally have very little training in nutrition and are often paid to sale a certain brand of food from sponser. Science Diet is by NO mean a good food.

[HeartOfCoal]

Hai, back.

I know that it's better for bones to be in a dogs diet, but I was just wondering if there would be a possibilty that while the dog would be eating the bone, that the bone would break in two, or maybe just splinter, and that the shards might hurt the dog, maybe even lodging in the throat.. Just wondering if that could be a potential danger of feeding your dog bones.

Peace out,

HyperJax

If the bones are raw bones (NOT cooked!) then, no, they will not splinter ^^

That is a very common myth with people who are against the raw diet. Raw bones are softer and more maleable whereas cooked bones WILL splinter and possibly cause a choking hazard. That's why it's so terrible that people sell cooked bones all the time in pet food stores.

However, certain raw bones are different from others. You want to try and avoid big, weight-bearing bones like beef bones. Those kinds of bones are much harder and can possible chip your dog's teeth. If you have a small dog, also be a bit wary about pork bones as they can also be a bit too hard, however they are usually ok for larger breed dogs. Other bones like chicken, rabbit, goat, and lamb bones are perfectly fine because they are softer and your dog's teeth are very strong :3

Just be careful that, if your dog is a gulper, make sure the bones you give him/her are bigger than he/she can swallow. Some dogs will try and swallow a bone whole so you must always keep an eye on them while they are eating ;3

I have to take that rule a step farther because I have to actually hold onto whatever Okami is eating, just so she doesn't try to swallow more than she can chew xD

Well I agree with most of what you say, however I have to disagree on some points. Raw bones are better, yes, but to the this day, neither of my dogs have been injured on cooked bones. We usually feed them ham bones, and recently bought ribs (? I think?) from the store, and gave them those bones. It's harder to come by raw bones, at least where I live, without going out and catching the game yourself, which is also difficult where I live. The only raw bones we never feed our dogs are birds. (Chicken, turkey, pheasant, guinea fowl, etc.)

As for chicken bones, I've never fed my dogs them raw. (Obviously not cooked because that's just silly.) My dad told me they were so little, they would splinter very easily, cooked or not. Also, I have a GSD, so she would just swallow the whole thing, so be careful size wise. Both my puppies love lamb, especially raw lamb. I don't know why, but lamb and ham my dogs just go berserk over.

Aside from that though, I agree with what you say. Especially about the guzzler part, be very careful if your dog just kind of swallow things whole. They definitely will choke, and possibly die.

[IAmLink]

Coal- If you've never had splintered cooked bones yourself, you may just be lucky and/or your dogs may just be careful and/or more meticulous chewers than most. But for the most part, cooked bones are very dangerous and I personally would not risk it. You can, of course, choose to still feed them if you want, I just always put that out there because I've seen of many cases where feeding cooked bones has ended very badly for the dog.

As for other smaller raw bones, like chicken bones, believe me, I've done a massive amount of research on this subject of feeding a raw diet before I ever started. Chicken bones will not splinter in a way that will hurt your dog unless you have a dog that would injure themselves on any kind of bone. Chicken bones are very soft and, while they may seem sharp to us, dog's teeth are designed to eat bones like this with no problem. I've been feeding my dog raw bones, and mostly small raw bones, for a very long time now, and she's never hurt herself on them, and she's also a major gulper and/or fast eater. Plus, I am a part of many other raw forums where there are hundreds of other people feeding raw that would say the exact same thing.

The only time you need to worry is if you have a gulper who would try to swallow a bone whole, and then get it stuck in their throat.

If you're interested in learning more, you don't necessarily have to feed a raw diet, but you can check out this forum on raw diets. You can get the opinions of many other raw feeders, and the majority of people on this site are adults who have been feeding raw for years: http://dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet