Apart from cooked bones are there any other you can think of that should never be given?

I wouldn't say this is a definitive answer but rather a few points to consider:

Make sure that all bones are appropriate to size or eating style.  If you have a dog that would eat small bones like a pelican swallowing fish then go up a size or two.  However, once you've established you have a good chewer then you may be ok with smaller bones like wings or ribs.

Just as some meats don't agree with your dog, some bones are the same, either because of their animal source or their composition.  Do keep an eye on output to check you aren't feeding too much either - bones need to be balanced with meat and offal.

Finally, very big bones can be a problem for some dogs as you'll need to be careful about tooth damage.  Also, large recreational bones can generate guarding or burying behaviours! :)

Thanks. I feed a raw diet, and do give bones about once a week to clean teeth but my heart is in my throat when I do, and I watch them like a hawk. But they terrify me. Would it be better giving them one each day? Would they respect them more? Or would it constipate them? I feel confident with raw diet, just not the actual bones bit. Which is supposed to be a big part. I'm just so terrified of bone shards

I feed raw too and mine are thriving.  I have one that loves bones but another that can be a bit outfaced by anything bigger than a small rib or wing!  He'll eat it, but it can take hours...

If larger bones make you anxious then it's worth remembering that a lot of pet mince contains bone.  Chicken mince is generally carcass so up to 60% bone in fact - I can't feed this on it's own or mine will get constipated!  It's perfectly possible to feed a good balance of meat, bone and offal without actually giving whole bones at all but it's a shame for your dogs to miss out if they really like them and chew them well.

Bones are ok for cleaning teeth but fibrous meat will do it too - breast of lamb is ideal as it contains a good balance of meat and bone, and even the greediest eaters seem to need a bit of time to chew these.  Another option is to feed poultry necks - these are quite soft, the dogs manage them very well but they seem to appreciate the crunch.  I often use these as a topping to minced meat or tripe.  Carcasses too are pretty soft presumably because most of these birds are very immature?  If you stuff a carcass like a kong it will slow your dog down and hopefully ensure the bones don't get gulped rather than chewed.

Thanks, I'll try that. Would you say that poultry bones were safer for gannets like mine that wolf their food down, of would bigger bones be safer? I'm trying to force myself to get over this silly fear, because its the most natural thing a dog can do, and they love it so much, so I feel like I am depriving them. If I gave them bones more often would they learn to respect them more and slow down to swallow smaller piece?

I'm so confused with it all lol, I want to do best by them, but naturally, I don't want them to injure themselves on my ignorance.

Thanks for your help :-)

Hi Tanya
I would try chicken carcasses that should slow them down a bit and make them chew. If a whole one looks too much you could cut it in two, although with your breed I would expect a whole carcass is fine. My gsd loves nothing better than chewing his way through chicken mind it only take s a few minutes.
Dogs a Babe just re read your post I think you have solved a worry I have had. when I give my gsd large marrow bones he can gets possesive and it worries me but not with other food or toys I had n't realised that different things could bring this on. At least i will worry less and watch what he has.  

My lot seem unable to digest chicken bones properly so only get these in minced form (great shards of bone come out the other end!). Wings were swallowed whole.

But what they do get, around 3 times a week, are lamb ribs and there are no problems with these. They are big enough to slow down Hamish, who really just inhales food, and as a 10 year old he has lovely, sparkly teeth (they were awful when he was fed on kibble alone).

I feed my three Bernese raw and am like you in that I do not like wings as they wolf them whole so I get chicken necks and the bones are so small in them it does not matter as they break down into litte bits in thier stomach. I also give lamb ribs, I get them from the butcher who bones out whole lambs and keeps the ribs in a rack for me so they have to chew them up and that is fine. I will not give whole chicken carcasses with legs/wings attached but do get chicken backs from my butcher and they are good as they have some organ meat on them as well. I have a friend who's dog got bloat and when they opened him up there was a whloe chicken wing stuck in his stomach that caused the bloat, well it was inside the twist so the vet said it was highly likley to have been a contributing factor. I still like to feed raw but with a breed like yours and mine with big mouths it pays to be a little carefull. I also feed the minced chicken as it has a good quantity of bone in it as well.
Good luck
Aileen.

I've always bought what I thought to be safe bones to give my dogs to chomp.  They are sterilised bones. Have recently thrown all bones in the bin!  I know someone who recently had to have major surgery on their dog after it got a small piece of bone caught in throat ... cost £3,000 and was near death situation. In my opinion any bone is now a no no!

Bones are the most natural food for a dog, ofcourse there are risks with food, personally the long term damage feeding complete kibble is more of risk to there health than a bone.  I would never feed roasted or sterilised bones, raw meaty bones are the best.  If you have a gutsy dog that eats wings whole (my rotty pup for eg.!) smash them with a meat hammer to break them up before feeding them.  To deny any dog bones imo is such a shame, its what they are designed to eat.

I dont know if anyone else has found this, but Ive tried feeding vertebrae bones to my lot they tend to be sick. After a second attempt (to see if they were the problem, or if it was a one off) they were still sick. Nothing drastic, just frothy sick.
So Ive not bothered since and stuck to every other type of bone insted!

Anyone else find this to be the case?

My butcher is very singey with dolling out bones, could do with finding a decent one!
He tends to shoot you filthy looks and comes back with two small bones or a load of vertibrae. And god forbid if you should ask for any other bones or enquire if he has anymore! :-o With eight dogs, two bones would be rediculous lol

I fed spine bone and mine are fine on it - I only give lamb tho cos thats all I can get usually.  I have fed it from venison but not able to get that often atall.  I would drive around and ask a few butchers if you can take all there scraps off them to help them save the cost of the boneman, if you get a chest freezer like me you can take a load and be able to store it easily. Gosh 8 dogs, I have 3 and thats my limit but fair play to you! ;-)

I could definately do with a chest freezer, it's trying to squeeze it into my house that would be the issue lol. Wish I had a garage, it would make life so much easier! Lack of freezer is the reason I dont feed raw, I only suppliment with meaty bones as and when I can get them. :-(

My butcher often gives me beef spine bones with a short piece of rib attached to each. The spine part is demolished easily; I only intervene when the dog has got down to just the short rib as they can sometimes split & splinter. Should add that doggy is 26kg and well practised with bones.

Would not give the sterilised ones as he is powerful enough to crack them - or the roast bones either... because they are deep-fried (or similar) they have repercussions at the 'other end' - and I can't stand the smell of them.

Just a post note, the person with the £3,000 vet bill and near loss of dog fed raw bones!

incidents like this are so rare so I will continue to feed my dogs bones as they are so good for them and they love it.  I could die from eating a peanut getting stuck in my throat but i would still eat peanuts (well i would if I wasnt allergic to them!).  My dogs are only fed bones that suit their size and they are only fed when we are around to keep on eye on them, as soon as the bone gets small it is in the bin or if they are not showing as much interest in it it goes in the bin. 

ditto dvnbiker.  After working in a vets for two years, we did not see any bone related problems, but many smelly dogs with bad ears and itchy skin that had never had a bone or some raw meat in their diets (I know this as we always asked them what food they fed!)

i occasionally buy my collies cooked marrow bones,and filled hooves from pet shops as they love them,should i stop?

Its upto you, but I would never feed cooked bones of any variety.