Just wondering what bones will be best for my Cavaliers to gnaw? They love chewing at rawhide bones but they frighten me. I must admit that I am a bit squeamish when it comes to raw bones - they aren't bloody and gungy are they? Its strange because they love to chew plastic bottles or anything that they shouldn't really have but don't bother much with chewy toys or nylabones. I do give them chicken wings a couple of times a week but I would like to get them a bone each that will last.

I get beef knuckle bones for mine, I think the leg shanks are too hard and other bones too small for real recreational value. However as you have small dogs possibly even some lamb ribs would be good?

> they aren't bloody and gungy are they?

All raw bones are a bit bloody :-)  In the summer, or even winter if it's dry mine get their bones outside at first - they can bring them in the house after a couple of hours. If it's bucketing outside I just give them the bones inside. I shut the collies in the kitchen with a petgate as the floor is easily washed and the hounds get theirs in the livingroom on bits of vetbed. After a few hours I lift the vet bed and chuck it in the washing machine.

hi,

we buy the odd bone as a treat from my butcher and the first time we did i asked him if it was beef, he said that he would always provide beef bones for dogs as lamb can splinter, chicken is a no no and pork can make them sick. (I think I have this the right way round!) However I do know from reading previous posts that some dog owners feed chicken bones but I think this maybe for small breeds only. Khan had a smaller bone once from the butcher and devoured it completely and was a little unwell the next day so I always make sure that his bones are quite substantial. With regards to their yuckiness I sometimes rinse them and wrap them in cling film to put in the fridge overnight or until someone is in the house to oversee Khan chomping! Besides you get guaranteed peace and quiet when your pooch is occupied with a bone!

Raw chicken is fine, our Golden retrievers love the chicken carcasses we get from the butchers! :-)

my small breed dog got into the kitchen bin and got some chicken bones out, i was worried sick because i had heard that the chicken bones can splinter etc, she also ate some of the chicken skin, and had a terrible tummy for about 2 days, so i would also be grateful as to what i could ask my butcher to give me as a treat when i do leave my dogs etc and i know they will be safe. i only leave them on their own for most about an hour etc

I am really lucky, my butcher gives me loads of free bones - saves him money as he has to pay for them to be taken away.  I told him my breed and he went in and got me lots of them, I freeze what I'm not using.

We generally get lamb and beef bones.

Yes to bloody and gungy, the more so, the more the dogs love them!! Sorry, love handles..................

They'll sit for an hour or so, chewing away, so it gives you a bit of time to get on with things.  I tend not to leave them unsupervised with raw bones and keep an eye for any sharp bits or splintering and remove and replace when needed.  I was a bit sqeamish at first, but now totally over that.

Good luck.

Dawn R 

Hi luvhandles, I personally keep away from rawhide as the possibility of choking on them is just too high. The more they are chewed the more 'stringy and elongated' they get, the more chance of them getting stuck in the throat and I have also read too many 'horror stories' as is normal for me - bit of a drama queen me ;-)

As has already been said,  recreational bones can be bloody, clotty and gungy but boy are they good for their teeth and keeping  boredom at bay. Nylabones will only last a limited time, the same as 'real bones'  but my preference would be real bones as they last quite well, it's your decision when they need to be disposed of. A good indicator is when they start to smell and look a bit grubby. Beef shins are good but if you want them to have meat content as well as teeth exercise then lamb racks are excellent, soft bone plus good meat to bone ratio. Pork can have different reactions in dogs as can game and turkey, it's really a case of experimenting within your own comfort zone :-)