Can you give me your advice on feeding bones - what bones should I ask the butcher for and should they be cooked or uncooked, sterilised or normal?? I've been told something different by everyone I speak to .

I was told that uncooked bones don't spilnter and knuckle bones are best - is this true?? Shops seem to sell sterilsed cooked bones which can be filled with pate etc - are these ok?

Nikki

It depends on what you want teh dog to do with the bone.........

I wont give mine anything other than raw......if you want a recreational bone, ie to be chewed but not consumed, then basically anything fairly large (depends on the size of your dog really).....mine find lamb shanks last a whole day or more, but then i have fairly small/medium sized dogs, something like a GSD would be bored of/able to chew bits off of a lamb shank.
Go for something pretty big, and supervise your dog whilst he/she eats it, after a while you will get an idea of what kind of bone lasts longest, and is safest for your dog.

Be warned, marrow bones are very fatty and can cause the dog to get the runs if they arent used to it.

Em

Mmmm,
If you want to stuff something with food for the dog to work at whilst you are not in, try a Kong toy...... would def steer well away from pet shop bones stuffed with, well basically crap!

Em

Nikki,

You can find information pro and con giving dogs raw bones. Uncooked bones can splinter. You might want to ask your vet for advice. Most would say it is okay to give a dog a large, uncooked knuckle bone to chew.

I would never give my dog the filled sterilised bones. First, the bones are cooked and splinter easily. Second, they are filled with the food equivalent of rubbish.

Stacey

Raw meaty bones can be consumed eg drumsticks, wings, thighs, carcases.
Huge bones like beef marrow bones, shins are there for recreational use. To be taken away when all meat and marrow are removed.

Cooked bones should never be given.

Never, never feed bones unsupervised - just in case.

If you want to leave a dog with something to do whilst you are out a stuffed kong is safer.