Would it be okay to let my 10 week Lab puppy have raw shin bones??   He has a go at the old bones that a lying around, but they have been stripped of any marrow.

I'm just thinking that the marrow may upset his tum.

Thanks

It should be fine...if you want to be a bit cautious limit the amount of time he has it to start off with ...say 10 minutes and then gradually increase
Archer

Thanks for that, I pop by the butchers tomorrow.  They actually do half size shin bones (still have to pay 55p though!) so I'll start him off on the smaller ones.

paying butcher for bones???

i was told by my butcher that they get charged to take away bones from the shops so are more than happy to give them away free of charge to any dog owner who asks for them :-)

THat is true but then if someone is willing to pay for them they would be a fool not to charge woudn't they ;)

well thats another way of looking at it :-)
i suppose if someone had half a dozen dogs all wanting bones every week, then it would be daft not to charge.... but as i only have the one (at the moment :-) ) i only get 2 or 3 bones a month.... so i guess im lucky :-)

I don't get them taht often as when I do I need enough for all five or not at all :D

They all charge about 50p for ahlf of a leg bone here.  where I go they collect for the Childrtens Hospice so ask you to donate to them for the bones.

i get 5 a week, im charge £2 for mine!

My butcher used to give them away, but now they are £1 each - he reckons it's now illegal to give away anything to do with bones, but it's okay if they sell them.  Has anyone heard that before?
  Hilda

It is not illegal to sell or give away anything to anyone that is fit for human consumption.

How can giving away anything be illegal...........

I think he is trying to justify his actions.........

We don't pay for our bones, the butcher has sign up in the window saying ''free bags of bones for dogs'' whenever he has some and we just go in and ask nicely :D

I pay 12p for a carrier bag of bones...usually consists of 4-5 large marrow bones or loads of smaller rib and lamb bones!!!!
If I run out I order some from Lanywoods with my food order...£3.50 for 18...only problem is some of them seem to be a bit on the big size...but hey the boys never seem to mind :d
Archer

We get 4 marrow bones every week for free, I dont need to ask ,they have them ready .

Sheila.

But do you all buy meat from the butchers on a regular basis? We're not vegetarians but we don't eat much meat so we never actually buy meat from the butchers. What I'm trying to say is, are they happy to supply bones to people who are not regular customers?

I tend to get bones occasionally from butchers that I hardly ever buy meat from (about once every couple of months, and they're so busy they don't recognise me). I just ask, and they go and fill a large bag for me, for free.
:)

I don't buy meat from my butcher (it is good meat bu out of my budget offers price range :D

Im a veggie but when I go into the butchers to buy bones I always feel obliged to buy something else too such as eggs, or chicken wings if he has any.  I dont know why because I pay for the bones :D :D

We get our Bones free, practically beg me to take more, but no space for them :( And we never really buy anything from them, but always feel guilty and buy some pork pies :D

Hi, 

It is now actually illegal for a butcher to give/sell bones for dogs!! Silly I know, but you can go into your local butcher and ask for a bone for yourself to make stock for soup etc.  We use our local butcher and he will supply bones for dogs to local people only - there is always the chance that an unknown face is an inspector of some sort.  We get them for free and as the posts correctly say the butcher has to pay for the bones to be disposed of.... However, some bones HAS to be disposed of as the animals are registered when born, with what farm, then to what butcher etc so that a complete accountable chain is in place if BSE appeared in an animal.   I don't know the complete ins and outs of it but all that came from the butcher himself!

Andrea

Dear Crusty Roll your statement that it is illegal for a butcher to give/sell bones for dogs is not actually correct.

Please see the following letter from DEFRA on this very subject.

Dear X

Thank you for your letter of XXX to Margaret Beckett, about the feeding of raw bones to dogs.

The recent press coverage (which incorrectly stated that butchers have been banned from supplying bones etc. to domestic pet owners) arose from a misunderstanding by one Local Authorities. Officials have therefore written to the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) to confirm to local authorities the legal position. This is as follows:

Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (the Animal By-Products Regulation) imposes controls on the handling, use, processing and disposal of animal by-products (animal material which is no longer intended for human consumption) to ensure that they are dealt with in a way that safeguards animal and public health. I can assure you that these controls do not prohibit butchers from supplying bones etc. to domestic pet owners.

Article 1.2(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 exempts the following material from the scope of the Regulation - "raw petfood originating from retail shops or in premises adjacent to sale points, where the cutting and storage are performed solely for the purpose of supplying the consumer directly on the spot".

This permits butchers' to supply material, such as bones and trimmings etc, to customers for feeding to their pets. This material is 'technically fit' for human consumption.

However, what this does not permit is the supplying of bones and trimmings etc. by the 'back-door' to other users. This material, normally classified as category 3 animal by products, must be disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 via an approved disposal route e.g. petfood plant, rendering, incineration, hunt kennel. If kennels (or similar non-domestic establishments) wish to obtain animal by-products for feeding to their animals they require authorisation, by Defra or equivalent devolved administrations, either as a 'final user' or as a 'collection centre'.

Yours sincerely,

etc

HTH

Am I nieve or what (still learning!)
When we had our rotti years ago we always gave him raw bones and never thought anything of it. When getting my staffi girl I was given loads of advice one being, only give cooked bones I always thought this be true until now.  So, can I give raw bones to my girls?
i`m probably bein thick but its one of the things I`m not sure of.

Cooked bones splinter, raw bones are the only safe ones to give.

Nothing in life is risk free but NEVER give a cooked bone.

oh my god I never knew. I`ve been buying the ones from wilkinson.

Thanks for your advice
Deb

Many of us feed raw....and as part of the diet the dogs eat raw bones....anything from chicken to beef.
Archer

Thanks for the info about it - however I could only go by what the actual butcher (a proper butcher, not a counter assistant) told me - maybe it's just too much hassle for them but he did say he could get into trouble over it.  Maybe they  don't know the rules well enough but you would have believed that it wasn't in their best interests to say they cant supply them?

Andrea

NEVER,EVER FEED COOKED BONES OF ANY SORT