well i've bitten the bullet, and have found a butcher who'll give me a bag of bones, so i got some for my friends rottie today, and my two labs got one each. God did they love them! I think they were lamb bones-looked like 'calf' bones.....? They've just had another one tonight, but rib bones instead. I've opened a can on worms now!

how many can i feed in addition to their food? I thought maybe one on a night before bed, and one in the morning while i'm at work..? I could even do one meal of Arden, one meal of BARF? Would that upset the dietary balance?

is there any type of bone i should avoid?

nicola

Personally I would neve give bones to my dogs unsupervised, if that is what you meant by "while i'm at work."

As long as they are raw then as far as I am aware there are no restrictions. As to the feeding complete and barf then you will probably come up against many different opinions. ;) I feed mainly kibble but a couple of times a week they have chicken drumsticks as a treat. In fact they had them today. I know a few others on here feed a combination too. HTH :)

good point about the unsupervised bone eating-i hadn't thought of that!

I feed complete in the morning and barf at night.  Its convenient for the summer months because mine dont eat straight away and raw attracts the flies.

I wouldnt think there are any restrictions but you will find lots of white poo in the garden and they may suffer a little constipation. Because of this one a day is too much for my boy so we have them every other day to give his tummy a chance to soften up again :)

Try to avoid weight bearing bones (legs) of most animals as they are to strong and can cause damage to teeth. The ones I personaly prefer are lamb necks and ox tails as the bones are quite soft and there is usualy a bit of meat attatched,and my local abbatoir lets me have a large sack for next to nothing.

i've discovered the white poo caroline :o ! Haven't see any for years!

theres an abbatoir fairly local, so i think i might go along and see what they can donate....

I dont include recreational bones as part of any diet.  The only bones I do include in the diet are Raw Meaty Bones.  As previously mentioned I also avoid weight bearing bones especially turkey as they are strong, but not to strong that they are not broken up by the dog - as a result you get a very sharp shard produced that can be (and is) swallowed.
Sarah
PS I do feed recreational bones - I just dont include it as part of my dogs diet.

If you read give your dog a bone it advocates that raw meaty bones can constitute up to 80% of the total diet. Personally I think that this is a bit high, but you will need to find what suits your dog.