[Zohar F]

Hi there – I’m a vegetarian who has never stepped into a butcher shop or eaten meat since I was a kid. I’m not opposed to feeding raw dog bones (I do feed meat based dog foods), and I keep reading about the benefits of raw bones, but I have no clue where to start. I understand you go to the butcher – but what bones do I ask for? My vet told me to ask the butcher to cut a beef knuckle into quarters and give that to Penny, but then I read knuckles are bad and too hard and can break teeth. Marrow bones are good and bad. Soup bones are good and bad. Never feed weight bearing bones. Never feed chicken bones but then do feed chicken necks, backs and thighs? I AM SO CONFUSED. I’m scared to walk into the butcher shop and ask him what to feed because what if he gives me the wrong bone.

I just bought a smoked ham bone at the pet store which I was told is different from cooked – but I took it away after reading horror stories online that smoked is the same as cooked.

Can someone give me a definitive answer on what to give Penny? She’s a 25-30 pound terrier mix who loves to chew. She gets high quality kibble – so I’m more searching for recreational bones that will keep her busy, clean her teeth and not break her teeth (although nutritional benefits are welcome). What types of bones do I ask the butcher for? Detailed answers much appreciated!

[theBCnut]

If you were starting a raw diet, I would recommend consumable bones and yes, we do feed raw chicken bones, as well as turkey, duck, quail, etc., just not cooked. But for a kibble fed dog that needs some chewing satisfaction and some teeth cleaning, I recommend rib bones, pork, lamb, goat, beef. These bones are pretty safe for your dog to eat the whole thing, if he really loves chewing, but they provide a bit more challenge, so do a great job on teeth. You can get a slab of ribs and ask the butcher to cut them into individual ribs. Whole beef ribs are probably a bit big for your dog so you would want to have him cut those in half unless you find short ribs. Give one a couple times a week.

[jakes mom]

Zohar, I don’t eat meat either but have recently started feeding a bit of raw food to my dog and cats. These forums are a wonderful resource, BCnut has been a great help to me. The only thing I would add is that maybe you don’t need to bother making a trip to a butcher shop. A local grocery store has beef and pork ribs and you can ask them to cut a slab of ribs into pieces for you. Good luck, I’m sure Penny will love a rib bone! My dog, a beagle/basset mix is a 30ish pound dog and he also loves chicken backs.

[theBCnut]

Some grocery store butchers will do anything that a dedicated butcher will, but others won’t. A lot of grocery store chains only allow the buther to do certain things. My grocery butcher can slice or grind any beef product, but they aren’t allowed to do other meats. Go figure.

[jakes mom]

BCnut, I got some “scrap bones for stewing” I believe they are beef vertebrae , had a decent bit of meat on them. Jake loved it, worked on it for almost 2 hours. He finally lost interest ( or just got tired!) and it was getting kind of small so I decided to err on the side of caution and threw the last of it away.

[Susan]

Hi, I’m a vegetarian to, I hate meat, all those poor animals getting killed.. I was thinking of giving Patch a raw meaty bone once a week but Im worried as he has Pancreatitis, in the book im reading at the moment the vet suggest Raw Brisket bone or Mutton flaps as they are ideal because the dog needs to really use their teeth to crack crush & tear these down to small pieces, their gums & teeth benefit enormously from this activity. I dont know what a brisket bone is or what’s a mutton flap, but the rib bones sounds good, Ive seen BBQ ribs u can slice 1 off, but mite be a bit small for Patch it would be gone in 1 minute. I’d have to have a look at them all at the butchers & ask the butcher what meat bones would have the least fat beef, lamb or pork, also does anyone pour boiling hot water over the bone to kill any germs & bacteria….

[Sue’s Zoo]

Zohar, Feeding raw meaty bones, it that’s what you’re thinking of, depends on the size of your dog and how they eat. I have two large breed older pups that are all on raw within the last 3 months. The older one (8 yrs., 80 lbs) took to raw like a champ but takes her time chewing her raw meaty bones (so far smaller turkey necks, also chicken necks, wing, feet and backs. And she LOVES them.
The other two are under a year (95 lbs and 70 lbs). They chew most RMBs but quite often, with turkey necks, will swallow a large chunk at the end and then regurgitate several pieces of bone about 3-4 am. It’s never been a real problem but not great to wake up, clean up and wonder if all is ok for the next hour. So I’ve recently started using a meat mallet on turkey necks to break down the bone slightly before feeding. Seems to be the answer as there has been no bone regurgitation since I started.
A couple of tips I found elsewhere: to cut large, heavier bones into smaller pieces use a garden type Lopper. Works great on turkey necks. Be careful about pieces that are too small as it is easier to choke on something that is just a little too big to swallow rather than something large that they break into smaller pieces themselves. That said, I’ve also heard of holding some of them with tongs while they eat until you’re confident they can manage the size, etc. on their own. I have to say it was kind of scary at first and it’s never good to be over-confident that you never question what you’re doing.
And even if you don’t have a butcher, there are SO many raw pet food providers available now! You can buy lots of different raw meaty bones from any of them. Just research to make sure it’s the quality you want.

https://www.mypetcarnivore.com/
http://www.rawpaws.org/display/main/Raw+Paws+Home+Page
http://reelrawdog.com/
https://www.hare-today.com/

And last, I heard of a website that provides info and links to many organic farms (meat and veg). Maybe there’s one near you! Check here for places that might be close to you: http://www.eatwild.com/index.html

Good luck!

Still confused TOO!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by Sue's Zoo.

[theBCnut]

Jake’s mom

You did exactly what I would have done. If they don’t consume the bone completely then after a couple hours when they get tired of it, I throw it away. Some people refreeze them and give it again later, but I have plenty of bones, so have never felt a need to save them.

Sue

Dogs handle the germs just fine, so I don’t risk cooking even a little bit of the bone. I do tend to give bones in their crates, so they don’t get raw meat all over the house though. Also, good luck on finding raw meaty bones that are low fat. Ribs are fatty, though lamb is much leaner than mutton. I think brisket is the sternum area. The leanest raw meats are chicken and turkey with the skin removed, but they aren’t as much workout for the teeth.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by theBCnut.

[nack d]

nice one

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by nack d.

[Melissa]

I am also vegetarian and have two rescues, so my dogs tend to “scarf” things. It took me some time to find the right bones for them that

1. they couldnt’ hurt themselves on (ei I have never fed chicken necks or bones that could become easily lodged for them)

2. They would be interested in gnawing at for a while. If there wasn’t enough meat on it to keep them interested, they won’t even start on the bone.

I have two smaller dogs, so I go with buffalo knuckels and neck slices (lamb and elk). they have been good at eating them nicely and not scarfing! I get them from the pet store (raw food pet store).

[nack d]

In 1947 there were 70,000 registered vegetarians in Great
Britain. In 1990 there were over three million. 30 percent of
these became vegetarian in a twelve month period spanning 1985
and 1986.
—————-
[url=http://www.keepwell.com/]keepwell[/url]

• This reply was modified 10 years, 6 months ago by nack d.

[zcRiley]

Take the guess work out. Order from this link: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/search/dogs/treats-and-chews/raw-frozen-bones

[Karen B]

I started giving my 15 month old Lab Nature’s Variety Beef bones that I buy in the freezer section of a local pet store. My dog loves them!

[tapiskootskiyas t]

Aw.
Your love for your dog is so beautiful. I see commitment.
I know some vegetarians that wouldn’t feed their dogs any kind of real meat or dogfood with meat and/or meat bi products in it.
In most cases these people did more harm to their dogs to the point that some actually died of malnutrition.
My dogs are all fed meat and meat bi products.
Actually the whole animal. I feed my dogs the same diet as wild wolves.
Omnivore that is 90% carnivore.
I made a mistake this spring and bought 2 pallets of commercial dogfood.
Thought I would save some time and energy.
Wrong!
Back to feeding animals to them.
I utilize everything, bones, hide, head, hair/fur, the whole works.
I don’t worry about the bones too much. I break the leg bones and the dogs eat the marrow(avtually, so do I).
The joints are a good gnawing tool to keep them kinda preoccupied.
I just make sure that they don’t that piece of pliable bone from a chicken’s leg or the ones from a turkeys leg. Them bones are like baleen that was used by some hunters to kill their carnivorous and/or omnivorous prey such as bears and wolves. It’s rolled up in fat and cooled. When ingested it warms and the bone springs open in the stomach and guts and pierces the walls causing great pain and.. well.. I think you get it. Well in a chicken’s leg, them little springy bones that look like a toothpick with a knob on the end do the same thing.
The only thing my dogs don’t eat from the larger animals(& rabbits,& fowl)is the contents of the last three feet or so of the large intestine(just before the anus).
Wolves are the same. Their is a good reason for this behaviour but I think thisost is blossoming into a novel… again.
I like fish because they can be frozen and fed whole. Complete diet in a neat totally biodegradable package.
That all being said, my dogs are all huskies. Amazing teeth and stomachs. Not unlike wolves.
I hope this helps clear some of the confusion about bones.
TTFN HAGD

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