Source your raw bones from a respected, local butcher and follow meticulous food hygiene to minimize the chances of food-borne illness. Thoroughly grind the bones before including them in your dog's meals. Softer options like chicken necks tend to work best.
Raw meaty bones (such as raw chicken wings or lamb flaps) help to keep teeth and gums healthy, provide added nutrition and help cleanse your dog's digestive tract. Never feed cooked bones to your dog, as these can splinter and cause internal injury.
Raw bones are considered safer than home-cooked because they don't splinter as easily. Raw bones like chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, or even oxtail can be safer bone options for your pet. Unlike home-cooked bones which are drained of their nutrients, raw bones can be a natural source of calcium and phosphorus.
Raw meaty bones should be soft and entirely edible, and always fed raw. Bones from poultry (including wings, legs, feet and carcasses), lamb, kangaroo tails, pig's trotters and brisket (rib) bones are all suitable. DO NOT FEED marrow bones (leg-shaft bones from cattle) as you risk breaking your dog's teeth.
The bones must be blanched and roasted before boiling. This is very important as blanching removes the parts of the bones you don't want, resulting in a rich clear broth and roasting the bones will turn them brown caramelised for added flavour. Use enough water to cover the bones, but don't overdo it.
Raw meaty bones can be fed to dogs eating any format of food but can specifically complement a raw diet perfectly. Use recreational bones to make a healthy bone broth for your dog. Be sure to choose bones that contain marrow and connective tissues, as this will provide the most nutrition.
The answer to both is yes! Raw bones also offer extra nutrients that are great for cleansing your dog's digestive tract. If you give your pet raw bones, they may benefit from the calcium in the bones.
If your dog isn't used to chewing on bones it is best to soften the bone through boiling. This is a good opportunity to make a meat broth for later use. Put the bone in a pot with some water, a little salt, celery, carrot, and parsley and simmer for about 1 hour.
Dogs love to chew on bones, but frozen ones can be dangerous. If you give your dog a frozen bone, it could break a tooth or hurt their gums. Plus, they might not be able to digest it properly. So it's best to avoid giving them frozen bones altogether.
Feeding marrow bones to raw fed dogs and cats is a great way to support them physically and mentally, offering them the opportunity to chew as they would in the wild as well as benefitting from a range of natural nutrients found in the marrow and bone themselves. Important: Never feed cooked bones to your dog or cat.
Clean bones by putting them in a pot of boiling water. The bone must be fully submerged with at least two inches of water above the tallest point of the bone. Boil the bone for 30 minutes, let it cool, take off any that's hanging off the bone and give it to your pooch!
Pork, lamb, and goat tails are raw meaty bones suitable for all dog sizes. These raw meaty bones are soft enough to be fed to smaller dogs in smaller portion sizes as well as larger dogs. These raw meaty bones are not ideal for cats.
Dogs have powerful jaws, and you don't want your dog to ingest too much bone. Dispose of a bone after three or four days. Bacteria can grow and cause intestinal problems for your dog.
Pieces of bone can lodge in the esophagus on the way down to the stomach. Sharp bone shards can penetrate the soft tissues at the back of the throat or pierce the esophagus. It is also possible for a piece of bone to get into the trachea (windpipe), interfering with your dog's ability to breathe.
Most people know that cooked chicken bones are bad for dogs. In fact, cooked bones of any kind can be dangerous because they break and splinter into small, sharp pieces that can cut your dog's mouth and digestive organs. Shards of bone can cause a number of health problems, including: Mouth and tongue lacerations.
Raw vs cooked: Can dogs eat raw (uncooked) bones? Most veterinary experts agree that it's much safer to give your dog raw bones than cooked bones. Cooking causes bones to soften and increases the risk of bones splintering when chewed. Raw bones are also an excellent source of minerals and vitamins.
Put the bones in a pot, cover them with cold water, bring the pot to a boil and continue to boil for 20 minutes. Then drain, discarding the water and keeping the blanched bones.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Raw Marrow Bones
Raw bones, as long as they are smaller, are less likely to splinter and are more easily digested than cooked bones, thus somewhat less likely to cause an obstruction or trauma. That is where the advantages end.
CDC warning: Don't give your dog a pig ear treat, you could both get very ill. (WQOW) – A warning for dog owners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said you should not give your pooches pig ear treats. They are also advising retailers to stop selling them.
Unlike hyenas, and some other wild dogs, domestic dogs cannot digest bone as the acidity of their stomach is not sufficient to facilitate the dissolution of bone. Even raw bones can cause problems as, in pet dogs, bits of bone can become stuck in the digestive tract causing obstruction or worse.
To get enough calcium and keep a healthy balance of minerals, your dog's raw diet needs to contain about 12% to 15% bone. This means about 1/3 of his diet should be nice meaty bones.
According to most raw feeders, dogs should eat muscle meat (hamburger, chicken, turkey), as well as a healthy array of organ meat (heart, liver, kidneys), whole fish, and raw meaty bones (aka, RMBs).
Because bones are composed of calcium phosphate, a mineral that aids your dog's proper growth, a raw bone can help a canine's skeletal system to regenerate and adapt. In fact, the calcium in raw bones can be up to four times more digestible than most commonly available calcium supplements.
Hard Beef Knuckle Bones and Beef Marrow Bones are ideal and the safest for dogs. Chicken, Turkey, and Pork bones are too soft and dangerous for dogs.
We generally recommend giving your pet Raw Meaty Bones no more than 2-3 times a week. You may notice after feeding a Raw Meaty Bone that your pet will have crumbly stool – very light or even white. Some pets may also experience loose stool after eating marrow bones for the first time.