Do you cook bones for dogs?

[bigsister]

The butcher has given my husband a bone for my poodle. It is a pice of back bone by the look of it. Do I need to cook it first please. Have never given her bones before.
Thanks.

[garner]

Hi bigsister, if you have never given your lady a bone, don't start now.They can be very dangerous to dogs and are not recommended.Steer clear and you will have no problems.g.

[fredpuli47]

Well that's news to one of us, garner, if it's an absolute prohibition! What are the supposed dangers ?

How old is this dog? What are its teeth like? Are they all there and 'white ' and healthy and sound? It's that that stops a problem.A lot of dogs have poor teeth.

You should not give your dog bones which splinter. That means no poultry bones, for a start. Beef bones are safe enough.. Somebody will now tell us that a fit dog with healthy teeth will break its teeth on bones, as though nature hasn't taught it that chewing bones is what its bigger teeth are for and hasn't given a brain. Can't say that that it's utterly impossible for a fit dog (as above) to chip a tooth but it's a pretty rare event, in my experience,certainly in normal chewing of a bone. (Can't think of an instance of it in chewing)

[bigsister]

Thank you both for your answers, maybe I'll not start, or at least maybe I'll see what she's like with a 'long' bone.
She is a 9 month old poodle, with good white teeth, fed on dry food, but the hide chews give her an upset stomach.
Thanks again for giving me some food for thought.

[lankeela]

A big strong raw bone is great for keeping teeth clean, the anal glands emptied (it helps push the poo through) and the dog occupied. As above, no poultry bones, but either a knuckle or marrow bone won't splinter.

Although I am not an advocate of the raw and meaty bones feeding method, mine get them regularly and have done for over thirty years, and I also occasionally give them cooked knuckle or marrow bones.

I had a litter of puppies in 2003, and they had a large knuckle bone (which we call a postman's leg) from the age of three weeks. They kept going back to gnaw on it, and I eventually threw it out about three months ago - it had been around all that time and they often went and had a chew on it, as did the older dogs. It was totally devoid of any meaty or gristly bits of course by then, but the actual bone still gave them hours of pleasure.

[bigsister]

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to help me. Much appreciated.

[Pipsy3]

Dont give cooked bones as they can splinter but raw bones are fine as is raw meat, its what they would eat in the wild after all. Dogs aren't affected by Ecoli and salmonella so cooking for that reason isn't neccessary.

[bigsister]

Thanks Pipsy.