Ivory's First Bone

[bitter_lily]

I may have done something foolish last night. My DH & I were eating out, and I'd ordered a half-slab of baby-back ribs. I took a rib home for Ivory, bone & all. She of course was ecstatic, and promptly bore her prize off under the couch. (Mental note: next time gate her into the kitchen first

Comments

[fluffyluggage]

I would really, really caution you against giving real bones. The only reason I say that is that they are very strong and can break a dog's teeth. The main reason we see broken teeth, especially the k-9's or the very last pre-molars (called carnassial teeth) are just due to that, real bones. She's much safer with her own bones.

Now, if you went with a raw bone, that's a whole different ballgame, but cooked, bad, bad, bad!! I know you didn't know better, so I'm not chastising you, but yes, you should go hunt it down and get rid of it!!

Incidentally, when the carnassial teeth break, they are often extracted because they often break in what we call a slab fracture, which is at an angle, and they break into the gumlines, and it's very painful, and not a lot of fun for them, you, or us to deal with. So, yeah, get that bone, and discard it as quick as you can!!

Sorry! If you want to feed them raw, I have no problems with that, as long as you do it supervised, but cooked, please, just say NO!

Love ya! Jen :D

[bitter_lily]

Thanks for the input. Sadly, it will have to wait for Papa to get home; I tried and can't get at it, but he's better at couch-fishing than I am. I'll get him to read your comment if he still wants to leave it for Ivory!

She's much safer with her own bones. I didn't understand this.

If you want to feed them raw, I have no problems with that, as long as you do it supervised I take it that we still don't want to let her drag a raw bone under the couch and let her just keep it indefinitely -- that if we get her one, we should gate her in the kitchen?

[kaceemorivan]

Yeah, you never want to leave a dog with a bone by itself, whether it's a raw bone or a nylabone or anything else. Toys that can break apart are choking hazards for smaller dogs. (Nylabones break apart and are edible, but choking is still a hazard). Of course, I'm sure you know rawhides are really, really bad, so they shouldn't be given supervised or not.

The best toys to leave a dog alone with are softer squeak toys. My chihuahuas have several and when we're in a room with them they get their nylabones to give them something harder to gnaw on. Beyond that, we don't give bones of any sort.

I have found, though, that a popular treat is a pig ear. I've given them to dogs of all sizes and they're always well received and greatly appreciated. Another safe non-supervising toy is a Kong, especially one filled with peanut butter!

[fluffyluggage]

Oops! Sorry...Ok, so by "much safer with her own bones", I mean the kind you would buy at the pet store, things like rawhide and chewy bones and stuff that are made for dogs specifically. I still recommend that you supervise as much as possible, because anything can get caught in their throats. But especially any kind of real bones, like raw beef bones. But yes, keep her where you can see her.

Now, real bones that you want to feed raw, only use beef. Don't use chicken or anything like that. You still want to keep away from pork and stuff that you would keep away from if it was cooked. Pork is too fattening, and can cause pancreatitis. Chicken and other poultry can splinter, just like when it's cooked. So, still stick with beef.

It's actually good for their teeth and supplies some good nutrients, so it's not bad for her to get it, but the cooked are just way too hard. That's all.

Better? Hope so. Let me know if you need anything else! <3 ya, J :D

[lemmingpie]

I give my dog any bone but chicken bones any time we eat something of that sort and everything makes it through his system fine. (I'm of course not saying that this makes it impossible for something bad to happen...)
I googled it and the results were really mixed as to whether pork bones were safe or not. Some sites seemed to feel they were fine, some not so fine.
If it were me I'd let my dog crunch it down, but I know that he chews well, etc.