Beef Bones

[Remy]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and not sure whether this is the right place for this question but I am happy for it to be moved

I was just wondering how often is too often to give your dogs beef bones?

I get a big bag of beef bones from my local butcher and are not huge bones, smaller than marrow bones anyway. I have 2 dogs a ChiX and a LabX, and the LabX I only got last week (rescue). She is 11mo and is still in the chewing phase... I have been giving her a beef bone each day to chew on, it keeps her occupied for anywhere up to 3 hours during the day but I am not sure if its good for her diet to be having a bone every day?

My ChiX is not as fussed with the bones, he licks the marrow out and then leaves the rest.

[cazxxz]

If the beef bones aren't weight-bearing bones, or the kind that break in to pieces that are the perfect size for choking on, I don't see why it would be a problem.

Variety is important though, and so is having some meat on those bones!

[Remy]

Thankyou Cazxxz.

What do you mean by weight bearing bones? The bones are a variety of different shapes and sizes, and all of them have marrow and a small amount of fat, gristle and meat on them...

I have bought my younger dog chew toys, and one of those rubber chew toys that you put food in (tried it with peanut butter) but she is not interested in chewing on anything except for those beef bones. Oh, and my daughters stuffed toys lol, but I would rather she didnt chew on them

[Sayreovi]

What do you mean by weight bearing bones? The bones are a variety of different shapes and sizes, and all of them have marrow and a small amount of fat, gristle and meat on them...

They are the ones that are generally sold as soup bones in supermarkets.

Must admit though i have on occasion given them to my dogs, when i find ones that have alot of meat on them. My two dont try and eat the harder bone now, they just chew the meat off and leave the harder bone bits for me too pick up.

ETA: I would supervise with these bones, so i only feed them when i have time to sit outside for awhile with them.

Edited January 18, 2008 by tollersowned

[WinGus]

They are the ones that are generally sold as soup bones in supermarkets.

Must admit though i have on occasion given them to my dogs, when i find ones that have alot of meat on them. My two dont try and eat the harder bone now, they just chew the meat off and leave the harder bone bits for me too pick up.

ETA: I would supervise with these bones, so i only feed them when i have time to sit outside for awhile with them.

Oh. I didn't know that! I feed Pepper those bones occasionally!! She never chews the bones though, like yours Tollersowned, she leaves them for me to pick up!! I do feed her lamb bones more though, and she tends to chew those up.

[rose of tralee]

I fed beef brisket bones from '92 (avoiding the rib ends that some butchers put into the bag) and occasional thigh bones but am now prone to seeking out a wide variety of meaty bones from lighter weight or younger animals e.g. pork, chook, veal, lamb

Weight bearing bones (that's pretty well all of them) from adult cattle are dense and hard, I'm sure I wore out one dog's teeth through providing the wrong bones and her persisting with them. Others have reported cracked molars from marrow bones and large dogs.

[Remy]

How do you stop the dog from eating the actual bone? I have been watching my LabX and she will eat almost everything, and leave only very little bone stubs on the grass...

[rose of tralee]

I go out and say to Lola, My bone now, and she smiles and wags her tail as in, Gee that was yummy, and I take it away. Wrap it in newspaper and freeze it for the next rubbish collection day. Her bones in the vast majority though are raw meaty ones which are meant to be eaten all up and are part of the meal itself e.g. a chicken frame + some extra meat

[cazxxz]

Oh. I didn't know that! I feed Pepper those bones occasionally!! She never chews the bones though, like yours Tollersowned, she leaves them for me to pick up!! I do feed her lamb bones more though, and she tends to chew those up.

I think occasionally is fine - I feed the hard bones to my dog every now and then. Variety is important. My dog gets mostly pork bones and has never had a problem with these because he can eat the whole thing (sadly it only takes him around 20 mins) and doesn't leave any fragments on the ground.

The other thing to consider with beef marrow (weight bearing) bones is the marrow. That can be quite fattening. My dog has a bit of lab in him too, to which I attribute his perpetual hunger

I check up on my dog regularly when he has a big beef bone, but the only bones I think he needs constant supervision when eating are chicken bones. And anything new.