Bones

[APBT]

not referring to the age of the dog here, but the age of the bone,

il give my girl bones to gnaw on a few times a week, and i throw out the day old bones ect, but the ones she will go and leave in the very back of the yard she will bring out a few weeks later and chew on them.

Is it ok for them to chew on these old smelly bones?

and also, apart from necks, frames, wings and legs ect

whats a big bone that a dog would be able to eat and not just chew on?

[APBT]

bump

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Brisket bones!

[Miranda]

I'm assume you're referring to marrow bones? I don't feed weight bearing bones very often because they're just too hard and it's easy for a dog to damage its teeth chewing on them. They can also cause constipation in susceptible dogs. However it's quite normal for a dog to bury food and then return to it days or weeks later. A dog's GI tract is quite capable of dealing with food that isn't fresh and chewing on a bone that's been lying around for a while isn't going to have any adverse effects on the majority of dogs.

If you want to feed a bone that your dog can consume completely get some beef brisket bones, you can buy them in a rack and cut them up yourself if you have the appropriate tools or some butchers will cut them up for you.

[APBT]

thanks, il get my hands on some brisket bones then

[puggy_puggy]

The bones your are feeding are obviously to hard for your dog to completely eat meaning they really are the wrong bones for your dog. I doubt that you will have a problem with any left over bones once you change to softer ones.

For a dog to get the correct phosphorus (meat) to calcium (bone) ratio it must be able to consume all of the bone as well as the meat on it.

Weight bearing bones are usually the hardest bones and not reccomended. Non weight bearing bones are much better for your dog.

Softer bone suggestions:

Lamb bones

Turkey necks

Chicken carcusses

[sandgrubber]

To answer your question about age . . . putrid is fine . . some dogs love it that way. After about 4 mo of age their immune systems can handle salmonella and other nasties. Some dogs will bury chicken carcasses for later consumption. Not good for the lawn but fine for the dog.

.

Lithified isn't good. No fossils. Nothing over 10,000 yr.

[Kelly_Louise]

In my experience, the stinkier and more putrid the better apparently...

My dogs will turn their noses up at fresh bones with meat... they have to be AT LEAST a day old, but seem to be best after 3 - 4 days when they are at their stinkiest.

And then wonder why I dont want kisses :rolleyes:

[stacyk]

agree lamb or brisket not marrow bones.

As for age I do find after about 3 days the colour of the bone changes and it seems to be alot harder.

I remove them at this point and replace with a fresh one.

I do not want to risk a chipped tooth, that or I am paranoide

[ninahartland]

Only ever give mine brisket bones.The whole bone gets eaten so there's no chance of one of them finding a buried bone and someone else decides they want it!! Trouble !

[Toolz]

my boy gets the occasional cannon bone but they get left lying round for ages and ages..

he found one today that is months old and was playing with it..

i use the old bits he leaves lying round as enrichment toys by smearing with marmite or something similar and he loves them..