koalathebear Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Elbie's now 14 weeks old and appears very healthy. To keep him entertained in the yard, we'd like to buy him a nice big bone. I've seen the prepackaged bones in the pet store and supermarket but they look like they've been preserved and treated to the nth degree. I was wondering whether we can just get something 'fresher' from the local butcher. If so - what should I be asking for specifically? I don't want to give Elbie the wrong thing and make him sick. Also, presumably the butcher shouldn't be charging us an arm and a leg (bad pun intended) for the bones? Thanks so much in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 What size is Elbie? IMO canon bones and knuckle bones are too hard, I would be giving something like a length of lamb neck (not individually separated chops), mutton flap (the flank/last ribs) with some fat trimmed off, roo tail, beef ribs and that sized thing. I never use brisket after having a dog choke and die eating brisket (he was supervised) but most people don't have a problem. To me a bone for a dog should be covered with enough meat that most of the bone isn't visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 What size is Elbie? He's about 6.5kg now. About 35cm from butt to collar - and a very lean little kelpie/bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolatu Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 When my boy was 6.5kg (my bc is about 9.7kg now), i feed him chicken wings and he has no issues on that. But now, I cannot give him chicken wings any more after he swallow the chicken wing whole the other day. It was scary!! I thought he was going to die. Luckily he managed to vomit it out. We went to the vet and she told us not to give chicken wing at the moment. She advise us to give raw hide chews. And a white-coloured stick which I bought from a pet shop to let him chew. He doesn't chew on our stuff so everything is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Raw hide chews are an absolute choking hazzard, most are chemically dried and preserved. Sorry but the vet is a complete numpty, to recommend them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 IMO canon bones and knuckle bones are too hard, This is the second time in two days I've seen this reference. What are canon bones? I've never heard of them before. I give my dogs brisket bones from when they are pups, but under supervision as they eat them, not just gnaw on them. They occasionally get pigs trotters, which they love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolatu Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Raw hide chews are an absolute choking hazzard, most are chemically dried and preserved. Sorry but the vet is a complete numpty, to recommend them. OH MY GOD! After the desex package incident and raw hide chews being choking hazard. I definitely not going back to that vet again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 We don't want to give him chicken bones - the idea is to give him a big bone that's going to keep him occupied but not having any choking hazard. He chews on rawhide bones but only under our supervision - we would never leave him alone with one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Any particular reason you don't want him to get chicken bones? For a smaller sized puppy they're ideal food and can actually be consumed. A big bone he can't chew pieces off is going to do nothing except wear his teeth down. A big bone he can chew pieces off automatically becomes a choking hazard. Rawhide chews - is your vet drunk??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 IMO canon bones and knuckle bones are too hard, This is the second time in two days I've seen this reference. What are canon bones? I've never heard of them before. I give my dogs brisket bones from when they are pups, but under supervision as they eat them, not just gnaw on them. They occasionally get pigs trotters, which they love. canon bone is the bone from the knee to the fetlock (basically foot) of a cow or horse or I suppose camel or donkey. Long round shaped bone with marrow in the middle when sold in shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) I'd go rootail interesting shape .. can be chewed & chewed .. needs to be a long length tho- NOT just a couple of vertebrae. I buy bags of bones at our little (country) IGA they are fantastic! squares of lamb flap, lamb shanks, beef brisket bones, teh odd pork bone/trotter..and all for around $4.00 there are about 4 kg of bone The pups and cats LOVE them no preservative or anything... Edited May 25, 2010 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esky the husky Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 We don't want to give him chicken bones - the idea is to give him a big bone that's going to keep him occupied but not having any choking hazard.He chews on rawhide bones but only under our supervision - we would never leave him alone with one. I would go for a stuffed Kong or something similar rather than a big bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 25, 2010 Author Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) We don't want to give him chicken bones - the idea is to give him a big bone that's going to keep him occupied but not having any choking hazard. He chews on rawhide bones but only under our supervision - we would never leave him alone with one. I would go for a stuffed Kong or something similar rather than a big bone. He loves his kongs already but he gets through them pretty quickly even when they're frozen! We just thought/hoped that a bone would keep him occupied because he LOVED the pigs ear we gave him before. We don't want to give him any more pigs ears though even though they kept him occupied because: 1. they're fatty 2. they're bad for him 3. they made him HIDEOUSLY FARTY. Seriously, for such a tiny puppy he was letting out some ghastly smells We didn't want to give chicken bones because we've heard so many horror stories about them - choking and salmonella and all that sort of thing. Edited May 25, 2010 by koalathebear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle. Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 canon bone is the bone from the knee to the fetlock (basically foot) of a cow or horse or I suppose camel or donkey. Long round shaped bone with marrow in the middle when sold in shops. The shank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoodleBliss Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 Great post!!...coz I've been wondering the same for the longest time for my 5mth old who is 9.5kg Finally bought a slab of lamb flaps earlier today and will give it a go tmr. A lady at the butcher's bought a bag of knuckle bones, she showed them to me.. seems less fatty and much meatier than the lamb flaps. But someone mentioned earlier that knuckle bones are too hard...Really? So not a good choice for little fellas? Met someone briefly who's a vet the other day and she mentioned that she's seen many cases of dogs with fractured jaw from chewing too hard a bone She kept mentioning to go for meaty bones but didn't specify types of bone (ie: knuckle..shank..etc) Should I even bother to try those mixed bones bags frm woolies/coles or the butchers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Bronson Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) IMO canon bones and knuckle bones are too hard, This is the second time in two days I've seen this reference. What are canon bones? I've never heard of them before. I give my dogs brisket bones from when they are pups, but under supervision as they eat them, not just gnaw on them. They occasionally get pigs trotters, which they love. canon bone is the bone from the knee to the fetlock (basically foot) of a cow or horse or I suppose camel or donkey. Long round shaped bone with marrow in the middle when sold in shops. We had a terrible time years ago with one of ours getting pancreasitis from his body processing the marrow and took the right vet to diagnose, but geez he was sick and in enough pain to be given morphine in treatment. Bloody bones, I really hate them, choking, broken teeth, pieces caught in the intestinal tract, the panceasitis and several bouts of vomiting and diahrea after bones. This is over a 30 year span, but many a drama we could have avoided without bones and a couple of nasty incidents that required vet intervention to treat the dog. We give occasional bone stuff, but take them away after they have a had reasonable chew. Edited May 25, 2010 by Black Bronson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 Wow, there are so many differences of opinions about bones, rawhide ... pigs ears ... Seems like the only safe bets are kongs and rope chew toys!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 Wow, there are so many differences of opinions about bones, rawhide ... pigs ears ... Seems like the only safe bets are kongs Nope. Internet friend in the USA lost a dog after it got it's tongue caught inside a kong and suffocated and rope chew toys!!! Nope. I have read on an email list about some who lost a dog with a blockage caused by chewed off pieces of rope. Safe bet - nothing is a safe bet with dogs except they'll do something bizarre and unexpected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 All you needed to know about feeding raw http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koalathebear Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 Safe bet - nothing is a safe bet with dogs except they'll do something bizarre and unexpected Aiieeeeaaaa!!!! You have scared me to death Seems like EVERYTHING you give a dog needs to be given under supervision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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