Best Bones For Keeping Teeth Healthy?

[blakkjackal]

I do not feed any weight bearing bones & that now includes roo tail since my Belgian girl sustained a slab fracture chomping on a piece of tail bone.

I don't either. I'm actually quite horrified about the whole marrow bone hype. Beef leg bones are super dense and total tooth wreckers..

I do not feed any bones or meat frozen - to me it is as unnatural as feeding cooked food.

I don't see how feeding frozen is unnatural as wolves commonly reside in arctic areas. :p

[kelpiecuddles]

I can't imagine eating my dinner frozen and I highly suspect my dogs would look sideways at me and walk away if I tried to get them to eat it that way LOL. What is the value of freezing it? I would have thought that you want the bones to break up in to uneven but not jagged pieces as the dog chews them, surely freezing would make them more brittle and prone to breaking in to sharp bits that are more likely to cause damage?

[blakkjackal]

Freezing slows them down. More work involved in eating. As far as I know it doesn't affect bones in any way. I mean, otherwise you should stop storing your meat in the freezer as the bone wouldn't magically be restored to its original condition after being thawed.

It's also a convenience thing. I always forget to take food out to thaw.

[kelpiecuddles]

When it thaws it would go back to being pliable but while still frozen it would be brittle, same reason tupperware containers will shatter when you drop them straight from the freezer but bounce when warm.

[trifecta]

I do not feed any bones or meat frozen - to me it is as unnatural as feeding cooked food.

I don't see how feeding frozen is unnatural as wolves commonly reside in arctic areas. :p

So do the wolves catch their food & put it in cold storage until later?

Have any of your dogs ever sustained freezer burns to the tongue or lips?

[mixeduppup]

I feed dogs cubed meat in frozen beef stock in summer but always thaw bones to refrigeration temp before feeding as i worry about them snapping or not being flexible enough.

[blakkjackal]

I do not feed any bones or meat frozen - to me it is as unnatural as feeding cooked food.

I don't see how feeding frozen is unnatural as wolves commonly reside in arctic areas. :p

So do the wolves catch their food & put it in cold storage until later?

Have any of your dogs ever sustained freezer burns to the tongue or lips?

Nope to the freezer burn.

Wolves will hide food for later and in winter time this means burying it in snow. They will also eat off a carcass if they come across one, frozen or not. My old dog would bury his "leftovers" in snow too and heck yes they freeze when the temperature is closer to -30 degrees.

I don't feed bare bones so once the dog gets to the actual bone it has already defrosted a fair bit.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Hockz

[trifecta]

I do not feed any bones or meat frozen - to me it is as unnatural as feeding cooked food.

I don't see how feeding frozen is unnatural as wolves commonly reside in arctic areas. :p

So do the wolves catch their food & put it in cold storage until later?

Have any of your dogs ever sustained freezer burns to the tongue or lips?

Nope to the freezer burn.

Wolves will hide food for later and in winter time this means burying it in snow. They will also eat off a carcass if they come across one, frozen or not. My old dog would bury his "leftovers" in snow too and heck yes they freeze when the temperature is closer to -30 degrees.

I don't feed bare bones so once the dog gets to the actual bone it has already defrosted a fair bit.

Yes I appreciate that wolves like all canids are opportunists, scavengers & eat carrion which would be frozen in winter, but this is out of necessity not necessarily choice They also do not enjoy the longevity of our pets.

[blakkjackal]

Either way I will continue to feed frozen as I haven had no negative effects whatsoever -- in fact it saves me time, worry and to what I have noticed it only benefits my dog. He will be occupied for much longer, his teeth will get a good scrub down and in summer time it keeps him cool.

Mind you I do not feed bare bones and the whole term "bone" is a bit misleading when I'm talking about my dog's meals. They are always more meat than bone.

edit: I'm not saying you should all feed frozen. Know your dog. It works for me and this particular animal, but it might not work for you. I however disagree with the "unnatural" argument.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Hockz

[suziwong66]

i only feed with non-weight bearing bones. When he was a pup, Wilbur (chocky lab) ate chicken wings, necks, and carcasses. Now that he's older he eats lamb and turkey necks mostly. Am about to introduce a large fish head. We defrost our bones; they're large so he doesn't gulp them down. I don't feed turkey wings because the large arm bone pieces make him vomit - they tend to shard for some reason.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I feed frozen bones because when buying in bulk, they store longer frozen and its easier to just give them to the dogs straight from the freezer. I find the turkey and chicken wings still retain a bit of spring when frozen so they're not entirely solid.

I've also yet to find a cut of bone that slows Zeus down when it comes to eating them. Regardless of size, he powers through them and is done in no time. Feeding them frozen means he has to work just a little bit more.

[korbin13]

I feed frozen in summer, it's like a nice meaty iceblock!

And as for the pig's head, knowing my luck I would serve that up and they would take one look at it and walk away. Then what the heck do I do with a pig's head They did that with whole sardines.

Edited July 28, 2013 by korbin13

[DogNerd]

Turkey necks, chicken frames and brisket bones. All do a good job of keeping his teeth in check. I'm sure he'd LOVE a pig head but I could not bring myself to do that, haha.

[Steph M]

I've heard fab things about sheeps heads too, but my stomach just lurches at the idea of doing 'clean up' after. One person I know boasts all that are left are the teeth, but erk. I couldn't do it and I have a pretty strong stomach.

I give gus everything really. Whatever bones or meat that's marked down/on special at the shops is a goer, he does get marrow bones but he really only scrapes the meat off then cleans the inside out. They go in the bin once he's done that.

He loves a chicken wing, raw or frozen. Though he did bring up a whole bone last night on the carpet so I think we might move to turkey seeing as he has to chew those. Necks are the same, just go down the hatch, no chewing there.

Lamb flaps and shanks are good too, found a place that does lamb shanks for $5 p kg! We all have them now!

Would love to get my hands on rabbit, masterchef has made it a bit trendy and driven the price up, curse you! Anyone who knows where to get decently priced rabbit in melbourne please do yell out!

Haven't tried the frames yet as the freezer is due for a clean out, there's hardly any room for our food, would like to get boiling chickens quartered too.

[mita]

I'm hoping people with smaller dogs might post their experiences.

I've had some problems with my tibbies. Chicken wings & chicken necks are what I'd like to keep giving them. But there's been some scary moments with bits getting stuck.

One girl got a piece stuck in her gullet. So a trip to the emergency vet hospital. Where they scared me with how even those raw bones can pierce the surface & be fatal.

They were going to operate to get the bit out, but put her under sedation first to do scan. By chance, the relaxation from that, was enough for the bit to go down naturally.

I've been trying to figure a balance between giving them chicken wings/necks to help their teeth.... but knowing there's a chance of a bit getting stuck. Just not sure how high that risk is.... or is it pretty rare.

Edited July 29, 2013 by mita

[Dame Aussie]

I think it's like anything, theres always a small risk the dog could choke or something but I think the benefits outweigh that small risk for me.

[mita]

I'd say you're right, Aussie.

I think the emergency vet hospital bill for well over a $1000 shocked me.

[blakkjackal]

I think it's like anything, theres always a small risk the dog could choke or something but I think the benefits outweigh that small risk for me.

...But you can dramatically reduce the risk by only feeding appropriately sized bones. Chicken wings and chicken necks are a choking hazard. Try a chicken quarter or a turkey neck instead. :) Even small dogs can handle these, they've got the same set of teeth as their larger counterparts!

[Marion 01]

Mine get meaty beef neck bones cut in half or thirds, they can get all the meat they want as well as plenty of chewing and no fear of choking. Had an instance when one of my Tibetan Terrier boys got to the end of a nice brisket bone and thought he could swallow what was left, he had to work to get it down and his eyes were rolling back in his head, and me panicking as we are 40 mins away from our vet, so no brisket bones ever again. With oldies the bones can play up with their gut too, so playing it safe with the neck bones and Dentastix.

[trifecta]

Either way I will continue to feed frozen as I haven had no negative effects whatsoever -- in fact it saves me time, worry and to what I have noticed it only benefits my dog. He will be occupied for much longer, his teeth will get a good scrub down and in summer time it keeps him cool.

Mind you I do not feed bare bones and the whole term "bone" is a bit misleading when I'm talking about my dog's meals. They are always more meat than bone.

edit: I'm not saying you should all feed frozen. Know your dog. It works for me and this particular animal, but it might not work for you. I however disagree with the "unnatural" argument.

Fair enough, each to his own :) I think my aversion to frozen things stems from my personal preference for foods at room temperature! OH thinks I am strange - I am not a fan of ice cream & won't eat fruit straight from the fridge. Mind you, there are a few things I enjoy cold..... beer & white wine, of course :D

Mita, Hockz is right about the size of meaty bones & the ratio of meat to bone, maybe try a chicken thigh or casserole chicken pieces instead of necks or wings so that the Tibbies are forced to chew & not just swallow!

Also thanks for reminding me about brisket bones! They are great for putting weight on a dog, & I could probably reintroduce them now the beef intolerant dog has gone over the bridge.

Can't remember who asked about sourcing rabbit, but I buy it locally from a couple of rural produce stores where I buy horse feed, these types of places would be cheaper for wild rabbit. Or else make friends with a ferret keeper :laugh:

Edited July 29, 2013 by trifecta