What Bones are OK to Feed My Dog?

This post originally appeared in SALT Magazine, January 2018

What Bones are OK to Feed My Dog?
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There are many health benefits to giving your dog a bone. They include:

• Building muscle in the neck and spine
• Providing mental stimulation
• Naturally cleaning teeth
• Freshens breath
• Keeping them entertained
• Healthy source of calcium and other nutrition

However, there are a lot of things that can go wrong with feeding bones. Feed the wrong kind, the wrong size, or a cooked bone and you could end up with broken teeth, blockages that require expensive surgeries, constipation or diarrhea, or an internal puncture. Here is what to know:

1. NEVER feed a cooked bone, rawhide, or bones with nylon. Cooked bones can splinter and cause puncture wounds internally, rawhide is full of nasty chemicals, and nylon is not a food!
2. Soft bones, like uncooked turkey necks, chicken backs, or chicken necks are safe to feed whole, as long as you are monitoring your dog or cut it up into small pieces to make sure they don’t choke. The cartilage is soft and easily digestible, so it is a great way to get some good nutrition into your pet.
3. Hard bones, or weight-bearing bones, are for recreational use only and should be monitored, especially for large, aggressive chewers. Uncooked hard bones are usually hard enough your dog will enjoy the marrow or cartilage without being able to break pieces off of the bone, but if they do it is usually ok, just watch for signs of distress through the night.

A relaxing afternoon in their favorite sun spot, chewing a bone, can keep a dog entertained, happy, and healthy with the right bone. So give your dog a bone!

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