Raw bones have become a staple in our house for dental health and mental enrichment.
Meaty bones are a great option for cleaning those chompers and when theres a littel meat on them, it acts as floss to clean in between those tiny crevices. Whether inside on a towel or dog bed or outside during beautiful weather, our four dogs enjoy them all year long and various ones. There are a few key factors to ensure your pups can safely enjoy them and here is a quick guide on how to get started.
Always monitor your dogs while chewing and source bones, necks and feet from pasture-raised animals to ensure higher quality and benefits.
Bone/Chew Types
Marrow Bones
These are a center bone that usually has a circular center filled with bone marrow. They are what you would consider your traditional soup bone. They are very calorie dense - a 4" bone can easily have 300-400 calories which I keep in mind when feeding dinner. Sometimes we just skip the dinner meal when they enjoy a bone. You can feed these as little as once a month or up to 2-3 times a week.
Size matters with these to avoid choking, swallowing them whole or getting stuck. Anything that fits behind your dogs canines could potentially be swallowed.
I find a good guideline is a 2" bone pet 10 lbs of body weight. My dog Hurley is 25lbs and does well with a 3-4" bone. A 60lb dog would do better with a 6" bone.
Beef Knuckle Bones
I love these for large dogs that are tough chewers. The knuckle bone is a bit softer than the weight baring marrow bone and has a lot of collagen to offer. These are great to offer outside and when your dog is used to chewing on bones.
Recommended for larger dogs over 75lbs.
Chicken Necks/Feet
These are great for smaller dogs or as introductory raw chews. They are smaller and extremely rich in cartilage and softer bone that is easily digested and chewed up.
These are a great option for dogs under 40 lbs.
Turkey Necks/Feet
Similar to chicken necks and feet, these are a great introductory option for large dogs. They tend to be bigger and thicker so a dog over 50lbs would do really well with these. You can even chop the turkey neck into smaller pieces in the beginning to introduce them but a large dog can easily chew up and digest a turkey neck.
Great for dogs over 50 lbs.
Duck Necks/Feet
This is a great in between size. Really any size dog can enjoy these. For smaller dogs you can chop the neck into smaller pieces but feed them whole to larger dogs. The feet are a great collagen rich option for any dog.
Bones to avoid/Handle with caution:
Neck bones and ribs are more easily broken and crushed compared to a soup bones. While my dogs have chewed these to small pieces and been fine, they do tend to be sharper and these bones are more dense than a poultry bone so I recommend avoiding these entirely.
How to introduce bones safely:
I recommend thawing all necks or feet before feeding. Marrow and knuckle bones we feed straight from the freezer for longer enrichment periods.
Start with 15 minute intervals. Offer the bone for 15 minutes, take it away and refreeze it. As long as your dog had a safe experience and has solid stool, offer the bone again two days later for another 15-20 minutes.
Remove the bone and refreeze it once more. Two days later, offer the bone and let them enjoy it until they are done.
Discard any bones before 24 hours as they start to dry and could splinter. Do not let your dog crush a weight baring bone like a marrow bone - this can be damaging for their teeth. If they start chewing on the bone and breaking it, discard it immediately.
Our dogs love bone time so much that they know what time it is when the towel stack gets brought out. They also know to stay on their towels while chewing - this creates mess free chewing fun inside during colder months or bad weather. Give it a try. I just know your pup will enjoy it too!