puppies & bones
- Thread starter elmwood
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As soon as they have teeth 
Seriously, many pups are weaned straight from their mother's milk onto raw meat and bones (if the breeder happens to believe in natural diets/rearing). And raw feeders will all put their pups on raw meat/bone diets from the day they bring them home at 8 weeks.
If you're feeding raw bones for consumption, then you need simply to choose something of appropriate size (eg. chicken necks). If it's recreational chewing you're talking about, then pretty much any raw meaty bone will do. Soup bones are fine. They may or may not come frozen.
Raw bones will usually last for several weeks. They won't go bad with all the meat chewed off (and marrow consumed, if it was a marrow bone), which usually happens in the first day (possibly two) after the dog is given it. That's perhaps the one thing you'd have to look out for with a baby puppy though if you give large bones - they might take quite a long time to chew all the meat off and it's possible it could start to go bad. If you store the bone in your freezer between chewing sessions though, you'd minimise that possibility (and if it happens, you just chuck the bone away and give a new one).
The only caution I'd make is on marrow bones. If you give those, then it's a good idea with a young puppy to scoop some of the marrow out. Dogs love marrow, and it's extremely nutritious too. But it's also very fatty, and too much of it can give young pups loose stool.
Seriously, many pups are weaned straight from their mother's milk onto raw meat and bones (if the breeder happens to believe in natural diets/rearing). And raw feeders will all put their pups on raw meat/bone diets from the day they bring them home at 8 weeks.If you're feeding raw bones for consumption, then you need simply to choose something of appropriate size (eg. chicken necks). If it's recreational chewing you're talking about, then pretty much any raw meaty bone will do. Soup bones are fine. They may or may not come frozen.
Raw bones will usually last for several weeks. They won't go bad with all the meat chewed off (and marrow consumed, if it was a marrow bone), which usually happens in the first day (possibly two) after the dog is given it. That's perhaps the one thing you'd have to look out for with a baby puppy though if you give large bones - they might take quite a long time to chew all the meat off and it's possible it could start to go bad. If you store the bone in your freezer between chewing sessions though, you'd minimise that possibility (and if it happens, you just chuck the bone away and give a new one).
The only caution I'd make is on marrow bones. If you give those, then it's a good idea with a young puppy to scoop some of the marrow out. Dogs love marrow, and it's extremely nutritious too. But it's also very fatty, and too much of it can give young pups loose stool.
Louise501
Boxer Insane
I gave Ruby her 1st bone today, everyone around me was horrified that her teeth would break gnawing on the bone, is that possible? It has some meat and fat attached which she loved, I took it away when she lost interest a while later and put it in the fridge, is that unnesercary? One of the cats went a little too near her while she was busy enjoying it and Ruby flew at her! I was surprised as it was the 1st time I have seen her like that and was a little worried about taking it away as she might have done that to me, should I be able to take it away without her growling at me?
Yes, you should be able to take it. If he's growling at you (which isn't that unusual with pups and their first bones) then you simply need to handle his food and bones while he's eating more frequently. Take it away, give him a treat, give it back - that sort of thing. Some hand-feeding doesn't go astray here either.
If him going for the cat is going to be a problem, then yes, put the bone away in the fridge between chewing sessions. You might think about giving it to him in his crate too, if you have one.
If him going for the cat is going to be a problem, then yes, put the bone away in the fridge between chewing sessions. You might think about giving it to him in his crate too, if you have one.
Jill's boxer
Banned
puppies & bones...
Just stopped by my local grocery and asked the very nice butcher if he had any bones for Gracie--sadly, not today, but he promises to start saving them for me! If Gracie is a good girl at her first training class tonight I've promised her a nice big bone tomorrow!
Just stopped by my local grocery and asked the very nice butcher if he had any bones for Gracie--sadly, not today, but he promises to start saving them for me! If Gracie is a good girl at her first training class tonight I've promised her a nice big bone tomorrow!
Bigstabile
Boxer Booster
So that's where you get the raw bones, the meat dept at the grocery store? I guess most of them know what you are talking about?Jill's boxer said:
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