# Soup bones



## fracturedcircle (Aug 19, 2010)

I'd like to hear about soup bones too.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

No, no, no! Soup bones are dangerous and will chip teeth. Do not feed these! Feed a raw meaty bone if you want your dog to get a good teeth cleaning.


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

I have always been a big proponent of bones. I get cow femurs....sometimes whole (even for the little dogs) and other times if the butcher isnt busy, he'll saw them into 4 pieces. Then I get bone scraps from the butcher shop, too.

I have done this for years without a single problem. Even my 21 year old dog had the whitest teeth, they all have nice teeth.

But I gave all the dogs (8) bones for their appropriate sizes and then I sat down to watch the Super Bowl. I know this was my fault. Jetta, my black standard, is kinda like a bone thief. She will steal from others and then go to a corner and hog them at her leisure. 

Well today is Tuesday. The game was Sunday. Today she wouldnt move off the bed in the morning and I went to go see why and there was blood all around her head on the sheets.....like she layed in one place and kept puking saliva and blood. No chunks of anything.

Rushed to the vet and x rays showed 3 sharp fragments. Small enought that they ought to pass with this medication, plus antibiotics since there is blood inside and obviously a tear or scraping. plus Fortiflora probiotics. 

It just shows me that vigorous bone chewers cannt be left alone....Never give a bone and then leave for work (or watch TV for 4 hours)

I will still give bones....the benfits outweigh the risks.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

P2P, weight bearing bones really are dangerous. Why don't you feed a RMB like a turkey neck or chicken back/quarter instead? It is much safer and you will get even better dental benefits. 

Recreational bones, aka "wreck" bones, or soup bones and other weight bearing bones from large herbivores are a very poor option for dental health.


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## robin (Dec 18, 2010)

CM, does that include beef knuckle bones? They would be like the kneecap, I suppose. I used to give them to Boon and wonder if I should not do that in the future with my next dog.


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## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

I never knew that about weight bearing bones.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Definitely, Robin. I would never feed a beef knuckle bone. Any weight bearing bone from a large mammal is really too hard and can crack teeth.


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## Mini-Mum (Oct 14, 2010)

*I learned the hard way *

My old mini had to have 2 teeth pulled when she sheared off part of her molar on a knuckle bone (vet later found vertical fractures in 2 molars). 
That was it for offering any kind of weight bearing bones - the only beef bones they get now, are ribs.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I can occasionally get lamb spines from a local supermarket - they have just enough meat in enough fiddly corners to keep my little ones occupied for hours. I have given them raw bones from lamb shoulder joints, but remove them as soon as the meat is gone (and dig the marrow out with a spoon handle as a special treat!). I tend to stick to lamb ribs, pork ribs, and chicken wings for boney meals - I feel a bit iffy even about drumsticks, having seen how long they take to soften in cooking. Mine are not power chewers, but better safe than sorry.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

I do not give soup bones.

I do feed knuckle bones on a rare, rare occasion to Olie and the poms (mainly because my BF continues to pick them up). But I only get them when I see a good bit of meat on them and NEVER give them sharp pieces. They never chew them unsupervised. Suri I lean away from her having KB's because she is a power chomper and I am too afraid she will injure herself! 

The dogs that are not aggressive chewers can handle these BUT not without supervision. My 3 that chew them chew for 30 minutes and I throw the rest away.

Honestly, I rarely recommend these because most dogs are heavy chewers, I just happen to have 3 dogs that are pretty slow with their Raw and bones in general. Suri is typical of most dogs.


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## Ruth (Nov 18, 2010)

Thank you for your responses! I'm too chicken to give them soup or knuckle bones, especially my mini (I think the GSDs would handle them better, but still).

I'm sticking to the RMBs they get with their raw food for now.

By the way, my vet just complimented the teeth my 10 and a half years old Sirius in his check-up a few days ago! She said his teeth are in terrific shape for a dog his age.
Thank goodness for raw food and chicken bones, seriously.


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

So does the no weight bearing bone rule apply to just raw bones or does it apply also to the smoked bones that you can buy in petshops? I assume that the smoked bones are softer?

I saw mention of rib bones, I;ve never thought to give these at all as far as feeding raw went. Do you just buy a rack of ribs and then cut them apart and feed?


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

WonderPup said:


> I saw mention of rib bones, I;ve never thought to give these at all as far as feeding raw went. Do you just buy a rack of ribs and then cut them apart and feed?


That's what I do. Both lamb and pork are high in calories, though, so they are a once a week meal, rather than every day.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

fjm said:


> That's what I do. Both lamb and pork are high in calories, though, so they are a once a week meal, rather than every day.


Well, my dogs eat either boneless pork, beef or lamb for 1-2 meals daily. Beef, pork and lamb make up nearly 100% of their boneless meals, which is 80% of their diet.

The other meals are chicken or turkey RMBs. I occasionally will feed Millie pork ribs. I don't like feeding them to Henry as he has trouble digesting the harder bone. Millie doesn't have any issues though.

WonderPup - Do not separate pork or beef ribs for a standard poodle. This would be a choking hazard. Feed a small to medium size slab. Millie can't eat more than 3-4 of the ribs without getting digestive upset from too much bone, though. So if you feel comfortable giving a slab of 3-4 ribs, that is perfect. Otherwise, I'd give a larger slab and just take it away after the dog has had enough.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Ah - different for a standard, of course! Remember mine are toys, so one rib is a large meal for them!


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## WonderPup (Oct 26, 2008)

ChocolateMillie said:


> WonderPup - Do not separate pork or beef ribs for a standard poodle. This would be a choking hazard. Feed a small to medium size slab. Millie can't eat more than 3-4 of the ribs without getting digestive upset from too much bone, though. So if you feel comfortable giving a slab of 3-4 ribs, that is perfect. Otherwise, I'd give a larger slab and just take it away after the dog has had enough.


eww, that sounds like a mess. I guess it will take some adjustment to thinking about feed large dogs raw. The last time I did anything with raw food it was with small dogs. I had a tibbie who could inhale a chicken neck in like five seconds lol. It was something of a novelty when I was a trainer for petsmart. People would come and see him eat (he was my demo dog and often fed dinner at the store). 

I'm not interested in switching totally to raw but I think I was to start supplementing with it. We'll see....


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

WonderPup said:


> eww, that sounds like a mess. I guess it will take some adjustment to thinking about feed large dogs raw. The last time I did anything with raw food it was with small dogs. I had a tibbie who could inhale a chicken neck in like five seconds lol. It was something of a novelty when I was a trainer for petsmart. People would come and see him eat (he was my demo dog and often fed dinner at the store).
> 
> I'm not interested in switching totally to raw but I think I was to start supplementing with it. We'll see....


It's really not a mess. I have found that red meat tends to be pretty clean. It's not slimy and nasty like poultry. I just feed them on a towel or in the crate. Or outside  Supplementing with raw is a great idea especially for dental benefits!


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## grab (Jun 1, 2010)

I have given soup/marrow bones to my dogs, but they are very unaggressive chewers. They pretty much suck on the marrow and leave it be on the rare instance they get one. 
For the most part, though, the bones they get are things like ribs. They love lamb ribs particularly. Also handy as one pack of ribs will give recreational chews to all of my dogs, rather than my having to buy several packages. Ah, the hazards of having a herd of dogs


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I have to say that the lamb shoulder bones I got at the weekend have been very successful! They did two meals, two special treat sessions for very polite dogs when I dug out the marrow with the handle of a tea spoon, and several days of recreational chewing and posturing at the cats! Not bad for £0.47.


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