Dog Bones

[Nina Vantschip]

What are the safest kinds of dog bones to give my large doodles. I sometimes buy these cured bones or knuckles from our local pet store, but always worry that they shouldn't be chewing them as they seem to eat them as well. Any suggestions?

[Adina P]

I use sterilized real bones. Sometimes they come with a filling that's equivalent to doggy junk food, but you can buy them hollow too:

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can also have the butcher cut marrow bones for you & sterilize them yourself in the microwave; then your doodle gets all the benefits of the yummy marrow, too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In addition to the marrow bones Adina posted, Jackdoodle loves Old West Beef Shank bones:

[F, Calla & Luca]

The Food Group has some good ideas about this subject.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you!
Yes, please join The Food Group! We do have lots of info on this and every other food related question!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

I don't give my dogs any bones, other than a nylabone, they get other kinds of dog treats that I think are safer and better for them. Seen a few dogs with bones stuck in their K9's and owners having a difficult time removing them from their dogs mouths, and luckly they were home when it happened. Stuffing Kong's gives a dog something to work for every day, and you can use a snack that is healthy for them.

[Kyoko]

I'm afraid to use Nylabone. I hear so much about it... :-(
Charlie likes Elk antelers. It does not break off or sprint, nor smell. Also long lasting.

[Adina P]

We have several Nylabones...it probably depends on the dog and how they chew things up. Ours have lasted forever.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

You need to watch which Nylabones you get. The softer ones (clear) are easily chewed up but the others are for tough chewers. My dogs have nylabones that last forever and look pretty nasty, but they enjoy chewing on them.
They also like the hollow bones - sometimes I put peanut butter in them but mostly I don't.

[Bev and WILLY]

Willy loves ELK ANTLERS. They last a long time, he has two that he's been chewing on for over a month. Also the Sterilized bones have great staying power. He loves Bully Sticks too, but they don't last as long.

[Leslie J]

While this topic is here- is it okay to give dogs leftover bones? When I was a kid we used to give our dog beef bones (cooked, left over from dinner) all the time. We had ribs a few nights ago and my husband was about to give Cocoa one of the bones (about 7" long, 3/4" in diameter) and I stopped him. I gather that bones are not a good idea... wondering why? Thanks!

[Adina P]

Typically the main issue is that the bones can splinter after being cooked. Unless they are SOOOO soft (maybe after overnight in a slow cooker??) that they kinda melt in the dog's mouth, cooked bones can be a physical hazard to their GI tract.