A Guide To Feeding Bones To Dogs

Updated July 17, 2023

For feeding bones to CATS click here.

Whether you feed your dog bones is without a doubt the most controversial and highly debated topic in dog ownership.

Passions are high. In our guide to where to buy bones last week I mentioned how most vets in the UK (and many in the USA) strongly oppose you giving your dog a bone to chew. At all.
The internet is full of horror stories about bones splintering or getting stuck and many of these stories are true.

If these things happen, why do it at all?

Why Give Bones To Dogs?

There are real dangers, and it’s up to each owner to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks.

At Walkerville Vet we believe that raw bones fed sensibly are an important part of the diet for most dogs. What are the benefits of feeding bones?

Enjoyment

dog with bone

We can talk all we like about nutritional and dental care, but let’s be honest: we’re dog lovers. It’s the hopeful stares, the expectant face, the dance of delight, the total absorption in the task that motivate us more than anything else. Even the furtive burials and possessive growls only remind us how much the bone is a treasure beyond all reckoning.

There’s nothing more likely to keep a dog amused and self-reliant than having a bone to focus on. The satisfaction we get from watching our dogs’ enjoyment is reward enough.

Dental Care

Chewing raw bovine bones is an effective method of removing dental calculus in dogs (Marx et al, 2016). Dogs that chew bones also have cleaner teeth (read that research here).

Certainly, I observe that a dog who gets to spend at least one hour a day chewing on a raw bone will almost always have excellent dental hygiene. So far there is no proven causative link but it’s good circumstantial evidence.

Of course, it’s not for everyone, so please also visit our guide to the other ways to keep a dog’s teeth clean.

Nutrition

It’s probably not that important for nutritional reasons to feed your dog bones if you use a balanced commercial dog food. However, advice on feeding a balanced home made or raw diet almost always includes a source of calcium. Raw meaty bones are one of the best sources of natural calcium.
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Is It Safe To Feed Bones To Dogs?

dog eating marrowbone

Bone feeding is not always safe, that much is clear, and therefore it’s not for everyone or every dog. Please visit this page on the safety of raw bone feeding if you want to read more.

The decision to feed bones is an individual one. You will need to accept an amount of risk that suits your comfort level. There are ways of reducing the risk, as I will explain below.

How To Give Dogs Bones

Here’s how I recommend dog owners start feeding bones:

Ask The Vet

Before starting, ask your vet if there are any special reasons why your dog shouldn’t have bones. Examples include:

Bone Selection

preserved dog bone
Splintering from a packaged alternative- not recommended

Buy bones prepared for your dog: don’t feed leftovers. Critically, the bone must be raw, completely defrosted and unprocessed in any way. Cooking, curing or smoking a bone is like firing clay into pottery; it makes it brittle and prone to breaking into sharp fragments. Bones leftover from our meals are the worst of all; not only are they cooked, but then cut into small sharp pieces. Many dogs still die from the ‘chop bone’.

Even when raw, I fear that a dog with a small bone fragment will sometimes get lazy and attempt to swallow it. Therefore, I don’t recommend bones below a certain size.

A simple rule of thumb is that the bone your dog chews should be at least as long as their head from nose to crown (if your dog has a flat face make it twice as long). There should be no smaller pieces attached to it; if there are, remove and dispose of them.

On the other hand, don’t make the bone too big. If they can’t get the bone all the way to their back teeth, then these will miss out and deteriorate quickly. For example, the beef marrowbone you see pictured with my Border Terrier is too large for my Jack Russell.

What sort of bones are best for dogs? As you know, I never recommend chicken bones. They are too soft and only need to be chewed a few times before the gristly mess becomes a choking hazard.

Beef, lamb or kangaroo dog bones are all easily available at these places. I personally never recommend offering dogs rib bones as I notice these break more easily into ragged fragments (and I’ve taken a few out, too).

Every dog is different and you need to know which bones (if any) your dog chews safely. My dogs do well on either beef shinbones (marrowbones), lamb shanks or brisket bones.

I was told by an internal specialist that the only bones he doesn’t really recommend are the marrow bones because the way the bones are cut for the access to the marrow compromises the integrity and strength of the bone making it more prone to splintering – he advised this was the bone that he often ended up having to operate for the most to remove from intestines of dogs.
I’m not keen on chicken necks because I have seen dogs swallow them whole (including one of my own 3kg Chihuahuas).

Gillian Shippen
bone in dog mouth

Common sense is a rare and wonderful thing. Before feeding a certain cut of bone, try to think of the consequences. The less cutting the better. Osso buco – style bones with a complete ring often get stuck like this unlucky dog. Not hard for the vet to get off, but very distressing for the dog.

Many supermarkets and some butchers sell assorted bones in bags or trays. If you buy these it’s almost certain you’ll need to sort through them and throw the unsuitable ones away.

If your dog experiences gastrointestinal upsets from the marrow in bones try a bone such as brisket with less marrow, or try a different species of origin.

Start Young

dog chewing marrowbone

My gut feeling is that if you start early, your puppy will be more likely to eat bones properly. There is an instinctive method to eating bones; have a look at how Franklin has settled down to methodically work at the bone and you can see he’s not treating it like food. You need your puppy to think the same way.

Usually it helps to have just fed them so they aren’t hungry first. You should see or hear a rhythmic grinding as the dog gnaws at the edges, and the bone should slowly shrink. You should never hear cracking noises.

Dogs that break bones are either getting the wrong bones (see earlier) or are just too enthusiastic to be given bones safely.

Whenever I give a puppy a bone for the first time I deliberately give them an impossible task; a bone just too big to be broken up and swallowed. That way they have to work out another safer strategy.

My Loki came to me from the breeder at 8 weeks already with a supply of bones. Too young? Loki didn’t think so, but it depends on the dog and your ability to supervise.

Supervise

Never leave a puppy alone with a bone. In fact, never leave any dog alone with a bone at all.

A good idea is to keep the bone in a plastic container in the refrigerator and only give it to your dog when you are watching them. That way, you can remove it if it gets too small or if you hear it being broken. If your dog does get it stuck, most of the time you can pull it out with your fingers (you may get bitten, though), or get to a vet straight away.

I will admit that I trust my adult dogs these days to be left alone with their bones. That’s a risk I’m happy to take for the compensation of knowing they’ve got something to do while I’m gone. I could instead only use treat dispensers while I’m away and save the bones for when I can be around. However, I feel I know my dogs well enough to do this. It’s a personal choice.

Know Your Dog

dog licking bone

Not all dogs can or should have bones. I know plenty of dogs who will always try to break and swallow bones in dangerous pieces. They are just too enthusiastic, or fail to treat bones as a food requiring patience. Sadly, there’s no safe way these dogs can have bones in their lives.

Some dogs are very good with certain bones, and not with others. For example, here’s what Gillian finds:

Interestingly I have to be careful what bone types to give my Rotties….if they have the huge thick types they vomit them up, so the smaller off cuts work best for them….every animal has their own needs.

Gillian Shippen

That’s exactly what I find as well. Some dogs are so careful they can safely chew bones far smaller and more fragile than we would normally dare to give, others only get in trouble with certain types of bones, and others just can’t be given any at all.

Establish A Routine

The best way to make anything ‘normal’ for a dog is to make it part of a predictable routine. That way, the dog can look forward to it, and they will help by reminding you when the right hour or day arrives. Offering bones as a routine allows your dog to get the benefits of bones on a regular enough basis to make a difference.

When To Throw Them Away

Fresh food spoils, and if meat is left on a bone, it should be thrown in the bin after 24 hours out of the refrigerator. Otherwise your dog will get sick.
However, most dogs remove the meat and fat straight away. We find that the remaining hard shell almost never causes gastrointestinal upsets. As you know most dogs will occasionally bury a bone and dig it up later with no serious consequences.

It’s still best to throw it away after 2-3 days once your dog has lost interest, or before the nub gets small enough to swallow.

Where To Feed Bones

It is possible to let dogs in the house with a bone. With patience you can train your dog to keep the bones on a designated plastic mat, or to keep to a part of the house with easy-clean floors. Just don’t turn your back or it will end up buried in the sofa!

How Often To Feed Bones

bone tooth wear
This is a healthy mouth: the black pigmented gums are normal, the teeth are clean and there is no gingivitis or gum recession.

From an as-yet unpublished paper, it seems that benefits in dental hygiene appear even if bones are offered only monthly. However, best results are seen weekly. The picture shows the teeth of my 13-year-old dog, Tinker who has chewed a bone most days. As you can see, his dental hygiene remains good but the tips of the carnassial teeth are worn flat. See the comments below for more information.

Remember, you don’t have to feed bones to your dogs. Read our other ways to keep dogs from being bored and other ways to keep dogs teeth clean. However, also bear in mind that dogs who chew bones unsafely may also swallow dangerous chunks of any chew treats.

Marx, F. R., Machado, G. S., Pezzali, J. G., Marcolla, C. S., Kessler, A. M., Ahlstrøm, Ø., & Trevizan, L. (2016). Raw beef bones as chewing items to reduce dental calculus in Beagle dogs. Australian veterinary journal, 94(1-2), 18-23.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

8 Replies to “A Guide To Feeding Bones To Dogs”

  1. I have two westies they love bones i give them mostly brisket bones ,My butcher has been saving pork brisket for them does not seem to have as much fat could you advise if pork is ok i have been told pork has too much fat regards linda

    1. Hi Linda. My personal observation is that pork bones seem to be associated with a higher rate of gastrointestinal upsets. Therefore I don’t recommend them, but if you are finding them to suit your dog I can’t argue! Just also be careful with Westies as they seem more likely to try to swallow bones in large chunks.

  2. My dog is 7 years old now, I rescued her when she was 4 from the pound her teeth are healthy but are warn.

    She used to get a beef bone on occasion. She is still a young dog so we now give her a raw chicken bone each day to help provent her teeth wearing down more but also to maintain healthy mouth.

  3. Great article, thank you. Do you think it’s possible to give too many bones? I have read that 1-2 bones per week is the maximum, but never have I seen an explanation as to why. I have a 7 month old whippet that would love for you to tell me it’s okay for her to have a bone every 1-2 days.

    1. It’s a good question Lucy. It is perfectly reasonable to feed bones every day. I saw an old dog this week who has been fed bone every day for life. The only noticeable effect is that the tips of the teeth have worn down, with the pulp cavities still intact. This is typically what I see. Constipation can also be an effect of high bone diets but most dogs’ bowels adjust to any stable diet. We observe that the dental benefits of bones plateau at once per week but of course the behavioural benefits keep increasing.

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