[wideturn]

I was looking for a special treat for my 8 month old pup, Pax, and my friend wanted to get him a giant, meaty bone. I was worried that it wouldn't be appropriate for a puppy, so I opted for some jerky chews instead. Do you feed your dogs/puppies bones? If so, what kind? And if not, why not?

 

[Jeru]

Around seven months I started feeding Chester raw bones from the butcher, but I've heard that as young as 6 months is fine. Cooked bones are dangerous because they can be splintered and cause injury. Raw is great for their oral heath and is in general quite healthy. It is a good idea to supervise the pup with the bone. Remove it if your pup tries to bite and swallow big pieces off. They are consumable but the pup should not be trying to swallow pieces that have not been chewed enough. That is common of dogs who get quite excited about the bone.

Another great chew is nylabones. Again great for teeth, but is NOT consumable. With nylabones it is important to pick out the proper bone for your dogs chew style.

Hope this helped a bit!

 

[Shandula]

Both my guys are fed raw, and Heidi (4.5 months) easily crunches through chicken backs, wings, etc, so if you're worried about getting through it, no problems there. My guys also get antlers (not split, whole) and they'll like them quite a bit.

I DO NOT feed any heavy weight-bearing bones (basically any bones from cows/bison etc. except maybe ribs) because they are way too hard, they'll break teeth!

 

[Maiabean]

I feed my 5 month old pup raw bones (not sure which kind, I get them from my trainer). My vet said he personally doesn't like feeding his dogs bones, but is good about allowing me to make my own decisions. My trainer is totally for giving bones. I also give her antlers (split) and bully sticks as a treat. She only gets these when she is being supervised.
For a lower calorie treat, I give my pup frozen carrots, but the pieces will show up in her stool.

 

[Cordane]

I feed my two girls raw and from about 12 weeks, Pip (my JRT) was easily chewing her way through a various frames (duck, rabbit, possum etc).
As Shandula said, the general rule of thumb is to never give a dog weight bearing bones and definitely no cooked bones. Yes, your dog can chew on a large raw bone like that but they probably won't get anywhere and only damage their teeth in the process.
With that said, I will admit I do give my girls the center section of a leg bone HOWEVER neither of them are the "I'm going to keep biting and chewing til I can swallow it" type. They pull any meat left over off it and then lick the marrow out (much like they would with a kong) and then I take it off them and it gets binned.

 

[naturalfeddogs]

As long as they are raw, and non weight bearing from animals like cows, or knuckles they should be fine. Turkey necks, and chicken backs are good ones.

 

[Shandula]

Agree with @Cordane - my guys sometimes get soup bones for the marrow/meat bits on the outside. I monitor, and as soon as they're done and start chewing, they go in the garbage.