Please see :

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/bones.html

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Ok Wim, I will take the bait, so to speak. I never feed cooked bones, nor do I fed any type of small, round bones that can be swallowed whole. I feed some bones to my dog maybe 3 times a week. And those bones are coated and fed along with a lot of meaty meat. Say I feed my dog a whole chicken leg quarter. I take the meat off the leg bone and throw that away. The only bone she gets is the thigh bone which is soft and digests very easily in about 24 to 48 hours and then expelled.
I also feed pork ribs to my dog, which are also soft.

I never feed any hard bones that can crack her teeth such as the femur or soup bones that they sell for pets....usually there is little to no meat on them anyway so why feed them?
There is a yahoo list that has well over 7000 members now who feed raw MEATY bones like I list above to their dogs with no problems noted.
The key is not to feed hard bones, nor to feed any kind of bone without a generous serving of meat along with it.
I also know of some people who have fed this diet for over 20 years with no problems.

One more thing, never feed bones small enough that the dog can just swallow them whole. Like if you have a large dog, chicken wings are not a good option for them as they can swallow those whole.

If you are concerned about bones, you can grind the bones so the dog gets the calcium and glucosamine. Natural calcium and glucosamine and the chondroital tissue surrounding those bones are easy to digest and assimilate.

I think the author of the above article is a little extreme in her/his views and lies on the opposite spectrum of the debate. Somewhere in the middle is the common ground.

Also is always wise to stay and supervise your dog while it eats. I never just throw food at my dog. I always stay close by and watch as she eats. She is a very good chewer of her food. And after feeding her a raw diet for over a yr, plus feeding a raw diet to my previous dog, I have only had one instance where the dogs has an issue and that passed in a day or so. That time I blamed myself for feeding a bone that was too hard in the beginning but after watching her stools, I deemed to myself that it was actually a case of feeding too much bone as the bones were digested and did come out in their usual manner. Never have I seen any fragments or pieces of bones in my dog's stools. Only the dried remenent powdery bone that has gone thru the digestive process and the waste eliminated.

If you do it like this......it wouldn`t easily present any problems.....but unfortunately many people don`t and often take things too easily......I sometimes see and hear the strangest things .......esp. when full case taking....e.g. people giving a remedy in a little coffee because Pluto is fond of it (!) .....once even a little beer with Aconite on a saucer for a dog.....and beer shouldn`t be drunk with Aconite....remedies in the chicken soup etc. etc....I could write a book about that....look for example at the mistakes in the goat posts ! People often think hom. remedies are innocent as sweets.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

That is exactly why I refer people to the Raw Feeding groups before they start on a raw diet. Those people are there and have started those groups to teach others what and how to feed a raw diet properly. I have those links saved to my computer for posting for people who sincerely want to better the health of their animals. For those people who are fed up with dogs with allergy issues, sick and lame animals from improper diets, ect ect ect.....

As with most anything there is a right way to do something. Do the research, ask questions, read, read, read.....before you jump into it.
If done correctly there is really no danger or very little. Actually less danger than feeding **** in a bag or can to your pet. Most commercial pet foods do more damage than good for the pets. Regardless of the claims of the pet food companies, dogs and cats need meat.....and there is very little of that in those commercial foods.

OH, and the Yahoo groups posted also tend to use homeopathy more so than allopathic because most homeopathic practioners know the value of a species appropriate diet whereas the allopaths need to push their in house pet foods that they sell.
Did you know that in vet colleges that the pet food companies do most of the nutritional teaching? That they contribute large sums of money to vet colleges to promote their products? That salesmen go to these vets pushing their products once a month?

You see, your local butcher is not going to do that, now is he? You can get most of the raw diet directly from your grocery store, in the meat section instead of the pet food section. That is where I shop for most of our meats for this familiy altho, a neighbor brought us 5 or 6 wild rabbits this past weekend! Already butchered and skinned, cut up, ect.
Luka is in 7th heaven and so is Lil Bear.

It`s good to have experienced members such as you who are willing to discuss certain issues etc. here. I usually refrain from joining long discussions/posts about diets, dog training etc. since it takes too much time for me to explain it all and frankly speaking, I prefer to mainly stick to homeopathic treatments/prescribing. Also often questions are asked answers to which can easily be found on the internet.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

That is why I provide the links! I also am very busy with a husband, cat and a handicapped due to vaccinosis dog who is currently being treated by a wonderful homeopath...grin.
So links to more learning are always a good thing. I would take days to explain and type out all the answers. Better to just post the link to the info and let them learn by themselves.

Yes Julie... I fully see what you mean and what you do is much appreciated ! It`s always the totality of efforts made by different members that make a good forum with a friendly and congenial atmosphere.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

It is true that there is an important learning curve on how to safely feed raw, let alone uncooked bones (if they will accept them), but that is part of our obligation to our furkids.

Yes, you`re right......my post was actually intended as a general warning....to be very careful and be better safe than sorry.....I`ve seen too many nasty X-rays....W.

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Yes, Wim there are cases where dogs can get impacted with cooked bones. My grandparents used to feed their collie cooked bones. He loved them naturally. Well when he had to go to the local vet school at the university, they stopped feeding them to him. But, it was because they would eat a rack of spare ribs and Laddie got all the bones and no meat to go with them.
Luka loves spare ribs but I always limit the amount to two bones and make sure she gets full of meat also. And they are raw...not cooked. Cooked bones are much easier to get impacted plus they will splinter. NOT good.

A good reference is a ratio of 85% meat, 5% bone and 10% organs over the course of a week or so. That is a pretty good guideline to follow. And always make sure they are the soft edible non weight bearing bones. Most leg, hip, shoulder and also most neck bones are too hard. I like to feed soft rib bones or the thigh bones of poultry. I do not feed chicken necks, wings or turkey necks. Too much bone and not enough meat on them unless you feed a lot of other meat with them. I also do not feed poultry carcasses like some do. Once you take the meat off, all there is left is the bones, still not enough meat.

It is all common sense. If you look at a piece of meat with bone, how much meat and how much bone is there?

Julie