I have been trying to find out the answer for this.
Some people said that bones are natural, contains protein and minerals which are good for the health of dog, and the chewing of bone can help to clean the dog’s teeth and more benefits.
However, we also worry that the bones may splinter and hurt the throat and digestion system of a dog.
In the wild, wolf and wild dogs used to eat raw meat with bones. We might thought that our dog should be feed with bones as well.
One thing we need to understand is that, the pet we keep at home is a domesticated dog. They don’t necessary to be feed like wild dogs.
Wild Dogs/Coyote:
They need the nutrition from the meat with bones because they live in the wild and do not have dog food.
They may have less risk of bones damage their intestinal tract because wild dogs/wolf will eat the whole animal including the fur, meat and other organs. The digestive tract wraps the bone fragments in hair thus providing some protection.
If you feel that you like to feed your dog with bones, maybe you need to study more about a few things. The decision of which bones are safe depends on the dog’s chewing behavior and the type of bone. In common, dog’s chewing behavior can range between “chewer” and “gulper”.
The dogs that are chewer, will patiently grind a bone to very small whereas for gulpers, they just swallow a big chunks of bones which is quiet dangerous .
Some disadvantage of dog eating bones:
1. Bones may choke dogs like splinter and hurt the digestion tract.
2. Too much protein, calcium or phosphorous that might cause a nutritional imbalance in dog’s diet.
3. It may fracture the dog’s teeth.
If you are worry that your dog is not getting enough nutrition, read the dog food label and consult your vet on which dog food is best for the growth of your dog. Some good choices of dog food I have tried out, you may want to visit their website. Or you can get recipe to make dog bones.
If you want to fulfill your dog’s “desire to chew”, consider the large selection of dog chewing toys here. You can find really nice and effective toy for your dog. From rawhide bones, hard rubber bones, rope toys and string toys, they are all preferable to real bones.
