feeding raw bones per week - Page 2

would beef necks help instead of  worrying about teeth by providing knuckle bones.

I have fed raw knuckle bones for about 15 years or so, and never had a problem.  I also feed half raw and half good quality kibble.  The knuckle bones do well at cleaning the teeth and the dogs enjoy them.  A problem "could" always happen, but that's true in a thousand other ways as well. 

I feed a couple of raw marrow bones every week

 Soup bones, or rather bones from the femur of the cow are just fine. If your dog gets loose stool, take most or all of the marrow out and they will not have an issue. There is too much fat there. Secondly, the ends of the femur, the joints, do chip and these are not digestible and many dogs will vomit those chips up. Solve that by staying away from the ends of the femur. Thirdly, remove the bone from the dog the minute you see they begin chipping the edge. Do not give them frozen or cooked bone. They are good for helping keep the teeth clean and I have fed them to hundreds of GSDs,  for years and using a little common sense, and NEVER had a dog chip a tooth. Don't leave bones lying around where multiple dogs might want it so you avoid fights.

kool - I don't give either knuckle or marrow bones.  It's simply not worth a damaged tooth. 

If I want to keep them busy I will fill a kong with ground meat, freeze it and then provide that to them.  The rubber will not break their teeth and the reward is inside. 

I'm happy for those who have not had any problems - yet.  To me it's a "when" not "if" scenario - One that I won't present to my dogs.  Afterall, feeding the dogs an appropriate diet is meant to better their health.  I will not sacrifice their dental health to keep them busy for a couple of hours.

GunnarGSD Have you had a dog chip their teeth feeding marrrow bones, or have you read about it somewhere? Just curious because I have fed them for recreation to numerous dogs for years w/o any problem. Obviously they should not be left laying around to dry out, but fresh raw marrow bones have never been a problem. Now I have one female that can and will devour the ends, rib bones etc. She cannot have them at all which I learned the hard way as to much bone can turn the stool to cement and makes it non-passable. But thats another story....