Hi Everyone,

I searched for marrow bones but nothing came up. Maybe you call them something else but they are just soup bones with lots of marrow in the middle.

How do you guys feel about giving these to Puppies? (14 week old American Bulldog) My Vet said not to cause she could break her teeth, and my Cairn Terrier did crack one of his when her was a puppy. Also, what if type of bones do you give your puppies.

I will covert her to raw when she gets a little older...my breeder and some other breeders say no raw for AB's until they are a year because they can grow too fast.

Thanks for any advice.

Rob

Marrow bones for a puppy. The way I see it, while the marrow is nutritious it is rich. Nothing wrong with giving the pup a marrow bone as long as you monitor the pup. Too much marrow might be asking for a loose stool, but as long as you supervise I would allow it.

As for a puppy growing too fast, I think it would be more likely that kibble could make a pup grow too fast.
I believe that a well balanced, complete raw diet allows the dog to grow more slowly.

As long as the right RMB and meat ratio is around 50/50, your pup would be fine converting over to all raw.
Just as long as you read up on how to correctly feed an all natural raw diet, you have come a long way on feeding the best diet you possibly could. JMO

Personally, I like the much softer chicken neck, and back bones also turkey necks, duck necks or frames for a young pup. These bones are fully consumable and highly nutritious.
Once you learn to feed all raw, it is really hard to not just dive right in. Your pup will love you for it.
Best wishes with your new puppy!

Welllll....

I have Rotts, and they are of a similar size and build as the ABs. I raise all of my pups on raw and find that they grow slower on raw than kibble. BUT I think it is more important to learn all you can about raw feeding before you attempt it with your pup. Balance in the diet is most important when they are pups, and if you are not experienced with this type of feeding (and the growth statement tells me you have a bit more to learn, and I mean that with no offence meant at all ) then I would recommend you heed your breeders advice (for different reasons) and take this time to become as expert as you can first.

As for the recreational bone question, it is true that some dogs can be such aggressive chewers that they can break teeth. It comes down to knowing the dog you are dealing with. My brother's Pit was one of those. He didn't chew for fun, it was to destroy the bones, so he did not get any. My Hav likes to chew them while he is relaxed and just for fun. A cow femur would last him a year if I let him have it that long. He gets them regularly.

What I do is go to the butcher of our local big grocer (like Albertsons) and have them order a WHOLE cow femur. It will come with two knuckles and the middle part. They will cut it in half for me at no charge and I pay about $5.00 for the whole thing (not a bad price for a long lasting chew toy!). I freeze one half of it, and give Hav the other half. I find that he prefers the knuckle side of the bone because the ball thingies tend to be softer and spongier (more fun to chew) than the hollow center portion. He chews it for a while, then I take it away and put it in the 'fridge for later.

Anyway, that is how I feel about the bones. I love them for the right pups; keeps 'em busy! But you NEED to know your dog and the type of chewer they really are.

OH! And deer antlers are good chewies also for the right dogs. We just collect them as sheds in the spring from our walks in the "woods."

That all makes sense...I should have added that I try and find marrow bones with lots of meat on the outside and I did take them away before they got too much into the marrow.

I have always fed my Cairn Terrier raw, I buy pre made patties (75% meat/25% veggies) that are supposed to be organic and that all that good stuff. I also feeed my Cairn lots of other veggies as he love em. Regarding the kibble, it seems universal around here to feed adult dog food, not puppy dog food for growth reasons and I feed no grains (don't believe in grains for people or animals). There is what I considered a very good article on feeding AB's raw that raises the question of growing too fast and what to look for at http://bullpullkennels.com/links.htm

The way I look at is that these people and my breeder have raised very healthy dogs so I have to put some trust in what they say. Obviously I want to do what is best for my dogs. I appreciate the replys, I'm going to order a few books from Leerburg and then go buy some chicken necks lol

Thanks

Well I tried it. All I could find was chicken backs so I gave my Cairn a full one and my American Bulldog puppy half of one. The Cairn did pretty good, ate it a little fast but the pup tried to swallow it whole, puked it up and gave er a couple of extra chomps and swallowed it. I understand that a bigger neck or different cut might be better to prevent this but man they are both pretty savage.

What I did like is that after they ate, they both sniffed around, cleaned up and then both went to sleep. It seems like much more of a natural exercise and makes the dogs happy and content...that's good for everyone!

Well this thread is pretty quiet...anyone have an opinion on this: I started giving my pup (she's 14 weeks now) and my Cairn chicken wings as per the book "Give your Dog a Bone". Well no problems for the Cairn, chomped em pretty good but my Pup tried to swallow them whole. Maybe one or two crunches and they were gone. After about 3 days of this, the pup puked up a few bones only...cleaned off like someone sucked em dry on 10 cent wing night. Not sure if I should continue if she is not going to chew them.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Are you mixing RMBs with kibble? I urge against that.

But for the rest of your question, wings are too bony for beginner RMBs, I think. Backs were a very good choice. Chicken backs, in fact, might be the best of all possible beginner-RMBs. They are relatively soft and loaded with cartilage, for one thing.

What size were the hacked-up bone pieces?

I fed two chicken wings straight up and the bones came out almost perfect except maybe one end chewed off. In to book he never mentions backs but I gave her a big back tonight (almost a pound) and she did real good chewing it. Im hoping by making this a regular thing, she will think of it as the norm and not be so savage.

Thanks for the reply....I appreciate it.

Wings make me nervous, I find the tips whole in the stool, I've stopped feeding them entirely.

 Quote: Rob Wallator

I fed two chicken wings straight up and the bones came out almost perfect except maybe one end chewed off. In to book he never mentions backs but I gave her a big back tonight (almost a pound) and she did real good chewing it. Im hoping by making this a regular thing, she will think of it as the norm and not be so savage.

Thanks for the reply....I appreciate it.

I don't give wings.

I think you will find that chicken backs (not so much turkey backs) make great RMBs.

For one thing, I have noticed that something about them (I suspect all the cartilage) encourages chewing over swallowing whole. I'm guessing the bony part must have a nice taste (or more likely texture?) compared to, say, drumsticks.

One of mine (a senior Pug with many missing teeth) gets this faraway look in his eyes, like a human's caviar or chocolate look, as he steadily munches his way through a chicken back. Any of the weight-bearing bones (unless it's from those tiny Cornish hens) are a battle for him ... but chicken backs are his joy.