Can I give my pup the lamb leg bone to chew?

[VR6time]

Doing a leg of lamb on the bbq tonight, Basil Beagle is 4 months old. will I be able to give him the bone to chew afterwards?

[Mrs Grumpy]

I would only give raw bones. Cooked bones are more brittle and so prone to splinter. There is also something about weight bearing bones that I am struggling to remember...

[VR6time]

Thanks Mrs G, can always rely on you for sound advice.

its a shame because the extra flavour from cooking on the bone just outweighs the anticipated joy of Basil having a bone to chew.

[Mrs Grumpy]

LOL! What a considerate dog owner you are

[VR6time]

Tee Hee, that and the fact that said lamb leg has been marinading for hours and is already wrapped ready to cook.

In the meantime,. he will have to make do with a chew toy and ill get to the butchers when they are open to pick up a good bone for him to assuage my guilt.

[Jasandjules]

One of my Vets is a dental expert and he says never give a dog a lamb bone. It can damage their teeth - he's seen plenty of dogs with cracked canines because of chewing on bones. Chicken bones are fine raw however and do a good job on the tartar as well (as do carrots).

As a puppy your pooch will have even softer teeth.

[VR6time]

ok Ta, thanks for that. how about beef bones?

[SPR2]

Lamb bones splinter so I would NOT give your puppy the bone.

[Jasandjules]

VR6time said:

ok Ta, thanks for that. how about beef bones?

No, same goes. It's basically raw chicken only for dogs in terms of bones in his view. And carrots

[VR6time]

he loves carrots and broccoli, I just wanted an occasional treat.

I had always assumed chicken was dangerous as it splintered.

thanks for the advice, guess ill be sticking to the pet shop bought treats, although I have a fab recipe for dog friendly pilchard cake. its just that it only lasts about 2 seconds.

[Mrs Grumpy]

Something that I use with my dogs is a smoked bone - the sort you can get from a pet shop that is usually filled with rubbish. I scoop out the rubbish, stand on tin foil, put some bits of kibble in the bottom, then fill with natural yoghurt mixed with tuna or pilchards. Wrap in tin foil and then freeze. Can be served straight from the freezer.

I'm afraid I'm not really sure what is or isn't safe to feed pups, although I have fed this to youngsters along with raw chicken wings.

[Jasandjules]

VR6time said:

I had always assumed chicken was dangerous as it splintered.

It has to be raw, then they don't splinter. Definately no cooked chickens for dogs/cats.

Even those cooked cow knees you get from petshops etc are not good in my vet's opinion. He is quite adamanet that it's nothing bone related except raw chicken, and that's only to clean their teeth!

For a treat, try liver cake - most dogs go nuts for it. I am sure there will be a recipe on-line, if not I'll post up how we cook ours.. (warning, it stinks!)

[JohnnyJones]

+1 for raw chicken. Mine often get a raw chicken wing after we've eaten as their reward for not pestering us while we eat. I'm sure they think it's a rabbit leg!

I had never had a problem with cooked chicken having known dogs who had eaten it for years, until a couple of years ago a friends 8 year old dog died from a chicken bone piercing his intestine. Said friend is greek and his family run a restaurant in greece and leftovers were the dog's staple diet for most of his life. Their previous dog made it to 16 before dying in his sleep on the same diet. So no cooked chicken.

[Moo27]

Boris LOVES raw chicken legs/wings!