dangers of feeding raw bones

    I've seen that site too; what's interesting is that there are x-rays of a dog that ate raw bones and has an impacted colon, stomach, and intestines. I'm sure you know that many members feed their dogs raw meaty bones with no problems. My personal thoughts are that there is only a very small risk of an impactation or perforation but if it did happen it would be very serious. To me it's not worth the risk to achieve clean teeth. By the way, the same site does advocate feeding raw food so it's not an anti-raw site.

This hound of about 75 pounds was found by his owner feeding on a dead deer carcass.

This dog was straining to pass stool, was weak and dehydrated when presented to the veterinarian, and had a history of raiding the neighbor's garbage cans.

I'm not sure how convincing these specific scenarios are when debating feeding raw bones. It doesn't mention how long the deer had been dead - were the bones dried and brittle - or were they bones that normally shouldn't be consumed? If the other dog had a history of raiding trash, how do they know it was a raw bone - and what kind/how old - that caused the problem? It's an interesting read, but doesn't convince me of anything concerning fresh raw meaty bones as fed by educated raw feeders.

And it may not be an anti-raw site but "ThePetCenter.com is presented to you as a free pet care resource by PetFoodDirect.com and NationalPetPharmacy.com".

Jaye, thanks for posting that site.

Very good points Kelly.  While I am not pushing ANYONE to feed raw if it isn't in their comfort zone, I think its CRUCIAL to let people know that COOKED BONES ARE DANGEROUS.  COOKED bones are far more likely to cause a SERIOUS problem than raw bones.
 
We have one gal who immediately comes to mind who has fed raw for 6 years, over 10,000 pounds of raw.  Her dogs are HEALTHY as horses.  There are many other raw feeders among our members as well as those of us who feed "some" raw.  Even with my homecooked, I add the meat LAST and let the residual heat from the pot do what cooking it will, BUT I encourage people with whom I share the recipe to cook it to THEIR level of comfort.  So, I surely don't PUSH raw feeding.
 
I just HATE to see so much anti-raw sentiment popping up here lately as if those of us who do feed some to all raw are misinformed and stupid and are endangering our dogs lives.  That isn't the case and a THOROUGH and open minded investigation will clear that little misconception up for anyone who takes the time to really research.
 
 

I do feed my dog raw bones occasionally, and worry each time.
I do feed my dog raw meat occasionally and also worry a bit about it each time.

No matter who is sponsoring that website, it does promote the advantages of raw feeding, but seems to be giving cautions to feeding bones. A caution we should all beware of.

How many dogs have died or been seriously sick from kibble?

Well, how 'bout the dogs were died or became seriously ill from Merrick foods?  How bout the dogs who died or became seriously ill from DIAMOND foods just recently?  I don't have the actual numbers, but MANY.

I didn't  think the discussion was about raw food, I thought it was about bones being possibly dangerous!  That website gave advantages of feeding raw.

were the bones dried and brittle - or were they bones that normally shouldn't be consumed

I don't think it matters much to the dog at that point. He's just enjoying the "wild dog diet" as a coyote would. The site does point out that these obstructions also come from found objects and not necessarily owner-fed bones. The reason for it was to show the danger of consuming any bone. I like Billinghurst's advice. If an owner is concerned about shards, then grind the bone.
 
I throw away cooked chicken remains. My old trash can turned out to have a hole in it. A loose dog, I think the Jack Russel Terrier who is allowed to roam the streets, got into it and pulled most of the bag through a rather difficult whole, just to get at that cooked chicken back. And he's still roaming the streets. If he could read, then he would know that cooked bones are dangerous and maybe quit taking advantage of old trash cans.
 
On my end, I have a new trash can and it's all I can do as the owners of the JRT are incapable of controlling their dog and the town is incapable of making them keep him in a yard, mostly because the current mayor doesn't care.

Ron, my own dog tore open  a garbage bag years ago...to get a whole cooked chicken carcass and I didn't eat it all before I caught her but quite a bit.
And when Ollie lived with my two sons a couple of years ago..he took a KFC bag with eaten chicken out of the garbage that they kept under the sink. A towel or something sticking out must have made it easy for him to get the door open.
He didn't have a problem either. BUT for that reason I DO take all dangerous garbage outside in the trash can where Bubby can't get to it, instead of throwing some of that stuff into a small can under my sink.

AS I have stated before, when I was a kid, we fed ALL bones to our birdogs--cooked chicken, quail, pork, steak dove, duck, rabbit, squirrel.  We never had a problem with any of them.  But back then all rural and probably most city folk did the same thing  Of course this was many, many, many years before home computers, dog forums, etc.  Today i would not think of giving cooked bones to dogs.  I had decided that  long ago on my own.   I have been trying to get up enough courage to give them some raw bones like chicken wings, but I don't know if I can do that or not.
 
 

Sandra, we did the same thing when I was a kid. We raised all our own beef, pork, turkey, and chicken.Our dogs ate every bit of cooked bones from a steer, a pig, 12 turkeys[they got the whole carcass after we roasted them] and I don't know how many chickens, every year.I cringe now to think of all the pork chop and chicken bones they ate, but they were all perfectly healthy and only went to the vet for routine immunizations or spays.Maybe it didn't hurt them because they were used to them. Dogs that never get bones, then gorge on a carcass they dig out of the trash, are the ones you seem to see on the websites that warn you about feeding bones.

Dogs that never get bones, then gorge on a carcass they dig out of the trash, are the ones you seem to see on the websites that warn you about feeding bones.

Might be right!
You know,,and possibly there are as many dogs dying or getting injured from raw bones as there are cooked bones...you never know!  It might just well be that for the most part,,,dogs can eat raw or cooked little problem, but do we want to chance it???????
Last 4th of July we were at my sisters for a cookout, and took Bubblegum. My brother-in-law was eating his BBQ chicken and tossing her the bones before I caught him,,,,she was sure enjoying them.   He was dumbfounded that I stopped him, telling me how many dogs he had in his life!!!

  One of the reasons I've read for it being safe to feed dogs raw bones is that their stomach acid is much stronger than ours ( has a lower ph) and thus they can digest them. Ron brought this information below up on another thread dealing with acidity of a dog's stomach :








 On an empty stomach, the pH is closer to 1 or less regardless of species. pH is a relative concentration of H ions hence total amount produced is irrelevant. The pH of a stable solution is not time or volume dependent.
The actual stomach pH taken at any point in time when food is present will vary considerably depending on where in the stomach, the type of food present and when in the digestion process the measurement is taken. This is the same in dogs as it is in people. Dogs and cats (in general) eat higher animal protein meals than most people. Meals with more animal protein generally produce a greater acid load and will have a lower gastric pH. People who eat a high protein meal will also have a lower gastric pH compared to when they eat a totally vegetable meal.
The pH is near 1 in the stomach of most species for basically two reasons: kill any living organisms and digest protein. Peptidases secreted by the gastric mucosa require a low pH for maximum activity. The final chyme pH leaving the stomach varies between 1-6 and leaves the stomach based upon final osmolarity and food particle size, which is directly dependent upon type of food, time and the presence of water. So some meals require more time than other meal types. Obviously, it is not a foolproof system against microbes, because all mammalian species get bacterial and viral enteritis.
 
   It's from Petdiets.com which is against raw feeding because of what they believe are potential dangers although they recommend home cooked diets but I've googled and found the same information on other websites regarding the fact that the ph of a dog's stomach is the same as ours.
 The fact that dogs sometimes get sick and die from contaminated kibble is well documented but the claim that dogs don't have problems with raw bones is purely anecdotal. Everyone remembers the uproar over Greenies a few months ago and the reports on the news. I went to CNN.com and read the article; it included a list of the top three items that cause esophageal obstruction in dogs; bones were number one followed by fish hooks and Greenies;
           [linkhttp://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/index.html]http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/index.html[/link]
 
 I will agree that the chance of a raw bone causing a problem is very small but if it does the consequences are very serious. Raw bones actually have very little nutritional value;
 
                      [linkhttp://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/bonecomp.html]http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/bonecomp.html[/link]
 
  so the main reason for feeding them is to clean the teeth.  To me it's not worth taking the chance although I know many disagree. Our dogs cannot read about the pros and cons concerning feeding raw bones so we have to recognize both sides of the issue and make the decision for them.