Where do you buy your recreational bones?

Kelly - are you asking for "soup bones"?  I can see where they might be confused about what a recreational bone for a dog might be, but it's hard to believe no one sells soup bones.  In my grocery store, they just have them packaged in the frozen food section, sort of by the frozen hamburger patties, fish, etc.  Are there any meat packing houses near you.  That would be the ideal place to get them.

i get them in the grocery store meat section too.  And, on multiple occasions I have asked if certain bones would be ok for a dog and the meat men were able to tell me. Ask the butcher at your grocery store for soup or marrow bones.  Don't mention the dog part .

I used the term soup bones when I asked at the grocery and femur or knuckle when I called the butchers.

I'll look in the frozen sections at the grocery in case the people I asked at the fresh meat dept didn't know they were there.

I get mine through a co-op in 30-50# boxes at a time.  Super-cheap that way, though it does take up a bit of room if you only have a regular fridge/freezer.[]

At my super market there are packages of marrow bones in the freezer case.  They aren't always there, its almost like a one or twice a week thing.  If i need some and i can't find them (always by the steaks here), i just ask the butcher and he gets a few from the back, wraps them up and sells them nice and cheap.  I usually pay about $2.00 for 3 or 4 large bones.

  I have trouble finding soup bones for Jessie around where I live too. One of the grocery stores has a few once in a while. I think the grocery stores carry them more in the winter than in the summer. Good luck finding some.

Oh, I just remembered that back when I used to buy soup bones from the grocery store, I had to go back and ask several times before I got a meat counter worker who knew what I was talking about.  After that, I just went in when he was working.  So it might be worth going back to your grocery store and asking again. [&:]

I get mine at a butcher.  They come in a bag already frozen.  I used to get them from the grocery store - but it's cheaper and easier for me to pick up a bag a week instead of several small packages.
 
Often butchers will also cut them the length you want. 

I have been wondering the same thing... and have also been buying the prepackaged ones from Natures Variety, they come two small sections to a pack for about $4.[&:]  I have thought about asking the person at the meat counter at the grocery but when I was thinking in my head of what I was going to say I decided I was going to sound stupid and never asked.  I was just going to ask if they had any left over bones I could have for my dog or something, Im very confused about all those terms.

Soup bones, raw bones and marrow bones are all the same?  Those are the kind I am getting from Natures Variety?  These are the ones that clean teeth right...?  These are not meals, but recreational and good for cleaning teeth?  Am I correct?

Raw meaty bones (rmb) are say a chicken wing with the bone inside or a neck or something, right?  And this would be used for food, not treats and teeth cleaning?

Thanks for posting this thread Kelly!

I can't find them in the grocery store either.  All I see is smoked (which I consider cooked ) bones.  My organic dog store does  carry them tho.

Soup bones, raw bones and marrow bones are all the same?

 
They're only all the same in that they're all bones, but raw bones is a pretty general term.  Basically anything that can't be entirely consumed, is considered a recreational bone.  It doesn't mean that pieces won't break off, but generally it's harder, like a femur or knuckle.  The consumables are the chicken bones (wings, thighs, etc.) or pork rib or neck bones. 
 
As for the teeth cleaning aspect, I find that the recreational bones serve that purpose if there's some meat on them.  My dogs will work forever to get a little shred of meat off the femur and I consider like flossing, but I guess only for the front teeth.
 
When I had Sassy on the elimination diet (pork), I found pork shoulder/neck bones and those were the best thing ever.  She had to gnaw on it for awhile, so it kept her busy, but she was able to consume the whole thing and wasn't able to gulp it.  Unfortunately, my grocery store said they only carry those in the summer but did refer me to a meat packing place. 

I buy spare ribs in the meat section for $1.49 per pound. It works out to about 40 cents per rib.

For my two smaller dogs the spare ribs are rec bones. For the big boy they are RMB's []