raw bones and teeth

Bones definitely helped scrape crap off Cherokee's teeth. She had a lot of tartar on them, but eating bones every once in a while (I did them a couple times a week for the first few weeks, but then it was just whenever I remembered to buy them) helped a lot, and then I bought this Petzlife stuff, and both things together have gotten like 80% of the tartar off her teeth. And I'm sure I could get the rest off if I did either one consistently. But she has no gum disease or anything, just a little bit of stuff on her teeth. It's really amazing to me.

http://www.petzlife.com/

   Soup bones and beef rib bones definitely remove tartar from Jessie's teeth. She can't have chicken bones because of food allergies. She doesn't consume much of the beef bones because of their size and hardness, but they help remove tartar from the small teeth on the sides of her mouth, which are harder to brush.

Thanks for the replies.  The main problem area for Zoe is her canine teeth.  Do dogs use their canines when eating rmb's?

Hmm, I never thought of it.  Mine tend to chew towards the back of their mouths when they're gnawing on the beef rib bones I give them.  I would think something bigger like a knuckle bone might cause her to chew more towards the front and possible get the canines more clean.  I've heard alot of good things about the petzlife solution, maybe using that on the canines since they're easier to get to would work well also.  I'm going to have to try some because Woobie's not nearly the chewer that Indie is and his stains never have quite gone away.

Good luck!

Apollo is an older dog...5-7 years, probably close to the 7 year mark....Anyways, his teeth can get build up pretty quickly. So, we started to brush his teeth. He isn't a fan of it, but he tolerates it. It made a HUGE difference. His teeth are pearly white. He also gets a knuckle or soup bone every once in a while.

 My dogs really work their front teeth with things like marrow bones with a bit of meat still clinging.  They have to nibble and scrape the meat off.  But I think you will see an improvement on the canines regardless.  They protrude the most of any teeth and are the most likely to have contact at any point in chewing. 

If you use RMB's that she really has to tear into, she'll use her canines more as well.  So give her something bigger than a wing.  I know she's little, and she doesn't need to finish it, but a good leg with the back attached would force her to tear of pieces to eat.  I also find freezing makes them gnaw harder too, not sure if thats something you want to do with a little dog though.  But I don't see why not. 

 Candace what would you recommend for Bugsy?  He can't have poultry.  I give him some big old knuckle bones with femur attached but he gets large pieces off and goes at the marrow bone part so hard I swear he's going to crack a tooth.  Beef rib bones are way too small and he splinters them and puts huge pieces in his mouth completely ( like a 4 inch piece)

I'd really like to give him a rmb every week but I'm struggling.  His teeth are super clean because he chews all the time but I would really like to feed him with rmb's regularly.

Thanks guys.  Well she's eating a raw chicken thigh as I'm typing this, and I hear all kinds of crunching and crackling.  Is that normal?

Yup! Crunching is good! She's eating the bone. Yumyum!

Teenie had terrible teeth, too (I think it's a Dachshund trait, actually). RMBs really helped stretch the time between dentals, and definitely made a difference in the amount of plaque on her teeth. She liked chicken parts and beef short ribs, a lot. A biiiiig knuckle bone was her favorite, and one of those would last her a week. 

 What about a Pork Hock or Neck for Bugsy?  I usually take most of the fat off for my dogs as the hocks are pretty fatty, but they love them.  I freeze them for a week first just to be safe, but my dogs have never had an issue with them.  Sheep parts can be a good option too, if you can get your hands on them.  I can't.  Rabbit is another.  Heck make him eat his moles!  You can bet your butt if my dogs were catching potential food stuffs, they'd be eating a lot less of my food! 

They each got a whole chicken today.  I didn't realize we were completely out of dog food and the only thing I had was a rack of ribs(not going to the dogs!) a small package of drumsticks(not enough for both of them) and 2 fryer chickens.  They got them in their outdoor kennel and you should have seen them.  Crusher grabbed his and did a few quick laps of the kennel!  Look What I Have!  Look What I Have!  It took them a little over a half hour to eat a full frozen chicken each.  They're pretty efficient!

Thanks pork is the easiest to source - never seen sheep or rabbit locally but Brookcove has linked me to a raw feeding group on Yahoo.   Does freezing the pork lower the risk of bacteria or something? 

LOL re the moles.  He'd need a dozen at a time - perhaps I could stick one in a kong and freeze it   DH would never let me feed them to him

Ha I can just picture Crusher and his prized chicken

Well there is some debate about the risk of contracting Trichinosis from raw pork.  Its a parasite and can cause some problems.  Freezing it can eliminate the parasite as can heating it to 150 F.  Some people believe the threat is still very common, while others believe that higher standards have all but eliminated it.  In some areas I'm sure thats true, but you just never really know, so I figure its no skin of my back to freeze it for the week it takes to kill the buggies and my dogs eat thier meat frozen anyway. 

 thanks thats what I presumed was the case

Pork is safe, no problem.  There are very strict guidelines imposed on producers who sell to the public, to ensure that the animals are not exposed (this happens when pigs, who are omnivorous, eat infected meat like trash or - blech - rats).  But, most butchers flash freeze meat anyway, so it should be fine.  Trichina oocytes are destroyed at -4 degrees after 36 hours, or below 5 degrees for 20 days, or three weeks at 32 and below.

Karen, I will let you know when we take our ram to the processor - the bones are nice and crunchable!  It looks like we'll be taking two or three sheep in a week or so.

I've seen many a rescue reduce the tartar on all their teeth within a few sessions with bones - even small ones.  I'm convinced it's less about contact with the bone and more about saliva, and working at cartilage and meat.  I've even seen good results with dogs after feeding something like steaks with only a small "eye" (such as we get off our rams).