More raw bone questions

[gooeydog]

We went to the health food store the other day, and I picked up a pack of soup bones while we were there to try with the dogs (as recreational chewing only). So now, there are the obligatory 1001 questions I always have about trying something new. I've done some reading, but have came up with conflicting or no answers on most of these so I figured I'd toss them out here and get some thoughts....

What is the best surface to feed on? I'd prefer outside, but might be able to handle feeding them inside. Do I need to disinfect the area after they eat there? (I don't eat much meat myself, so I'm a bit ignorant as to the ins and outs of handling it)

Can they be put back in the freezer if the dog only chews a little while and the bone is still mostly frozen? Annie's a small dog, but a food gulper, so I'd rather leave the bone whole (it's a section of femur, about 3" long), but obviously she isn't going to eat all that in one sitting.

Anything else I should know or watch out for?

[imported_Matty]

Lets see now. I feed raw bones to my dogs inside the house. I havent gotten any kind of poisoning yet :D My dogs have drop and flops on the floor and they each go to their own individual bed and chew their bones. I have on occasion givin them a bone in their outdoor kennel. The only problem with that (I have Husky's) is they try to bury the bones :evil:

My only bad experience with indoor bone chewing is if I am not there to supervise. I have come home to bones in my bed (buried in my blankets) and a few times they have hid them in my pillow cases. I always freeze my raw bones before giving them to the dogs. I give them to the dogs frozen. The dogs don't mind at all and start licking them to soften them up. In my mind by freezing first I am perhaps killing off some bacteria. I am probably wrong :lol: I have even given my dogs raw turkey and chicken necks and I never disinfected the area where they chewed.

I read some where on the internet that when a dog buries a bone and then digs it up again they are more healthy because of some of the decomposing the earth does. I heard it is really good for the dog to eat bones they have buried. I am really interested in if this is true. Maybe TDG will know.

[imported_Matty]

Oh yeah, I throw the bones out after 1 day. I don't refreeze my bones. I am sure you could. by the time my dogs are finished theres not much left.

[TDG]

i feed bones indoors all the time. my dog is trained to stay on hos towel with them, and those towels are replaced depending on how messy they get.

i also give both frozen and non frozen, depending on what i have on hand. my dog doesn't seem to care either way, but frozen ones do tend to last a little longer.

buried bones - well, they are very stinky. they aren't harmful or anything, but i wouldn't go as far as saying they contribute any better nutrition. decomposition breaks down proteins and fats so they are sort of "predigested", but for a healthy animal that doesn't really make a difference.

i only pick up and refrigerate/refreeze recreational bones that are not cleaned of all marrow, meats and fats. once they are clean and dry, i let the dog keep them for as long as he shows interest.

[gooeydog]

My mom still thinks cooked ham bones are good things for the dogs to chew on, and she won't hear about giving them bones raw, so I'm planning on just giving them to my two. Of course, if she sees them eating them, I'm guaranteed to get about a lecture a week, so I'm trying to avoid that :roll:

I could give them bones in my room (and probably will at times, on a towel on the floor), but we're outside a lot on nice days, so I figured that'd be the easiest way to do things. They'll always be supervised with them, so no worries about them toting them off and stockpiling. I let Annie chew on one for a bit yesterday, she was initially a bit skeptical, but once she realized it was real meat on there, I though I was never going to get it back :lol: She barely made a dent in it, so I went ahead and put it back in the freezer for another day. Goo's not getting them just yet, I want to wait until I've seen how Annie handles it before I try Goo.