Treats such as bones and chews for your dog can help satisfy their natural instinct to chew while providing essential nutrition to support overall pet health. As with all treats, bones should be given only in moderation to achieve optimum results and be balanced out with other food sources.
Marrow bones are hard, which makes it possible for them to break teeth and cause them to splinter, leading to pain and sometimes necessitating dental surgery under anesthesia.
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They Clean Teeth
Gnawing on bones can help prevent dental disease in multiple ways. Gnawing helps scrape teeth clean, remove plaque and prevent tartar build-up while stimulating saliva flow helps combat gum disease.
Marrow bones can pose serious challenges for dogs. Dr. Bloom noted that many canines with broken teeth were seen having had marrow bones lodged into their canine fangs due to getting stuck there, necessitating a visit to a veterinarian and sometimes anesthesia for extractions.
To protect the safety of your dog, never give cooked bones – smoked or boiled marrow bones are perfectly acceptable, while any that are barbecued or roasted become dry and more likely to shatter than before due to dehydration from heat processing. Furthermore, always monitor when giving out bones or chews as treats for consumption by your pup.
They Strengthen Teeth
Bone marrow can help strengthen teeth when chewed properly, which is particularly important for aggressive chewers. Unfortunately, however, eating this food could increase pancreatitis risk or damage expensive dental work like crowns and braces.
After eating bones, your pup might notice white, chalky chunks in its stool that appear chalky white in color and may form white chunks which could become stuck in their esophagus and cause intestinal blockage, leading to surgery and making life very uncomfortable for your canine companion.
Always supervise your pup during chew time and provide easy-to-clean surfaces to place marrow bones. Avoid giving cooked bones; these can break apart into dangerous fragments, potentially posing dental and digestive risks to both yourself and your pup, not to mention potentially contain chemicals you don’t want them consuming!
They Prevent Tooth Decay
Bones provide your pup with both entertainment and health benefits – they promote healthy chewing habits, decrease plaque accumulation and tooth decay, improve gum indices, and freshen breath!
At the same time, recreational bones like marrow bones (or knuckle bones) should only be fed occasionally as too many can lead to stomach upset and/or cooking can cause them to shatter into fragments.
Marrow bones provide your dog’s teeth with calcium and phosphorous for healthy gums and teeth, but must be selected and monitored carefully so as to prevent swallowing pieces that could result in intestinal obstruction that requires surgery.
They Prevent Gum Disease
Veterinarians and pet experts typically warn against giving bones to dogs as this can damage teeth or even cause digestive issues; however, when given in moderation with close supervision they can offer many advantages to your pup. Marrow bones offer several potential advantages that should not be overlooked by pet parents when giving these gifts for their pups!
Always provide your dog with an appropriate bone for his breed and size; too-small bones increase the risk of choking or intestinal obstruction.
Be wary of bones that are cut horizontally as these tend to splinter more. Marrow bones can be purchased at local butchers or supermarket meat counters; just remember they need to be refrigerated after purchase to prevent bacteria growth and don’t give your pup too many at one time as too much fat may cause loose stools in some dogs!
They Help Prevent Inflammation
Marrow bones can help improve your dog’s dental health by scraping away plaque and tartar build-up, strengthening gums, and satisfying their natural chewing behavior. They’re also great for satisfying natural chewing instincts!
Bone marrow is packed with essential nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamin B – making it an excellent way to improve digestive health while combatting bad breath.
Before feeding a marrow bone to your dog, make sure it has been cooked or frozen and placed on an easily cleanable surface so it does not splinter or break. Also be mindful when giving raw bones because these may splinter and break. Always supervise while your pup chews their bone to prevent overzealous chewers from becoming aggressive and possibly harming their jaw or teeth; be especially cautious not to feed brachiocephalic breeds (bulldogs or pugs) such as they could potentially injuring themselves during chewing sessions!
