Frozen raw bones make an excellent way to stay cool on those hot summer days while exercising your dog’s back, neck, and jaw muscles. Plus they help keep their teeth clean as well as being an excellent source of vitamins and minerals!
As with humans, dogs only possess a limited supply of stomach acid. Too much bone may dilute this acidity and increase the likelihood that undigested material enters their intestines unprocessed.
Contents
They’re Cool
Raw bones provide your dog with a nutritious, low-cal snack while simultaneously cleaning their teeth and helping maintain good dental health. Not only are raw bones part of their natural diet, they offer essential dental workouts and nutritive value to boost dental hygiene and boost jaw strength.
Recreational bones like necks, backs and wings pose potential choking hazards for dogs. If they are too large for your pup’s mouth they could get stuck in his throat; if swallowed whole they could cause intestinal blockage.
Keep an eye on your pet’s teeth and gums after giving recreational bones, and consider offering soft chew options such as tendons or bully sticks as alternatives to bone-shaped chews that could pose choking hazards. If digestive issues are an issue for your pup, check out our step-by-step bone broth recipe to create your own homemade treat for him/her!
They’re Healthy
Edible bones provide a nutritious source of calcium, phosphorus and trace minerals for our pets. Recreational bones like beef femur and hip bones with bone marrow filling make for healthy snacks that help keep teeth clean while simultaneously benefitting health and dental hygiene. As with all raw meat products, these bones must be refrigerated before giving to pets as treats; any larger bones with larger quantities of marrow could contain meat or blood that should be cleaned off before giving to your animal companion.
Recreational bones pose the danger of breaking apart into sharp pieces when consumed by dogs, potentially leading to broken teeth, infections of gums, or intestinal blockages (impaction). To avoid this happening, closely supervise your dog while they consume their bone – if they begin chewing too aggressively remove and limit its time in their play pen – alternatively you could scoop out its marrow for use later or even store it away for future consumption.
They’re Stimulating
Crushing frozen bones provides your dog with exercise for their neck, back and jaw muscles while stimulating his mind and providing an entertaining activity for your pet. If your dog is an aggressive chewer however, alternative foods such as cow ears or tendons that break down more easily may be better to prevent any potential choking or digestion issues from developing.
Bones can also provide an effective natural way for your canine to keep his teeth clean. As part of their ancestral diet as carnivorous canines, the gnawing action helps scrape away plaque build-up on their teeth.
Cooked bones tend to become brittle over time and break apart into sharp splinters which can damage teeth, cause intestinal blockages or even lead to death in some pets. Frozen raw bones are much safer as they’re much less likely to splinter, making frozen recreational bones an excellent summer treat! Just be sure your dog remains under supervision to prevent accidental ingestion of broken pieces!
They’re Easy to Prepare
Frozen bones can make an easy treat for your pup on hot days – and help to keep their teeth clean! Plus they keep Rocky cool.
Chewing on bone marrow provides both physical and mental stimulation for dogs. Gnawing at it allows dogs to gnaw off any leftover meat that might cling onto it while working their jaw, forelegs, back, neck and paw muscles; furthermore, the chewing process releases endorphins which serve to both stimulate and calm them during this activity.
Cooked and smoked bones pose the potential threat of disintegrating into harmful splinters, while recreational bones pose the danger of swallowing large chunks or not chewing properly. Therefore, it’s always wise to offer recreational bones only as part of a supervised chewing session and never as the main source of entertainment for your dog; try offering bully sticks, tendons or raw knuckle bones instead as alternatives!
