# Bones and raw feeding



## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

I’ve always sort of thought that the premise of dogs burying their bones was a bit overstated. Our dogs have always chewed their bones. We have NEVER owned a dog that actually buried a bone…ever! Until Miikka. 

I’ll never forget the first time I gave Miikka a bone. She was about 14 weeks old. The bone was a small round marrow bone with almost no meat on it. I gave it to her in the laundry room hoping she would keep it on the tile floor. She immediately wanted to go outside, with bone in mouth. Fine. I let her out the back door and stood on the stoop and watched her. She went to an area of the yard that is mostly dirt. She proceeds to dig a hole. The bone is still in her mouth. Once she has her hole dug, she drops the bone into the hole and using her nose, begins to cover up the bone with the loose dirt. Then she takes her front paws and pats at the dirt. I know it’s just a little thing but I darn near fell over. I’m *several* decades old and believe it or not, I’ve never seen a dog bury a bone! Particularly such a little, or young, dog. A few hours later, she wants to go outside. I let her out thinking she has to go potty or something. She heads to the area where she hid the bone and begins to dig. Sure enough, she finds the buried bone. So now she has the dirt-covered bone in her mouth. What does she want to do will this dirty bone? Yep, chew on it. (Yes, I rinsed it off and gave it back to her) 

Why am I telling you this? Well, because I am feeding Miikka a raw diet. As you know, part of that diet includes RMB. I would say at least 50% of the time she will hide the RBM instead of chewing/eating them. Then, later in the day, she’ll go find it and chew on it. Also, I do not feed her outside. I usually feed her in the sunroom since it has a concrete floor (its more of a 3-season porch) I dont care if she makes a mess out there. But instead of burying RMB in the dirt she will hide them around the room, behind boxes or in the cushions of the patio funiture.  Everyday, I have to scan the sunroom for "leftovers". 

Anyway, is it OK for her to be hiding the bones and then chewing on them later in the day?


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## ch3ckpo1nt (Nov 30, 2009)

I honestly think dogs' stomachs have the acids that we don't, so they can handle bacteria that we would otherwise get sick from. As a puppy, I'm sure the immune system is weaker, but I still don't think its something to worry about. 

Damian doesn't have that problem though, I give him a bone in the kitchen and he chews on it either until he is finished with it all, or if we are heading to bed. I then just toss it out.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Personally, I would teach her to eat AT her bowl and not carry things around all over the place.

What type of RMBs is she getting that she tries to 'bury'?


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> Personally, I would teach her to eat AT her bowl and not carry things around all over the place.
> 
> What type of RMBs is she getting that she tries to 'bury'?


She usually does eat at her bowl. The only time she leaves the bowl is if she has a bone in her mouth. But she'll always finish what's in the bowl first.

Other than the basic recreational type bone, she ONLY hides ONE type of bone - a beef rib bone. Most of her meat is ground up. I mix the meat, veggie glob, a little dairy product, and her supplements/vitamins all up together. I set the beef rib (just 1 & she does not get 1 every day, maybe a couple of times a week) on top. She’ll take the rib and set in along side the bowl. Eat what’s in the bowl and then hide the rib. She does the exact same thing every single time.


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## Gib Laut (Feb 21, 2010)

Other than the basic recreational type bone, she ONLY hides ONE type of bone - a beef rib bone. [/quote]

Is the beef bone a new thing for her???? Asking because I'm lucky not to deal with this, but my mom's girl is new into raw beef bones....her other food is cooked, this is a special treat she gets.....she did the same as yours...my thought process was it was a very high value food item to her and she wanted to hide it from her pack and mange away on it when no one was looking.....I advised my mom to stay with her on the blanket while she ate and if she left return her....she had to do this several times, but soon she learned it was a normal thing and she was expected to eat it then and there....just a thought......the issue is not really about how ripe the meat is, some like it pretty ripe, but when hiding it in the home/sun room...not cool!!!!!:shocked:


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

Gib Laut said:


> Other than the basic recreational type bone, she ONLY hides ONE type of bone - a beef rib bone.


Is the beef bone a new thing for her????..........the issue is not really about how ripe the meat is, some like it pretty ripe, but when hiding it in the home/sun room...not cool!!!!!:shocked:[/quote]

She's been hiding bones since she was a very young pup. She's been eating beef for the last few months. However, beef rib bones are somewhat new to her. 

I agree with you regarding hiding bones in the house. :shocked: That's why I scan the sunroom every day for bones....it's getting to be a pain in the you-know-what. 

Now, tonight I did something totally different. I fed her the ground-up mix and when she was done with that I gave her a beef rib. She started chewing on it immediately...didnt even try to hide it :wild: In fact, she's still gnawing away on it! Go figure.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Beef ribs are pretty dense, so Mikka can't chew them up as fast as chicken or neck bones, probably why she hides them. 
I don't give a rib bone for recreation, I'd rather give a knucklebone.
Clover always use to bury bones, and Onyx would find them much later. Clover wasn't rawfed til she was 12, and all thru her life she would bury even a rawhide chew. She was a golden/borderx not GSD.
Kacie will also bury the denser bones, or recreational bones. The other day I fed pork neck bones and she buried it(I feed her outside) Karlo found it an hour later, and ate it.
Kacie won't do this with chicken 1/4's or turkey necks, just the harder bones.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

onyx'girl said:


> Beef ribs are pretty dense, so Mikka can't chew them up as fast as chicken or neck bones, probably why she hides them.


Bingo!

You are better off giving her some chicken RMBs to start with. Those will get her used to chewing/eating instead of burying.


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## Miikkas mom (Dec 21, 2009)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> Bingo!
> 
> You are better off giving her some chicken RMBs to start with. Those will get her used to chewing/eating instead of burying.


We grind all of the chicken bones (DH had issues with feeding her whole bones). I do not let her eat the rib bone. She just pulls and/or chews off the meat. Then I toss the striped bone in the garbage.


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## ShepherdHeaven (Feb 12, 2010)

Miikkas mom said:


> We grind all of the chicken bones (DH had issues with feeding her whole bones). I do not let her eat the rib bone. She just pulls and/or chews off the meat. Then I toss the striped bone in the garbage.


 
My dog Topanga burys them all the time in our yard. I brought home some deer and elk ribs from my parents house and gave her a couple of each and she buried them all. Why dont you let mikka eat the rib bone?


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