# Questions about Femur Bones, Peanut Butter and Bully Sticks



## Metro_Mike (Mar 29, 2013)

The goal has been keeping my now 5 month old puppy busy when I am working from home. 

*Bully Sticks:*
I have found bully sticks work great! I know they are digestible and I have never had any serious problem with them. Although, once when he was about 14 weeks he did wake up and cough up an inch long piece. As a general rule I have been taking them away when they are smaller than 2”. I generally give him a bully stick every other day. He will eat through a foot long bully stick in about an hour. Questions is:
- How often is too often? 

*Femur Bones:*
I started using femur bones as they are a cheaper alternative to bully sticks. Recently I have been giving him femur bones from the butcher. No additives or preservatives with just a little meat on the bone. He prefers them chopped as he can get to the marrow inside. My puppy is still teething and has a few more milk teeth to go. He does naws and scrapes his teeth on the bone. Questions are:
- Can this action wear down enamel or chip teeth? 
- Should access to femur bones also be limited as well? 

*Peanut Butter:*
To get more utility out of a picked clean marrow and meat femur bone that he lost interest in I started putting peanut butter in the bone. This generally will keep him occupied for a little bit (enough to make client calls). Questions are: 
- Is peanut butter safe for dogs? 
- Is there such a thing as to much peanut butter?

Thanks in advance.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

For bully sticks, I usually give no more than two a week. I think it depends on the dog and how they handle it and your budget since they aren't exactly cheap. 

Femur bones - I don't give so no comments there. 

Peanut butter - yes dogs can have peanut butter. Shasta gets a frozen kong stuffed with peanut butter and various yum yums when we leave the house and she's left out of the crate. Averages a kong every day to every other day. Just depends. No issues.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

Bully sticks - great stuff. Good for teething pups as it helps ears that might falter during the teething stage. Not too much to throw off his protein balance and some dogs will get runs with this product. One every other day or so should be fine. 

Femur bones - no more weight bearing bones in my house. Had more than one crack a major tooth on it (canine, molar and lost a couple incisors). My dogs mash and gnaw vigorously and weight bearing bones are just too heavy/tough. Some dogs do just fine with it and some are fine with licking out the marrow or filling inside, but I will not use them for my dogs. Broken teeth are a huge pain - good dental work is hard to find and expensive. 

Peanut butter - dogs go nuts for PB. I use it in Kongs or to feed pills. Just not too much per day because PB has a LOT of calories and fat. Has nice oils, protein etc, but it also tends to have a lot of sodium, fat, calcium. I would limit PB to a tblsp or two per day - probably less. A little bit goes a long way. Spread it on the inner walls of a Kong and fill it with healthier treats so the dog can still have the taste of PB, but not go overboard.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

qbchottu said:


> Peanut butter - dogs go nuts for PB. I use it in Kongs or to feed pills. Just not too much per day because PB has a LOT of calories and fat. Has nice oils, protein etc, but it also tends to have a lot of sodium, fat, calcium. I would limit PB to a tblsp or two per day - probably less. A little bit goes a long way. Spread it on the inner walls of a Kong and fill it with healthier treats so the dog can still have the taste of PB, but not go overboard.


Don't forget the sugar in most peanut butters. Plus, it sticks to the teeth and that's not good.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

Metro_Mike said:


> The goal has been keeping my now 5 month old puppy busy when I am working from home.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Learned that the hard way this week with my 5 month old puppy, gave her 3 scoops and then she had liquid poop for the next day lol, not diarrhea let-me-out-every-15-min, just waterfall


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## Metro_Mike (Mar 29, 2013)

Thanks for the responses.


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## Sophiamve (Aug 5, 2012)

Bully sticks and peanut butter are fine, but I remember during a puppy class the instructor warned us not to give dogs raw hides or bones like that. I don't exactly remember, it might have been because the bones can splinter and damage your dogs throat or stomach. id ask your vet. if I were you I'd avoid the bones. Also: beware of letting your dog chew on rope toys too much. I've heard a ton of horror stories about dogs swallowing the string and having to be put down 


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## Neko (Dec 13, 2012)

Sunflowers said:


> Don't forget the sugar in most peanut butters. Plus, it sticks to the teeth and that's not good.


i use all natural by smackers, nothing but PB, no sugar no malesis and its $4 for huge jar


i wish we could do bully sticks, Z swallowed 4 inch one =/


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## shawk2424 (Feb 6, 2013)

I have been giving my 4 1/2 month old pup the marrow bones since he was 3 months old and he loves them. I don't sometimes because I step on them at night. They are cheap and provides them with the healthy bacteria they need to improve their coat. They also help strengthen their jaw muscles which helps with the ears popping up. As far as chipping teeth are concerned, I have not seen any evidence of this. I buy a pack of six and throw them in the freezer. When they are frozen you can give your pup one and watch he or she go to town. Once the marrow is gone and they have lost interest you can put peanut butter in it and refreeze it and give it to them as a treat. PB has sugar but it is healthy sugar that the body needs.


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## skier16 (Feb 21, 2013)

i have a 14 week old pup and what i do for her is buy bulk 6 inch bully sticks and force them into the top of her large sized kong. at first about 2.5 inches are exposed and she gets to work on that then the next day or whenever i push it up about another inch exposing more for her to snack on. I can make a six inch bully last 3-4 days and about 3-4 hours of cumulative chewing which i think is a great value.


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## AngieW (Nov 13, 2012)

Rather than peanut butter, I recommend buying canned pumpkin (100% pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling) and mixing that with kibble for stuffing and then freezing it.

Pumpkin is recommended for digestive issues, so it won't cause upset stomach unless your dog happens to be sensitive to pumpkin.


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