# How often?



## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

I have mostly feed kibble and use bones as a treat for teething puppies, but I've recently found a butcher who will cut up a whole femur bone for me and my dogs just love them. I've been replacing their breakfast kibble two times a week and they are as happy as can be. Once a week I give pigs feet, but I know they are fatty and not as good for them so I don't do it as often. Trouble is they are now trying to demand something special every morning. They go sit in front of the freezer and look at it. They don't want the kibble. 

So how often can I give these bones? I don't want to make them sick but they sure enjoy them. Would one a day be too much? What can I give on the other days in place of breakfast kibble for them to chew on? Will still feed kibble at night because I want to make sure they are getting the proper nutrition.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

The femur bones are VERY hard. I wouldn't let a dog chew on them for long.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

You are replacing their meal with bones? Weight bearing bones are recreational chews and shouldn't be confused with nutrition. One femur a day is too much, IMO....they aren't considered a RMB. And they have been known to crack teeth....very dense.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

I didn't read it carefully. You cannot replace a meal with that kind of bones.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

Sunflowers said:


> The femur bones are VERY hard. I wouldn't let a dog chew on them for long.


These are cut up fairly small by the butcher, have lots of meat on them and the end knuckles on them as well. What you might call soup bones. 

I've fed the small marrow bones for over 30 years without a problem. Until I started on this board a few years ago I boiled them and froze them first. Now I just feed raw frozen.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

onyx'girl said:


> You are replacing their meal with bones? Weight bearing bones are recreational chews and shouldn't be confused with nutrition. One femur a day is too much, IMO....they aren't considered a RMB. And they have been known to crack teeth....very dense.


Hmmm well I'll keep an eye on it but no one is losing any weight. So they can't have every day? So twice a week is good? What would be considered a RMB?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

RMB's are turkey or chicken necks(any part of chicken) pork neck bones, rabbit, lamb etc. Mammals like cow, pigs, sheep that are older have very dense bones which are hard to chew and digest. I seldom even give turkey bones, unless it is from a hen turkey.
If you are thinking of feeding raw, there are many threads in this forum for information.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

One thing I should mention is I can't do raw chicken or turkey. (shudder) its just a personal thing. It grosses me out. I've heard ribs splinter... so soup/marrow bones two days, pigs feet one day what can I give the other days?? They butcher also has something there called pigs maws... Are they good? What are they?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i don't think cutting up a femur for digestion is a good idea.
i don't think a dog or a wolf would digest a femur bone.
you can drive a nail with a femur bone.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

onyx'girl said:


> RMB's are turkey or chicken necks(any part of chicken) pork neck bones, rabbit, lamb etc. Mammals like cow, pigs, sheep that are older have very dense bones which are hard to chew and digest. I seldom even give turkey bones, unless it is from a hen turkey.
> If you are thinking of feeding raw, there are many threads in this forum for information.



Thanks for the info. You must have posted this just as I was posting about the turkey and chicken. LOL. I'm kind of toying with the idea of mixing more raw into their diet, but I'm not ready to go completely raw. I'm afraid I'd screw something up.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> i don't think cutting up a femur for digestion is a good idea.
> i don't think a dog or a wolf would digest a femur bone.
> you can drive a nail with a femur bone.


?? I'm not cutting up for digestion? Have you seen how big these full bones are? Two of my dogs are little lab mixes.. One is not even 40#'s. The big shepherds get the bigger pieces the smaller labs get the smaller pieces. They don't eat much of the bone they eat the marrow and the meat off of it. 

This is what I'm talking about.


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