From the monthly archives:

January 2009

Why NOT feed your dog cooked chicken bones?

by Barbara on January 16, 2009

in Dog Biology, Dog Care, Dog Treats

Paul from South Africa asked this question using the contact form on Best Dog Food Guide.

“I have been feeding my dogs raw and cooked chicken bones for over 3 years now. Never had a problem. Both were strays so I know they have been eating the same or much worse in the past. That means all of their lives they have eaten bones like chicken bones.

Why are we not supposed to feed our dogs chicken bones? The notion seems absurd. I have seen wild dogs devour an impala until there was almost nothing left, including the bones. Am I to believe my dogs are so far removed from those in

Bones are very nutritious for dogs. You do need to take several things into account when selecting safe bones.

  1. Choose robust bones. Dogs can choke in tiny bones.
  2. Choose raw bones. Cooked bones can easily splinter! Bone splinters can perforate the digestive tract. Though your dog’s stomach acid is very strong and will dissolve most of the splinters. Still, this is a risk that can easily be avoided.

Wild dogs of course always choose uncooked bones :-)

So it’s not a problem to feed your dogs chicken bones, as you can already tell from experience. Feed cooked bones however, elevates the risk of damaging the intestines. Cooked bones are unsafe, especially cooked chicken bones.

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