Knick Knack Paddy Whack, Why I Won't Give My Dog A Bone

KNICK KNACK PADDY WHACK DON'T GIVE THE DOG A BONE!!

We often hear how dangerous rawhide can be for dogs.  If the dog swallows a sizable piece of rawhide it can get stuck in their esophagus, intestines, or elsewhere along their digestive tract.  There is also the potential for bacterial contamination due to the processing of many rawhide products.


My dogs love rawhide and cooked bones, but both of these can pose a danger to them
Icy and Phoebe are eagerly anticipating the leftovers from our steak dinner
Likewise, we're told not to give our dogs cooked steak bones or chicken bones.  Cooked bones are more brittle, increasing the risk of the bones splintering or getting stuck in their esophagus, windpipe, intestines, or stomach.  Dogs can choke on these bones if they swallow a large piece.  Pieces of the bone can potentially splinter inside the dogs body and puncture holes along their intestine or in their stomach.  

I've often given my dogs leftover bones on the rare occasions we have steak for dinner.  I monitor them closely and take the bones away after they've picked them clean of meat.  I thought that was okay.  I thought I was being cautious enough.  That is, until a very scary incident occurred one night after one of our steak dinners.


Cooked bones pose a threat to dogs.  They can get stuck or splinter and cause punctures.
Cooked bones can pose a danger to dogs.  They can splinter or get stuck in their throat or along the intestinal tract.
We had given Icy and Phoebe our leftover prime rib dinner bones.  They were in doggie heaven as they chewed & chomped away on their bones, picking them clean of all traces of meat.  I kept a close eye on them and took the bones away after the meat was picked clean. 

Later that night I heard Icy gagging and she threw up.  Upon close inspection, I found that she had regurgitated the small piece of bone pictured here.  My heart stopped for a second.  What if she had choked on that piece of bone?  What if that piece of bone got stuck in her intestine and caused a puncture?? 

I was shocked, I thought I was monitoring them so closely.  Apparently not.  I'm grateful Icy threw that jagged piece of bone up, rather than have it get stuck in somewhere in her body.  That could have been tragic.

So that's why,  Knick Knack Paddy Whack, I'll never give my dogs a cooked bone again!  And neither should you - learn from my mistake. 

13 comments:

Two French Bulldogs said...

I choked twice. If mom wasn't home to pull it from my throat I would have crocked. Rawhide and Bullysticks are not allowed anywhere near this house
Lily (& Edward)

The Army of Four said...

Oh, how terrifying! We aren't allowed to have bones or rawhide, either. This is a scary, but excellent reminder!
Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Unknown said...

I am so happy Icy is ok!! So scary. We do not give Cocoa any rawhide. Once Daisy got in some chicken bones and I was so scared. The vet had us give her Vaseline on bread. She was ok but so scary!!

Dachshund Nola said...

Yep, true! Glad Icy is okay. :) I don't ever give cooked bones. I also don't give weight bearing bones, even if they're raw. Only soft and easy to break up raw bones (like duck necks or chicken wings) on occasion.

M. K. Clinton said...

OMD! How scary for you and Icy. I used to give the dogs rib bones before I knew better. They do not get any bones now with the exception of Jones Chews. This is an important post. Thanks for sharing.

The Daily Pip said...

Oh, that's really scary! I tend to be overly cautious (or as my husband says OCD) about Ruby (not to mention my human daughter) choking. I even get nervous giving her bully sticks. I'm so glad Icy is OK!!!!

Ruby said...

OMD, that is sooooo scary!!! Thanks for sharing your scare, it is a good reminder that cooked bones are a no-go.
Ma doesn't even gives me raw bones, cause she's a scardy cat! I do gets lots of bully's though! ☺
So very glads Icy is okays! Maybe just a couple pieces of that delish steak next time...hehehe
Kisses,
Ruby ♥

jank1961 said...

It's tough to admit our mistakes, so I admire you for sharing this and appreciate it as well! We don't give our dogs bones but we used to. But it's mainly because I'm picky and we mostly only eat boneless meat!
Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

Unknown said...

Oh wow! That's a jagged piece of bone that Icy threw up. I'm so glad she's okay.

We've had our share of close calls and issues with bones too. From cracked teeth to when Haley once ate an entire turkey breast carcass after stealing it from the trash can. I was so worried about the cooked turkey bones, but thank God she was okay.

I'm super careful about bones now and she only gets raw bones when I can get one from the butcher shop. Great article, Cathy. I'll be sharing it!

Darlene said...

Terrifying! Letting dogs play with sticks is also dangerous, especially so if the stick is wet. They, too, will get stuck and then splinter. I won't share a friend's horror story. It's enough to know: Just say no to sticks!

FiveSibesMom said...

SO glad Icy is okay! Very scary. I don't give bones here either, and rawhides can also trigger seizures. #badbones

Unknown said...

I'm with you - no bones in our house, we actually buy Yaks for the dogs to chew and haven't had any issues. In my lifetime, I've had a few dogs with fractured teeth as a result so no bones in our house!

Lindsay Pevny said...

Yikes, how scary! I'm finding it nearly impossible to find chews that are both safe and tempting to my dogs, they won't go near plastic ones. My neighbors constantly leave out cooked bones for Cow, fortunately she's not a rough chewer, and the bones are typically too hard for her to chew splinters, but I still worry. I'll need to remind them - the bigger worry is that she may attack Matilda if she gets too protective of it.

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