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.



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 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.