#1
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Beef Knuckles - Butcher vs Pet store purchase
I'd like your opinions on something. Before Christmas I bought Charley two beef knuckles from the pet store. From the look and feel of them they have been basted in something (or maybe it was smoked). They have also been sliced in half (or maybe thirds) so the dense marrow is exposed.
He's chewed one down to almost nothing and is slowly working on the second one. They are not cheap to buy ($6 for two I think it was) and I'm wondering if something I bought from the butcher would be as attractive to him for as long. I realise the butcher ones would be more juicy so I have a concern on two levels, one is bacteria and the other is will he even like it if its not smoked? |
#2
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Unfortunately, we've seen a rather large amount of gastro issues from pet store bones. Many dogs cannot tolerate the basting ingredients and have also had allergy consequences. My guys get the butcher ones and they love them.
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"For every animal that dies in a shelter, there is someone somewhere responsible for its death". |
#3
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Are the butcher ones 'messy' like fresh marrow bones are?
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#4
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well what is "messy" for one isn't for the other so my suggestion is to get one from the butcher's and try it out. i hate the petstore ones, they're smoked (ie cooked), stinky, greasy, often of questionable quality and full of chemicals and nitrates, and gave both my dogs explosive diarrhea. No problems with the raw butcher bones, ever. just my
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"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#5
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Messy as in bloody trails all over the house. I have laminate flooring, with a few small braided rugs.... Charley loves to chew stuff while laying on teh rugs. The greasy-ness doesn't show, but blood does.
Funny, Charley gets runny poop really easy and he's been going at these for over a month with no ill effects... I guess I got lucky, better find plan B before it runs out! |
#6
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yeah, each dog reacts differently to food & treats what you could do is allow your dog to only chew on the raw knucklebone while on a towl or something. when he's done, rinse it off and store in the fridge or the freezer until next chew time. it will last a good week or so this way, at least! and many butchers give them for free or charge a token amount for these bones.
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"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#7
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Do you get yours sliced in half?
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#8
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i don't get them anymore (dogs are on a raw diet and crunch through enough bone in a day to keep their teeth clean) but when i did get a few i asked the butcher to keep them whole, to match the size of the dog. for a smaller dog, you could have the bone sawed in two to facilitate chewing (ps these bones are quite dry, not bloody or slimy, you will see!)
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"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#9
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I have a concern for both.
Smoked pet store bone, cooked ( possibly more brittle) and fear it may break apart and dog make choke or get a piece lodged. Raw from butcher, fear bacteria will grow quickly and may harm the dogs or my kids. I don't use either |
#10
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Quote:
IMO, unless a "fear" is based on facts it is just unsubstantiated fear, which ends up depriving your dog of many health benefits a good chewing would do. Go ahead and give that raw bone, crate your dog during chew time if you fear "contamination", after a good chew you can rinse the bone in white vinegar and water then store in a ziplock in the freezer until next chewtime, and wipe down the crate with a white vinegar and water solution. After feeding raw for 3 years now, and never ever anyone in the house getting sick from "bacteria" (and let me tell you I am not fastidious about cleaning, either), i've come to let go of that fear and learn to live with what nature gave us - it is very liberating!
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"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#11
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Agreed. Just the other night there was a show on TV, talking about how we have opened ourselves up to these new super bugs by being so crazy about germs & bacteria. How kids growing up, now are kept away from things so they end much much more sick then if they where introduced at a younger age. It was an interesting show. I forget which channel it was on though. I'm not saying you shouldn't be clean, but as long as you follow normal hygiene, wash your hands after handling food, the washroom, handling money, etc, you'll be fine. I mean honestly, how many people have gone to the store, paid for food, then proceeded to eat it without washing your hands. Money is like the dirtiest thing ever.
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Please please please give Maggie the steak! Its not too big for her little mouth! Their impression of power is remarkable. They give one the feeling of immense reserves of energy, of great reservoirs of knowledge, of tolerance of disposition, obstinacy of purpose, and tenacity of principle. They are responsive, and they have a lot of quiet, good sense. -J. Wentworth Day, from The Dog in Sport, 1938 |
#12
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My kids almost teens have never been sick besides a sniffle here and there.
It is not giving the bone fresh that I worry about but one that has been sitting around for a day or more and has had time to grow bacteria. I doubt everyone using the raw bones are disgarding them after their first chew on it. |
#13
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well i certainly wouldn't leave any raw meat just hanging around the house for days, LOL but even if some people do, that is no reason not to feed any raw bones, though. just pick it up after the dog's done with it and store it in the fridge or freezer
ps: i do leave raw meaty bones outside for days when the weather is below 10C (no flies = cold enough). either the dogs end up eating them, or the birds, or after a week or so i kick it off the balcony so the alley cats can have a go at 'em. works like a charm
__________________
"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#14
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So there might be more benefits to being the kid who ate the sand than we thought
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#15
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Given Charley's small size, I'm not over concerned with him cracking a piece off of an overly brittle bone. I am concerned with the idea that store bought ones may cause digestive problems. (nothing worse than a puppy with a sick tummy, especially at 3 am when its -20!)
I wonder if I could somehow cook/bake/boil the fresh ones to kill off the e-coli?! I'll have to ask around. I do offer him marrow bones, which I try very hard to put back in the freezer once he's done chewing, but occasionally he'll stash it under the couch or something and it gets forgotten for a few hours or a day or so... Hence the appeal of the smoked store bought ones. I guess I'll just have to replicate them at home somehow. If/when I figure it out, I'll come back and let you all know. |
#16
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I agree... Jemma and Boo can't tolerate them at all. Goopies and pukies from both of them. They'll never get a smoked bone from a petstore ever again. NEVER!
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#17
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Try making him stay on a mat or towel with the bone. Also, and this is just me, I would never leave my dog alone with a bone unattended. Hell, I won't leave him alone with a squeaky toy. A nylabone and black kong is all he gets when hes along, and those are closely monitored. Id just be very careful with that.
As for cooking it..again, I'm against giving cooked bones to pups. That includes smoked. Quote:
__________________
Please please please give Maggie the steak! Its not too big for her little mouth! Their impression of power is remarkable. They give one the feeling of immense reserves of energy, of great reservoirs of knowledge, of tolerance of disposition, obstinacy of purpose, and tenacity of principle. They are responsive, and they have a lot of quiet, good sense. -J. Wentworth Day, from The Dog in Sport, 1938 |
#18
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it is common knowledge AND good sense to never, ever give any cooked bones to dogs. they are dangerous for many reasons. IMO not worth the risk...
cooked = smoked, baked, boiled, etc.
__________________
"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#19
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Apparently the knowledge is not all that common... I didn't know?! So fill me in, are cooked bones bad cause they get brittle?
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#20
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Yeah, and they splinter and get stuck.
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#21
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Quote:
good info here: http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-an...-dog-bone.html Quote:
__________________
"Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine" Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. :love: ~Akitas Are Love~ :love: |
#22
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Thanks for the info
It does mention that boiling them is the best way to go, lesser of two evils perhaps. |
#23
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Yeah, to hell with that. I believe this is the best part of the whole thing.
"Raw bones, not cooked bones. Never feed your dog cooked bones..." Thats all you need to know. Not boiled, smoked, whatever. Raw raw raw!
__________________
Please please please give Maggie the steak! Its not too big for her little mouth! Their impression of power is remarkable. They give one the feeling of immense reserves of energy, of great reservoirs of knowledge, of tolerance of disposition, obstinacy of purpose, and tenacity of principle. They are responsive, and they have a lot of quiet, good sense. -J. Wentworth Day, from The Dog in Sport, 1938 |
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