Dogs who eat a diet that includes raw meat must receive either bone, bone meal, or a calcium supplement. Benefits of Bones Nutritional Benefitsįirst and foremost, bone is a great source of calcium and phosphorus, two minerals that are present in appropriate percentages for healthy dogs, and are important to a dog’s skeletal health. Then, they must decide for themselves and live with the results.

But the anecdotal evidence from experienced “raw feeders” suggests that most dogs thrive on their boney diets.Īs always when making important decisions that affect their beloved canine companions, responsible dog owners must learn as much as possible about the safest ways to feed bones, and take their dogs’ size, age, health, temperament, and lifestyle into account. Similarly, there are no studies that confirm the allegation that most dogs enjoy improved health from eating a diet that includes or is comprised entirely of bones and raw food. However, the anecdotal evidence provided by veterinarians who have attended bone-injured dogs confirms that there is some risk – whether the injuries they see are due to inappropriately fed bones or not, we don’t know. There are no studies that quantify these tragedies, although the practice of feeding bones would not be nearly as popular as it is if the percentage of fatalities or even serious injuries was very high. A small number of dogs can and do suffer problems – sometimes fatal – from their inability to properly digest bones. So which is it? Do bones kill? Or do they save dogs’ lives? The truth bridges the two positions. Not surprisingly, the subject has taken on emotional overtones, with people taking strong (and usually inflexible) positions regarding the inclusion or exclusion of bones in a dog’s diet. Yet dog owners who advocate the diet rave about their dogs’ beautiful coats, tartar-free teeth, and sparkling good health. We’ve all been told that bones are dangerous, that dogs can choke on them, that they can cause teeth to fracture, that they can obstruct or perforate the bowel with potentially fatal consequences.

Bones are usually the issue that sticks in the craw of many people who are thinking of feeding their dogs according to the diet plan called BARF, a humorous acronym for “bones and raw foods,” or sometimes, “biologically appropriate raw foods.”

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