Can giving my dog a chew bone daily cause health problems?

Yes, it's fine to give Bruno small treats throughout the day if he enjoys this. Some good options that are fairly healthy for him would include raw carrots, green beans, or small pieces of meat such as chicken or roast beef. Just make sure to account for these treats when you are determining how much food to give him each day, to make sure that he doesn't become overweight :)

Generally speaking eating high protein in this fashion is not detrimental to the pet. In fact the more we research the impact of a consistently high protein diet on the health of dogs, we are finding that they tolerate it rather well. The only time we focus on limiting protein ingestion is when the pet has a diagnosed kidney or heart malfunction.

Thank you for submitting your question and congratulations on your first dog! Treats should not comprise more than 10% of the diet. They should be given in small amounts. If you are giving Milk Bones, by the tiny size and only give several a day. Most dogs in this country are overweight. Being strict with his diet from the start with help to prevent this from occurring with him. As far as the best chew, it is based on the individual dog. The chew needs to be something he enjoys, but more importantly something he cannot break pieces off and swallow. This can become a surgery to remove. I hope this information helps!

No! Dogs should NEVER be given raw or cooked animal bones for several reasons. Raw bones run the risk of transmitting harmful bacteria, including Salmonella or Campylobacter, both to your dog and any exposed people. These bacteria can be transmitted through a dog’s stool and saliva. Bones can also pose hazards for foreign body obstruction in the esophagus, stomach, or intestines. Poultry bones are inherently filled with air and cooked bones become more brittle, both of which can splinter leading to perforation of the stomach or intestines. Bones and antlers are also quite hard and can lead to tooth fractures. Instead of offering bones, alternative products such as Nylabones, Kongs, or the dental treats approved by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (www.vohc.org) are safer and more effective alternatives for dogs that like to chew.

Yes, however, anything that is hard has the potential to break a dog's teeth. You want to make sure it's large enough to be a rounded surface, rather than a flat one that your dog is chewing on (based on their mouth size). It's also important to limit calories from treats to less than 10% of total daily calorie intake.

If too many are included as part of the diet, then yes, a dog could gain extra weight. The marrow is high in fat and calories so dogs can become overweight if given too many. I would make sure you are calculating the additional calories in the marrow bones and then removing those additional calories from the regular diet. I hope this helps!

As with any bone or hard chew toy, there are concerns for tooth trauma. In my experience, I've seen many broken teeth from dogs chewing on deer antlers, hard bones, etc. I would usually recommend against giving these for that reason. As Rocky is a larger breed dog, the pieces of bone that he is chewing off of the main bone should not be a problem and they should pass through his intestines just fine. However, if given a large enough bone and he eats it whole, this could lead to a GI foreign body obstruction as the bone tries to pass through and gets stuck. There are alternatives you can use such as Kong toys that you can put treats in or put peanut butter in that would keep him busy. Hopefully this helps! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any other concerns you may have.