What three things could you possibly need to know about bones? There’s a lot I didn’t know before starting with Jones Natural Chews, and my former ignorance is mirrored in a lot of questions I get from friends and dog bloggers. It’s not a bad ignorance. You don’t know what you don’t know. So I’m going to tell you 3 things you need to know about bones.
1) All bones have the ability to splinter. One of the myths I grew up hearing about bones was that raw bones don’t splinter. That’s a lie. They’re far less likely to, yes, but depending on the dog and the bone, any bone can splinter, including raw. Jones Natural Chews slow bakes their bones with intense moisture control, ensuring that their bones are the closest thing to raw in the splintering department. The key with any bone and any dog is KNOW YOUR DOG. Know it’s chewing ability, the size of it’s mouth, and know the bone. And please, if you’re dog is gnawing a bone and it splinters, take away the small pieces. Throw them away.
2) That brings us to point number two. Not all bones are created equal. There’s been a ton of ugliness about pork bones lately, and dogs being harmed by grocery store pork bones being sold for dogs. Jones Natural Chews sells pork, lamb and beef bones. We indicate on the package which dogs each bone is suited for, be it small to medium, or medium to large. Personally, I really only recommend the beef bones, unless I’m giving treats to a toy dog. Maltese, Yorkie, Pekingese, tiny and teacup dogs can really only handle the lamb and pork bones, which is why we have them in our bone line. They’re perfect for toy dogs. Before I understood this, I watched my Australian Shepherd mixes destroy and consume Lamb Shanks. I didn’t know that the splinters could have punctured their gut. So grateful that it didn’t, and that now I know. Recap? Beef for larger dogs and aggressive chewers. Lamb and pork bones for toy dogs and light chewers.
3) Bones are great for your dog’s teeth and gums. Alright, so a lot of you already know that. But it’s worth stating as often as I can – bones are for gnawing, not for consumption, so they work on the dog’s teeth and gums in a way similar to a toothbrush. Scrape, scrape, scrape while they chew, chew, chew.
A couple of bonus facts – raw bones are carriers of harmful bacteria if left out too long. They’re raw, so stuff can attach itself and grow, being harmful for your dog. Raw feeders I talk to say they give their dogs raw bones, but they throw them away if the dogs don’t finish them in one sitting, for this very reason. Jones Natural Chews bones, on the other hand, are slow baked and the harmful raw stuff no longer exists. It’s like us eating raw meat that sat out versus cooked meat.
Jones Natural Chews bones are mostly single ingredient treats. The exceptions are the bones dipped in a natural liquid smoke, those wrapped with another single ingredient treat (Steer Stick, ligament, pork skin, etc.), or our stuffed bone. Plenty of Jones bones still have meaty bits and/or marrow on them, which drives dogs wild, but I consider those single ingredient bones. There are no artificial coatings on our bones. Or any of our treats, for that matter.
Last, let’s address puppies and bones. I’ll give it to you straight from the horse’s mouth. Here’s what Jones has to say about puppies and bones:
Beef shank bones, knee caps, and stuffed bones are good chewing aids to rescue your shoes and furniture! Make sure to supervise the puppy with any bones as he/she is just developing their chewing habits.
I hope I’ve helped. Let me know in the comments if there’s something unclear, or if you have a question about bones, either ours, or bones in general, and I’ll do my best to answer in a straight forward fashion. Now go give your dog a Jones bone! Watch it smile. Naturally.
Until I write again …
Flea
