Our Dogs World 101

Can A Dog Eat Chicken Bones – Raw or Cooked?

One question I am asked a lot is can a dog eat chicken bones?

You only left the kitchen for a minute, but when you return, it is already too late. The roasted chicken you just pulled out of the oven is gone.

The only potential culprit is sitting on the floor, panting, wagging his tail, and looking quite pleased with himself—as if the cat is clearly to blame.

You panic when you realize that your dog has eaten the chicken bones, too. Do you rush him to the vet immediately?

Raw Chicken Bones

Always feed your dog raw chicken bones. Raw meaty bones such as raw chicken help to keep teeth and gums healthy, provide added nutrition and help cleanse your dog’s digestive tract. Never feed cooked chicken bones to your dog, as these can splinter and cause internal injury.

When the chicken bones are raw, they are soft and flexible, meaning they are easy to chew.

If they are cooked, these bones become brittle and become sharp when chewed.

You must remember that dogs are descendants from wolves and other wild dogs where bones were their staple diet. Raw chicken bones are very dense in nutrients essential for dogs, as well as doing the job of cleaning their teeth and gums as they chew on them.

Precautions To Take

When you feed your dog chicken bones, you have a few more precautions to take. First, ensure that the bones you are giving your dog are not cooked.

As soon as they are cooked, they take on that brittle, splintering quality that can damage the esophagus and intestines, as well as lodge in the throat or digestive tract.

The bones should be big enough that they cannot be swallowed whole by your dog. Feed raw bones in moderation.

While raw chicken bones are good for your dog, especially when it comes to the teeth and gums, feeding them too many poses the risk of constipating them. Talk to your vet or an animal nutritionist regarding how many you can feed your dog.

Is It Bad for Dogs to Eat Chicken Bones?

Before our dogs became domesticated, they were always eating bones from the prey that they would kill and would have no issues in processing them.

Often chicken bones, once they hit the stomach will end up dissolving before they even get a chance to become dangerous to your dog.

Most dogs have little to no issues pooping chicken bones. Other bones, such as beef, lamb and pork can cause a lot more troubles including stress and disease.

What Can I Do If My Dog Chokes on A Chicken Bone?

If you are worried that the bones are stuck part the way down your dog’s throat or inside the intestinal tract this could be potentially like threatening and should be addressed immediately.

Can you see the bone or grab hold of the bone? You should remove it if you can do this without stressing your dog further or getting bitten yourself.

So if you can’t, see the bone immediately you should get your dog to a vet as soon as you possibly can as this could lead to breathing difficulties.

Are Raw Chicken Necks Good for Dogs?

I have always given my dogs raw chicken necks, either fresh or dehydrated but NEVER cooked.

Chicken necks are extremely high in protein and calcium both of which are required in a healthy growing dog; however they are also very high in fat which if your dog is a little overweight could heighten the issue.

Many people believe that raw chicken necks pose health risks in dogs such as choking and bacterial issues which can be true in some cases.

I have been giving my dogs raw chicken necks for years and never had an issue with choking or from them getting sick. I always ensure that I am getting good quality fresh chicken necks from my butcher and always supervise them whenever I am feeding them necks.

Chicken Necks – Not Suitable for All Dogs

So are there any special cases when you shouldn’t feed your dog chicken necks? If your dog is overweight, it is worth considering a lower fat treat. This is also true if your dog has a condition which is triggered by fatty foods. The most common of which is pancreatitis, but also inflammatory bowel disease and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency can worsen with excess fat too.

Also, if your dog suffers from a chicken allergy, which is a common food allergy, chicken necks should be avoided. Allergens come from the protein component of the food, of which chicken necks contains plenty of.

Turkey Necks – Another Alternative

Turkey necks are basically the same as chicken necks, with all the same benefits, except they are much bigger. As a result, they encourage your dog to chew on them for longer, and if your dog is big enough to swallow a chicken neck whole, he will have to think twice about doing so with a turkey neck.

Mark’s Final Words

As a dog owner and trainer for over 50 years I have learned a lot about dogs and what makes them tick.

For the past 5 years or so I have started to become extremely interested in dog nutrition as a lot of my clients would ask when I was training their dogs what can I feed them? Is raw food, OK? What diet should I put them on? Etc. etc.

Therefore, I am now enrolled to undertake my Diploma of Nutrition for Pets.

It has for many years been pounded into our heads both online and by some “So Called Experts” that raw chicken is filled with bacteria that could potentially cause serious health issues to your dog.

Exactly as we would do with our food there are golden rules to follow for storing, freezing, thawing, and cooking which will be no different for our dogs.

So using those same precautions giving your dog raw chicken necks or raw chicken in general can be done safely as long as you follow what I have outlined above, and the best part of all this is that your best friend will love you even more, if that’s even possible!

If, you would like to know anything more regarding your dog’s current nutrition please leave your questions below or contact me at mark@ourdogsworld101.com and I will be glad to help.

Woof Woof

Mark

 

7 thoughts on “Can A Dog Eat Chicken Bones – Raw or Cooked?”

  1. Thanks for this article. I have always given my dog chicken with the bones and i am now hearing for the first time that they should only be given raw chicken bones. I am glad that so far my dogs have survived any potential harm to their throats and their stomachs. Thanks for this information

    Reply
    • Hi JJ,

      You should always try to avoid giving your dogs any type of cooked bones as once cooked they tend to splinter and pose a potential choking risk.

      I am glad you liked the information provided.

      Reply
  2. Interesting topic. One I thought I would never come across. I actually thought cooked chicken bones was better for dogs than uncooked ones. 

    My bad! Is it okay for the dog to eat the chicken meat as well or? I have always wondered. What if you cook the bones a bit and give them?

    I don’t own a dog I was wondering, curiosity I guess. Thanks for sharing. 

    Reply
    • I am glad you found the topic interesting.

      You should never feed your dog cooked chicken bones as this has the potential to choke your dog because once cooked they have the tendency to splinter.

      Cooked chicken meat for dogs is fine just as long as there are no bones.

      Reply
  3. I never knew about turkey necks which I will now try my large breed do with as the chicken necks look like ants in her mouth – thanks for the tip

    Reply

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