# Dog Ate Chicken Bones



## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

My dog got into some chicken bones that were in the trash. He probably ate 3-4 chicken legs. 

What should I do? Is there anything I can do. 

Just a reminder, he's a 100lb Great Dane.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I've heard that feeding them a few cotton balls soaked in milk can cover the sharp edges.
I've never tried it, but I don't see how it could harm them
They should pass through in 24-48 hours.

Keep an eye on him to make sure he's not straining to pass something, and that there is no blood in his stool. 

If he doesn't have normal bowel movements and shows any distress at all, get him X rayed.

Odds are really good there will be no ill effects.
I hope it turns out OK for you and him.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

I would err on the side of caution and at least alert your vet to the issue. We had a Golden Retriever that ate just a few chicken bones she got out of the trash, it took three days to do the internal damage, then she died of internal bleeding and it was pretty horrific.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Wild dogs eat animals, bones and all. I should think a 100 lbs dog shouldn't have a problem, but watch him and if he shows any signs of distress, take to to a vet immediately. Our (then 50 lb) Catahoula pup chewed up and ate some beef rib bones and other than a couple of painful poops, she did OK - we did take her to the vet however just to make sure.

Funny story about a cat and chicken bones, happened 30 years ago, the cat is long gone. but I had always heard never give a cat chicken bones. I accidentally left out the carcass of a chicken (dinner) overnight on the counter. In the morning the bones looked like an archaeologist had taken great care in removing all traces of meat, leaving the skeleton in perfect condition.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

Raw bones are fine for most dogs, but I believe the OP is talking about cooked chicken bones, which are very brittle and splinter easily. They tear up the intestines when moving through them, causing internal bleeding. If he/she is talking about raw chicken bones, the dog should be ok. Since it wasn't specified, I assumed they were cooked, but should have checked first.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

About all you can do now is closely observe and be ready to act if needed.

http://www.dogingtonpost.com/help-my-dog-ate-chicken-bones-what-do-i-do/


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

if you catch it quickly you can feed several slices of bread to the dog to cushion the sharp splinters of bone as they pass thru.


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

Just observe and see if it is a problem, imho. I don't and wouldn't feed my dogs chicken bones, but a lot of folks I know have 10+ year old dogs that they give all their chicken bones to and always have. There is no telling what my dogs have consumed judging from what I confiscate when I see it.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Modern commercial broiler chickens are usually harvested really young, and the bones are quite rubbery, even when cooked. Compared to your more traditional heritage breeds. The reason I know this is because one of my kids, who had been used to eating tough old yard birds, got some store bought chicken at a picnic or somewhere. Poor little kid didn't know when to quit eating the chicken leg. We were alarmed, but everything came out OK. Cooked bones are not a good idea for dogs, but you will probably be OK. Raw bones are fine. 

I've heard of the bread trick, folks swear by it. I always wondered if part of the problem was the grease that was also eaten made the bad bone shards pass to the intestines too quickly, before the stomach acid had a chance to soften them up. The bread might actually be slowing the gut down a little as much as it is cushioning the bones. Either way, it would probably be best administered very soon after bone ingestion.


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## mustangglp (Jul 7, 2015)

Had dog eat 00 stainless steel fishing hook vet recommend cottage cheese dog end up being fine .


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

I did feed him some bread. He seems to be passing them now. He's got the runs but aside from that there's no other signs of distress. 

They were cooked bones. 

Thanks for the feedback guys! It means a lot to me to be able to turn to the community in times of need.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

I once had a dog swallow a needle with a short length of thread attached. I had no idea he'd done so till I saw the thing dangling out of his backside. It passed thru still threaded. Scared the bejesus out of me but he had no ill effects.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

At least you didn't have to rethread it!


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

He seems to be doing OK today. He hasn't pooped yet which is unusual but he's not showing any signs of distress. No bloating, no blood in his stool yesterday. 

I think we're still going to have some issues over the next couple of days, but hopefully they clear up.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

barnbilder said:


> At least you didn't have to rethread it!


true!


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

We're on day three and he's passed all the bones I think. I've been looking at a lot of dog poop. He seems to have not suffered any ill effects. 

Thanks for the hand with this one guys! We were all panicky over it. We don't want him to die because he's to stupid to not eat chicken bones.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Glad it came out OK. Post a pic of your dog if you get a chance, I just LOVE Great Danes. We had a couple of them in the past, will have another one someday. But that shorter life span for the giant dogs is a killer, I'm not ready to have my heart broke again just yet. 

Might try some cayenne pepper on your trash for awhile, or when there is something "delicious" in the trash.


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## Bungiex88 (Jan 2, 2016)

My dog ate 2 whole chicken carcasses I had in the trash and she had no problems


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

Here he is! He ears and chews on everything. He just ate some cake I had on the counter. My wife didn't even get a chance to try it.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

Dang, pic is sideways and I already reoriented it. I'll have to see what I can do about that.


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## no really (Aug 7, 2013)

Good looking boy, glad he is doing good. I have a GS that is a food thief. She will take dishes out of the sink and do a quick cleaning of any scraps.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Austin said:


> I'll have to see what I can do about that.


Lie down on your right side.


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Counter is nose level for a Dane. Gotta convince them it's your territory and not theirs. Young ones need exercise, once they mature they can be couch potatoes but always remember a tired dog is a good dog.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

He does get to go on walks and play fetch, but probably not as much as he needs. I think that's why he chews everything. I could be wrong though. I'm not a dog trainer.


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## kalmara (Aug 21, 2011)

Sometimes 10 mins of "brainwork" will tire them  If you can find the time a couple of times a day to do some basic obedience and/or teach him a trick or two, it will tire him out.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

kalmara said:


> Sometimes 10 mins of "brainwork" will tire them  If you can find the time a couple of times a day to do some basic obedience and/or teach him a trick or two, it will tire him out.


We do, but he still chews up everything. It's getting old. He hasn't destroyed anything of value yet but it's coming.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Get him a butternut squash to try. My 19 month Akita loves them and spaghetti squash. It really helps. He is a chewer/shredder. He is getting better thankfully. I still have to wear my old chore coat on walks, at some point he feels that the right sleeve is fair toy.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

A tired dog is a good dog. When our Catahoula was a pup she was very destructive - we finally put her in 'doggie day care' 3 days a week and took her to the dog park for over an hour the other 4 days of the week. Cost us a lot of money for the day care but we got her past the "chewing on everything including us" stage. She is 2 1/2 now and we still take her on 45 minute walks each day that we can't make it to the dog park.


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

Our dogs are just farm hounds... and the wife has a ****zu... but they scraps go to the fence 100yds away... bones and all.. Been letting doge eat em for years no ill effects..


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Austin said:


> Here he is! He ears and chews on everything. He just ate some cake I had on the counter. My wife didn't even get a chance to try it.


Handsome boy!


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

Thank you guys. 

We cam home from baseball last night and he had destroyed the living room. We need to find a way to keep him from doing it before my wife says enough is enough.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Austin said:


> Thank you guys.
> 
> We cam home from baseball last night and he had destroyed the living room. We need to find a way to keep him from doing it before my wife says enough is enough.



Hey, do you know what a "kong" is?
Our boy had a reputation of tearing stuff up when we got him from the pound.
It IS important fro give him a walk or other play every day, at least an hour or so.
Once he realizes there IS a reward guaranteed, he should fall into a routine.
They are just like children.

Anyway, when we had to leave him at home for a few hours, my wife would stuff a kong with peanut butter to keep him occupied while we were gone.
It may be worth a try.


https://www.chewy.com/kong-classic-...gclid=CI-19ICH2dMCFdYvgQodwZgBLA&gclsrc=aw.ds


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

What's a kong?


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Austin said:


> What's a kong?


I put up a link in my post.
It's virtually indestructible, and I've had the dogs that prove it. LOL


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## RichNC (Aug 22, 2014)

Myself, when I left the house or while sleeping the dog would be in a secure crate, and yes they make them plenty big enough for a Dane. The day it chews through a electric cord or eats your whole couch will be the day you will kick yourself for not crate training the dog.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

We have a crate it's getting a little small for him. Time for a bigger one I suppose.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

We have a crate it's getting a little small for him. Time for a bigger one I suppose.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

Sounds like separation anxiety perhaps. You may need that bigger crate and start short term separation when you can. Even you can only spend a few minutes. I'm doing that with Kuma, I think I'm gaining, still I have him out mostly while I'm out and about. He went through the back door one night after he had been here about two weeks after rescue. I was out doing road treatment for my town during a storm. I was flipping out when I saw he was gone. I don't know where he was but he came running back all soaked and muddy. He rode with me the rest of the storm and every night storm since then. 

I didn't care that I had to fix the back door at all. He is laying beside right now pawing at me for a belly rub.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

bobp said:


> Our dogs are just farm hounds... and the wife has a poopzu... but they scraps go to the fence 100yds away... bones and all.. Been letting doge eat em for years no ill effects..



I'm thinking the same. I go hunting, Dogs eat a lot of scrap and bones. Most they do is get Gas.

I won't give them Fish and tried keeping Chicken Bones away from them after first reading this.

It was a fight I finally gave up.

big rockpile


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## kalmara (Aug 21, 2011)

Yes a bigger crate is a must  The Kong is a great idea, can be stuffed with almost anything & if frozen lasts for longer. Could also try giving him a raw cannon bone - will keep him busy for an hour or two !


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

My dad used to feed our dogs chicken bones. God we argued so much about that. He wasn't the one who had to pull a shard of chicken bone out of the roof of the dog's mouth while someone else held it open.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Real bones satisfy chewing better than chew toys. Ask your vet what raw bones are suitable for your dog. Weight bearing bones (which are usually sold as large dog bones) are too hard. Look for hip joints. A proper bone should be soft enough to eat with reasonable chewing, and too large to swallow (at least to start with). Just put him in the yard with the bone. It's good for setting the teeth as well as properly growing bones

They make Kongs for really large dogs. Get one and fill it (the center is hollow) with cuts of frozen meat or kibble and peanut butter. You want to supervise to make sure he doesn't swallow it. Once you know it's safe, give him a kong in the house and leave for twenty minutes. When you come back, take the Kong and put it away. Do this two or three times in a day, then once or twice every day. This is so he looks forward to your leaving. When you leave the house give him a kong. 

Does he have his own mat? He should have a mat or blanket or something and you train him to "place" by dropping a couple of treats on it so he discovers it's a good place. Point to the mat, say "place" and point, toss a couple of treats on the mat. This way, you can drop the mat anywhere and he knows it's his place.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

I've been getting beef knuckles from chewy.com. They have great prices on food too.


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## Morledzep (Jan 13, 2017)

I'm glad your handsome boy is ok! 

I've been feeding my dogs a diet called "prey model raw" for a little over 15 years, they get hunks of meat, hunks of meat on the RAW bones, organ meats, lots of fatty meat too (there is good healthy energy in fat for dogs and people). What they NEVER get is cooked bones, ever. 

I understand about counter surfers too, I don't have great dane sized dogs, but I do have akitas and mastiffs. we use the microwave as a meat safe (we don't cook in it anymore..lol), and the oven on the stove when we're thawing meat either for them or us. It takes a while to learn to keep food off the counters (I know, the dog is training you, not the other way around), but it's easier than trying to get a dog that can see what's on the counter to leave it alone. lol


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## Morledzep (Jan 13, 2017)

Is your boy very young? The best advise that was given to me when I had raw fed puppies was to get them pig and goat legs, preferably with a little meat left on them, but even without much meat, they are soft bones, easy to chew, and they keep the puppies busy for hours.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

Thanks for the advice guys! He's 10 months I'm pretty sure and he is training us to not leave food on the counter.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Morledzep said:


> It takes a while to learn to keep food off the counters (I know, the dog is training you, not the other way around), but it's easier than trying to get a dog that can see what's on the counter to leave it alone. lol





Maura said:


> Real bones satisfy chewing better than chew toys. Ask your vet what raw bones are suitable for your dog. Weight bearing bones (which are usually sold as large dog bones) are too hard. Look for hip joints. A proper bone should be soft enough to eat with reasonable chewing, and too large to swallow (at least to start with). Just put him in the yard with the bone. It's good for setting the teeth as well as properly growing bones
> 
> They make Kongs for really large dogs. Get one and fill it (the center is hollow) with cuts of frozen meat or kibble and peanut butter. You want to supervise to make sure he doesn't swallow it. Once you know it's safe, give him a kong in the house and leave for twenty minutes. When you come back, take the Kong and put it away. Do this two or three times in a day, then once or twice every day. This is so he looks forward to your leaving. When you leave the house give him a kong.
> 
> Does he have his own mat? He should have a mat or blanket or something and you train him to "place" by dropping a couple of treats on it so he discovers it's a good place. Point to the mat, say "place" and point, toss a couple of treats on the mat. This way, you can drop the mat anywhere and he knows it's his place.


Good advice.
The grocery store sells beef bones in the butcher dept.
And giving him a treat when he's left alone does train him that he's not being punished, he learns that there's a reward for having some discipline.



Austin said:


> Thanks for the advice guys! He's 10 months I'm pretty sure and he is training us to not leave food on the counter.


Yep.
It's always harder to train the ones with 2 legs instead of 4.


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## Morledzep (Jan 13, 2017)

farmrbrown said:


> Good advice.
> The grocery store sells beef bones in the butcher dept.
> And giving him a treat when he's left alone does train him that he's not being punished, he learns that there's a reward for having some discipline.


I have to debunk some common myths. First, beef bones (cooked or raw makes no difference) are far too dense, they can and will crack or break even strong adult dog teeth. Which is why I recommended raw pork or lamb leg bones, they are softer and will not break teeth, and they take hours for the dogs to completely consume. 

Training by rewarding only good behavior is an excellent way to train, but keeping a dog busy while you're gone is not rewarding good behavior, it is directing the dogs' attention away from the behavior you want to avoid. Two entirely different modes of getting what you want from your dog. And rewarding a dog for a job well done hours afterwards is just as detrimental to reward based positive reinforcement training as punishing a dog for 'bad' behavior long after it happened.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

I can just get those bones from the local grocer? I will ask next time I'm there if that's the case. He needs something to gnaw on. He's been chewing on rocks. That can't be good for him.


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

He's cutting t


Austin said:


> I can just get those bones from the local grocer? I will ask next time I'm there if that's the case. He needs something to gnaw on. He's been chewing on rocks. That can't be good for him.
> He's cutting teeth.


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## Morledzep (Jan 13, 2017)

Austin, 

Probably, if not a local meat market or butcher will definitely have them. Major chain grocery stores don't do very much meat cutting anymore, they mostly get their meat in boxes already cut and wrapped for the self service display cases. But some still employ butchers at least part-time to do custom cuts for customers, like deboning a leg o lamb, or slicing a roast into steaks. In most of the Southwest USA you can find whole pork legs in hispanic grocery stores for cheap. Have the butcher cut it into steaks, roasts and save the fat and skin for the winter when your dogs coat gets dry and brittle.


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## HTAdmin (Dec 21, 2015)

I'll see what I can find. I appreciate the advice.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Yep, bones have got to be better than rocks, lol.
As to which bones, beef, lamb, pork, that's up to you.
But the grocery stores have discovered this niche market for dog owners. They can sell what they used to toss out.
Stop by the meat dept and ask, and you shall receive.


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