This may be a bit controversial for some but …… I feed my dogs raw bones. My dogs get bones with their meals daily and once a week they get a really big, raw, meaty bone.

On the “big bone” day, they crunch, tear, rip and contort themselves to eat every bit of the meat and bone. It is such a pleasure to watch. They are completely happy and engaged in the process.

Apart from it being psychologically fulfilling for the dogs, there are two other reasons I feed them these “big bones”.

1. All over body work out

Eating big and unusual sized bones (compared to chicken necks, wings or frames) requires the dogs to stretch and brace in ways they would not normally move and this conditions their muscles.

Eating bones from the ground, requires the dogs to lower and twist their heads which stretches neck and shoulder muscles. In older dogs, these muscles often become quite contracted as the dog shifts their weight to compensate for weakness in the hind limbs. Lowering and twisting the head, stretches these muscles.

Using the forelimbs as a brace to hold a bone, strengthens the shoulder and chest muscles and stretches the muscles in the hindquarters as the dog pulls meat away from the bone.

Lastly, chewing bones exercises the mastication muscles of the face where anxious dogs offer carry muscle tension.

2. Nutritional value

Raw meaty bones are just about a complete food for dogs. They provide energy, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.

Red meat contains all the essential amino acids including arginine, lysine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine, and valine. While bone contains all the essential amino acids except methionine.

Meaty bones contains fat for energy, absorption of fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E) and to provide essential fatty acids.

Lastly, raw meaty bones provide pets a dietary source of minerals including sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

If you would like more information about diet and nutrition for your dog, Full Stride provides nutrition consultations to assess your pet’s existing diet and to formulate a customised diet plan to suit you and your pet. For more information please feel free to contact me.

Until next time, enjoy your dogs.