Knuckle bone question.

[elisabeth_00117]

I gave Stark a knuckle bone the other day and he ate pretty much the whole thing.

Yesterday, he didn't eat (not a big surprise though, he has been going through this 'don't eat for a day or meal' phase - nothing wrong physcially as he has been checked out) but did poop a few times.

This morning I woke up to him whinning to go out earlier than normal and he pooped almost immediately.

All poops are soild but a bit lighter than usual (probably from all that bone).

When I came in I noticed his bed had some bone pieces on it and there was a wet spot, so he obviously threw up in the middle of the night without waking me.

Are knuckle bones softer than marrow bones? He has never done this with a rec. bone before. Usually the marrow bones have a few dents or scratches but that's it, he's never ate pretty much the whole thing. This is his first knuckle bone (whole) and I don't want to feed the other I have in the freezer incase this happens again.

His activity level is normal, his belly feels fine, he is eating treats and begging for my food so I know his appeitite is normal.

[Chris Wild]

Knuckle bones are much softer than marrow bones. The inside of them is a very spongey texture. So yes, adult dogs can consume the whole knuckle bone in pretty short time, unlike a marrow bone. We try not to let them have the knuckle bones long enough that they can eat one in a single sitting. We usually pick them up after a half hour or so, that way a knuckle will last longer and they aren't eating all that bone at once. But we have had a couple dogs eat the whole thing at one time on occasion when we weren't paying enough attention.

The after effects Stark is having with a bit of vomiting and some really hard, light colored poops are pretty normal for pigging out on a knuckle bone.

[elisabeth_00117]

Thanks Chris!

He only had the bone for about 30 minutes which is why I didn't think twice, I thought they would be harder than what they ended up being.

I don't think he will be getting them anymore, he eats them too quickly. I'll stick to our good old marrow bones.

[ShatteringGlass]

I gave Sydney and Shane Lamb knuckle bones the other day and they devoured them pretty quickly, and they had very light colored poops but where otherwise perfectly fine. I didnt think they could eat them that fast, either!!

[Cheerful1]

Joey got a knuckle bone as a Christmas gift from a good friend of mine, who owns 2 dogs. We were debating back and forth as to whether to give it to him.

Well, we gave it to him yesterday; took about an hour to devour it. No ill effects during the day.

During the night he got up 3 times to pee and poop. Around 4AM we heard a funny noise; he threw up. It was a big lump of stuff, and very dry (was easy to pick up and clean).

We felt horrible about it, but thank God he's ok.

[Mooch]

Ok this may be a dumb question but isn't a knuckle bone just the ends cut off a big marrow bone??

I get mine big marrow bones quite frequently and they chew the 2 big nobbely bits of the end and lick out the marrow (sometimes I get them split up the middle) but I'm always left with about 5 or 6" of solid bone that they can't eat. (and it sucks when you find one of those with the lawn mower )
I have noticed slightly sloppier poops if they ate too much marrow and it's always a very light colour. I have never noticed them throwing up from a big bone tho.

[Cheerful1]

It was from a company called Jones Natural Chews Co; it's called a saddle knuckle (from the beef femur bone in the hind leg).

[RocketDog]

Can someone please clarify, yes, exactly what is considered a "knuckle" bone?

We used to get these great beef soup bones at our local grocery, until they decided to start cutting their own. So basically, now they cut them for me. I think they're just beef leg bones they're cutting up, and I can have them cut them in any size I want.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but are these safe for his teeth? He can eat these bones in about 45 minutes. I have been playing with sizes. They don't bother him at all, but I don't want him to wear his teeth out, and wasn't sure how "hard" they are.

[wolfy dog]

I give WD a beef knuckle bone (large knee joint) once in a while but remove it once he has eaten all the soft tissue to spare his teeth. I give in the early AM so it is out of his system late night in case he gets the runs from the marrow.

[Mooch]

After some google image searching, it does look like a knuckle bone is the top and bottom cut off a marrow bone

The smoked/dried knuckles look a bit scarey