Can dogs eat cooked ham hock bones?

Answer 1

This depends upon the dog and the pork bones involved. I'll briefly summarize the major considerations below.

1. The smaller the dog, the worse the idea of feeding bones to it. This is because bone shards can become lodged in the stomach or intestinal tract and cause lacerations of the GI tract, which are medical emergencies. Larger dogs have larger diameter tubes for the bones to pass through, reducing the risk of lacerations.

2. The more food-motivated the dog, the worse the idea of feeding bones to it. This is because dogs that practically inhale their food are at increased risk of not chewing the bone down into digestable pieces. As the bone fragments become larger when they are swallowed, the dog's risk of an intestinal laceration increases.

3. Cooked bones are generally worse that uncooked bones. This is because bones become more brittle when cooked, and therefore are more likely to shatter into sharp pieces rather than crumble when chewed.

4. Larger, knobbier bones are generally better than slim or small bones. This is because a larger bone (like a femur knuckle) is far to big for the dog to wrap its jaw around and shatter - he has to gnaw and scrape at the bone and get bone dust rather than bone shards into his mouth. Rib bones can be easily shattered in one bite, particularly by a large dog.

From the above, you can draw your own conclusions about whether or not your dog can safely eat pork bones, and which pork bones you want to feed him. In the wild, wolves eat bones all the time, and a dog's digestive tract is very similar to a wolf's. In general, if you have a large pork knuckle or ham bone that you want to give your large-breed dog that takes 20 minutes to chew and eat his supper kibble, that's probably OK. I would strongly recommend not feeding leftover rib bones to your Dachshund that is affectionately called the "Amazing Doxie Vacuum" for his ability to suck down food in seconds.

Answer 2

Dog food and dog treats are the best and safest for dogs, large or small. Ham is safe for small dogs if it is cooked, but I wouldn't feed it to my dogs because I don't want them to get fat and beg.

Answer 3

Yes, but watch the dog carefully incase they break the bone down alot and try to eat the peices, they can choak. Also bone has been known to make a dog.... "stopped up" so beware, if you see they can't go after somtime, take them to a vet. asap.

Answer 4

It should not, if your dog starts acting sick then take him to the vet. It should pass through. Do not give your dog bird bones because they will splinter and could puncture his digestive system.

Answer 5

Because pork bones are prone to splintering easily, it is not advisable to feed dogs any form of pork bone. Beef bones are acceptable though.

With pork bones, should the dog ingest such a splinter, it could become lodged in the dogs throat, stomach, or even bowel, causing extreme pain and distress. The same applies to chicken bones.

Answer 6

No bone that comes straight off of a cooked animal is safe for a dog to have.