RAW Rib day

These are RAW bones; NEVER, EVER give cooked bones to your dog. (thanks Dale ;))
Yesterday was bone day again; although I woke up to the rain thinking that bone day would be cancelled. Luckily the rain stopped and the sun peeked out just long enough for the hounds to have a good chew. At our house bones means supervision; the easiest way to fight is to allow a free for all with high value items so that means either yard duty or kitchen puttering for me while the dogs chew. Typically I buy the big leg bones for them; they work wonderfully and everyone enjoys them but this time I bought ribs. I was hoping that with the smaller size that they might reach the far back teeth on Jessie.

I was in luck on Monday when I got to the grocers; ribs were on sale. So I bought a pack of two racks for something like 8.00; that's a lot of chews. And being that they are actually for humans consumption; they had lots of meat on them which is again really great for the dogs teeth as they try to pull it off the bone. First I took the ribs and cut them into individual pieces; I left them then on the counter to warm up from being in the fridge. There was a lot of canine mingling going on the kitchen; they know what's up.

Jessie got the largest rib; strange being that she is the smallest but she tends to try to swallow everything and a rib is not something I wanted her to swallow. She is placed in the far corner on a towel; I give her a towel hoping that she will lay down and chew, this usually results in better back teeth cleaning. She didn't lay down though; she prefers to stand and chew.

Next is Tilley; even Miss crooked was very excited for bone day. I gave her a towel to lay on as well but she opted for the lawn, even though it was still wet from the rain. She always lies on the lawn with her bones and so her bone is always covered in grass; mmmmmmmm. Luke get's his last and he is chomping at the bit; aside from shortbread this is probably his favorite. So he took up Tilley's towel and commenced.

It does not take long for all the meat to be gone and these had a lot of meat on them. Soon everyone was chewing on the bone; they had a good hour long chew as I wandered amongst the pack shooting chew images. I'm often asked about all the details of bones so I thought pictures would show how it all comes down. Tilley displays the best chew form for teeth cleaning; Luke second and Jessie last. Jessie tends to be a nibbler so I grabbed her bone and held it so that she could have a good chew; she was not impressed and stopped chewing until I told her knock it off and just chew.

Halfway through the chew I do the swap routine. I never want anyone thinking that they are missing out on something better than what they have. You know "the grass is always greener thing?" So I start with Tilley who is my least posessive dog and I grab her bone, give it to Jessie. As I'm giving Jessie, Tilley's bone I grab hers and swap out Luke's then give Luke's to Tilley. Everyone is very happy to have a new bone and it helps in the whole "we share," aspect. As well if someone is chewing a bone a certain it helps to give them a different bone which will perhaps hit some new teeth.

After an hour and a half Luke was done; he simply came in the kitchen and found me. So I decided to give him a hard chew as well; Luke loves it when you hold a bone for him, it gives him the opportunity to chew like he otherwise cannot. He puts his hold heart into it when you are holding the bone and those back teeth get a great work out. The only caution for holding the bone is DO NOT get your fingers in there. When they are chewing with this much gusto that sheer crushing power is pretty awesome and scary.

So now everyone has much cleaner teeth and fresher breath. Next week we will do it again; Jessie's still need a bit of work. Enjoy the chew images and your day!!!!