Is it normal to feel a puppy’s bones?
Again, you should be able to feel the bones, but they shouldn’t be protruding. If you can’t feel the bones, or they seem to be buried under fat, you have an overweight dog. If the spine is very pronounced with little or no flesh on top of the individual vertebrae, you have an underweight dog.
How Diet Can Affect Your Puppy’s Behavior
The big pet food companies and many veterinarians would have you believe that kibble is the only thing you should feed. That it’s complete and balanced, good for teeth and growing puppies.
The first kibble was a biscuit made for dogs in the 1860s. Soon after, manufacturing and commercialism combined, making kibble mainstream.
Kibble contains vast amounts of starches, sugars and flavor coatings. The manufacturers have to add synthetic vitamins to the food. This is because the processing destroys nutritive value. Think about how poorly children act with a constant diet of sugary cereal and starchy crackers. Both of these also have artificial colors and other additives.
It’s the same for your dog …
Dr Richard Patton wrote a book called Ruined By Excess, Perfected By Lack. In it he points out many other important dietary factors.
One of them is that foods high in protein and fat cause less rise in blood glucose. On the other hand, carbohydrates in foods cause blood sugar to sharply spike. And they cause obesity.
Dry food makes puppies thirsty so they drink a lot of water and might have trouble with potty training. But a raw diet contains more natural moisture, so your puppy will drink less water. This makes bathroom breaks more predictable.
There are a lot of downfalls to feeding kibble, but canned food is not the answer either. Not unless you’re looking for a sterile, denatured product. Canned food also has questionable thickeners … and BPA can leach into the food from the cans.
There are kibble formulas for all stages of life … from puppyhood through adulthood and into senior years. In the wild, do wolf moms hunt a different kind of rabbit or deer for their pups from the ones they eat?
Wild pups eat fresh meat, bones and organs – and so should your puppy. Early domesticated dogs ate real food. A raw meat-based, species-appropriate diet is still the best choice for your dog.
As part of her raw diet, your puppy needs to eat bones. Bones provide calcium and other minerals to support healthy skeletal development. They also support neuromuscular, cardiovascular, immune and endocrine function.
But it’s not just soft, consumable bones (like necks or ribs) that you feed as part of her meal. She also needs to work on chewing recreational bones.
Recreational bones are bigger and harder bones that dogs can chew on … but not eat as food. They’re meant for hours of gnawing. But if you have an aggressive chewer, be sure to supervise her so she doesn’t break any teeth.
The bone needs to be large enough not that your dog can’t swallow it whole. Otherwise there could be a risk of choking or intestinal blockage.
Suitable bones for small dogs can be dangerous for giant breeds. And, always be sure the bone is raw – not cooked or smoked.
Some good choices are shoulder bone, pelvis, hip joint, knee, knuckle and femur.
Why is my old dog so bony?
While we might think of older dogs piling on the pounds as they get less active, they may have the opposite response to aging. Changes in their hormones with age can change the way the body generates energy. This could leave them being naturally leaner.