As most of you are aware Owen has food allergies and is on a strict diet of only fish products. He has not had bones or rawhide since being diagnosed with allergies. The vet has okayed us trying out Elk Bones as they are supposed to have less reactions for allergies.

Owen is loving his bone... a bit too much in fact. He is being very possessive of it. The cats are not even allowed in the same room with him. He will growl and he went after one of the cats. Owen gets along with the cats normally and will even sleep with them and groom them. He will "give" us the bone when we command him too. It is only with the cats that there is an issue.

I talked to Binx and when he becomes possessive with the bone we take it away until the next day. My concern is that we have to be in the same room when he has the bone(for the cats safety).

Is there any reason why dogs need bones? Is it necessary? He does have his kong to chew on and does not go after the cats when he has his other toys. If there is no reason that a dog needs bones I am considering just not giving him any.

Susan

Bones aren't really necessary in dietary terms, a dog will do fine on dog food its whole life having never tasted a raw bone.

The being possessive is pretty normal though, mine will all growl at each other if they come near each others food, I don't worry about that at all, it's only if they start growling at PEOPLE that I correct the behavior.

So if you don't want to watch him, or shutting him away from the cats isn't possible just don't give him any more.

Strange this topic came up now actually because last night Cyrus (my Crested) didn't want to eat his dinner. That is very odd for him as his dinner was chopped up raw beef.
I had a look in his mouth and his top right canine is completely snapped in half... the only thing I can think of that he must have done it on was a bone he had been chewing on the day before... no more bones for him.

Ouch hope your boy is all right. Thank you for the answer. Yeah if there is nothing to the bones that he needs then I will let him have his kong to chew on and no more bones.
I will let him finish up the elk bone and if he happens to improve that I am comfortable with having it alone, then I shall change my mind.
I do love Owen but also have to think about my cats and their well being it is their home as well.

Would he be allowed to have lamb with his allergies? My boy has an intolerance to beef but is fine with lamb.
My Poodles get pieces of the rib as the bone is fairly soft, only takes them 5-10 minutes to eat them.

Just keeping an eye on Cyrus at the moment, he's still eating so it mustn't be hurting him too much. If he goes off his food or it starts to rot I'll have to take him to the vet to get it pulled, very short show career.

I like having bones in my dogs diet, because it is proven that it helps with tartar and other teeth maintenance. Especially if they aren't getting hard food. I am going to suggest that you save the bones for crate time or when Owen is out doors by himself. Food aggression is a hard one to snap him out of, especially if he isn't being aggressive to you and pother people, just the cats.

I have never had a dog snap a tooth because of a bone, but I have had dogs teeth wear down because of things like tennis balls or in one case there was a pup at the shelter a long time ago who used to eat rocks, and he snapped his tooth on a rock. I have also seen pieces of tennis ball get lodged in Max's gums, I have seen rubber duck toy pieces get lodged in the gum as well. I agree with Shaz, if you can't give him a bone by himself you may have to no give him any at all or only on a special occasion.

My last dog (rebel) used to go crazy on bones and did snap a few teeth, we never gave him bones again. Ryu on the other hand isn't like that with his. Nor is he posessive when it comes to his bone with people. Mind you. He doesn't like his brother owen taking his toys lol