Dogs, Chicken Stock, Onions and Bones

[GVA-66]

I just made a big pot of chicken stock. I used a whole chicken and a bunch of chicken feet (I felt like a witch lol) following the chicken stock recipe from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook.

I just strained my stock and after reserving the larger pieces of chicken for other uses I have a lot of shredded chicken mixed with carrots and celery. Also a lot of bones including chicken feet bones.

I have read often that onions are toxic to dogs. I used 1 large onion in the stock. I don't want to throw out the left over mix of shredded chicken and carrots/celery because it seems like such a waste when I could feed it to my dogs and cats, but I'm nervous giving to the poochies because of potential onion toxicity. Any stock makers who use onion in their stock feed this leftover stuff to their dogs? I am not using onion next time because this is too much of a waste if I can't feed to my dogs.

Also I know cooked chicken bones can splinter when a dog eats them and are potentially dangerous, but doesn't seem like this is an issue with bones cooked in stock (the stock cooked for about 20 hours). The cookbook says to give these stock bones to your dog or cat. Any stock cookers give these bones to their dogs?

[MazdaMatt]

I'd never feed chicken bones to my dog and he was 115lbs. Better to throw them out than kill your dog or spend thousands at the vet.

Edit: suggestion - throw it all in the garden.

[GVA-66]

I'd never feed chicken bones to my dog and he was 115lbs. Better to throw them out than kill your dog or spend thousands at the vet.

Edit: suggestion - throw it all in the garden.


Thanks for the reply Mazda. My ignorance on these matters is what happens when you grow up in NYC and live primarily off take out food most of your life.

I had them on a raw diet and I had/have no problems giving them raw chicken with bones. Doesn't make sense to me that dogs can't handle raw bones since they sure as hell didn't eat kibble for most of their evolutionary existence. It's the cooked bones that are dangerous; I just needed to differentiate between the danger inherent in the different cooking methods. Most cooking methods render the bones very dangerous as they become brittle and can splinter; but from researching around it seems the general consensus is the bones from stock cooked for a lengthy amount of time is safe for dogs since they are very soft. I checked the bones from my stock and they are soft and can be mashed easily. That said, some sources say the bones don't have much nutritional value after simmering for so long (all the good stuff goes in the stock) so it's sort of pointless to give them the bones from a nutritional standpoint.

The onion seems to be the biggest problem. I will just not add onion to my stock anymore since I want to give them some stock and any left over vegetables, etc. Probably won't be as flavorful, but I don't like wasting food if I can avoid it, and the stock would be very good for them sans onion. And no garden, I live in an apartment.

Thanks again.

[todd]

I have fed my cats raw meaty bones and they love them. I have also read that it can be bad for them to eat cooked bones, because of the splintering. Also, I think part of the reason meaty bones are so good for animals is because they exercise their jaws gnawing the meat off and cracking the bones up. It also cleans their teeth. These benefits would not be present with brittle, cooked bones. Also, like you said, the cooked bones may not have the same nutrients, because they are all in your stock water now.

I have had dogs that reacted very bad when fed onions. Cleaning it up was not pretty.

[MazdaMatt]

You've definitely done more research than I have, I just look at risk/reward and choose not to. My dog would devour anything so fast he wouldn't know what it was till it was gone and he was licking his lips. Cooked or not, a bone sideways in his throat could have been expensive. The time it takes to seperate the little bones away is worth it.

Mind you, i'd give him a T-bone any time and he loved it. Same with big beef ribs and such.

True, dogs did not evolve to eat kibble, but they probably also wouldn't live 12-16 years in the wild, either. Good for you for watching your dog's nutrition, though.

What kind of dog(s)? Age? Pictures?

[GVA-66]

You've definitely done more research than I have, I just look at risk/reward and choose not to. My dog would devour anything so fast he wouldn't know what it was till it was gone and he was licking his lips. Cooked or not, a bone sideways in his throat could have been expensive. The time it takes to seperate the little bones away is worth it.

Mind you, i'd give him a T-bone any time and he loved it. Same with big beef ribs and such.

True, dogs did not evolve to eat kibble, but they probably also wouldn't live 12-16 years in the wild, either. Good for you for watching your dog's nutrition, though.

What kind of dog(s)? Age? Pictures?


I've got a pit bull who is about 7-years-old now. I got him from a NYC shelter when he was about 5-months-old. He has been with me to Hawaii and has driven cross country with me twice. An absolutely great dog.

I also now have a blue heeler that is about 1-year-old. I took him in last year after he was sorta abandoned with me. He is a very sweet dog.

The pit bull/blue healer combo is challenging at times because they are both stubborn/high energy breeds, but they are remarkably well matched (at least my two) and get along really well. My pit bull, Zach, is about 75 pounds, and my blue heeler, Logan, is about 35 pounds. (BTW, I didn't name either one...I'm thinking of changing Logan's name to Joey cause he looks like a fucking kangaroo to me.)

Here is a video of them playing together:

Zach and Logan Playing (http://www.ganine.me/video/zachloganplayingonbed.wmv)

Zach is older and a bit slower than Logan, but Logan is fast as hell. If Zach has something Logan wants, Logan will bite Zach in the ass making Zach drop it. After Zach drops it he will whip around to confront Logan, and in the interim Logan will have run around the other way, grapped what Zach dropped, and will have run away with it before Zach knows what hit him.

Logan is true to his breed and will nip constantly at Zachs legs/ass; Zach has an incredible amount of patience with Logan who can be a real asshole at times. I also have 3 cats and Logan herds them around the apartment all day long.