Health
The plate of chicken bones cleared off the table, the stockpot bone given "as usual", the cracked tooth after a smoked bone. What to watch for and when to ring.
Caution. Choking or pawing at his mouth, vomiting over and over, a hard, sore belly, straining to pass stools, blood in his stools or a ring of bone stuck on his jaw: ring your own vet today. Do not make him sick and do not pull at the bone.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
Sunday lunch, and a plate of chicken bones is still on the table. By the time you have seen the guests out, it is empty. Or your mum has been giving the dog the bones out of the stockpot for years, "because all our dogs had them". Or you picked up a big smoked beef bone at the pet shop, and the next day your dog has a cracked tooth. "Can I give my dog bones?" has a messier answer than it looks, because it depends on the bone, on the dog and on how he eats. Below is what to watch for after he has swallowed one, when to ring your own vet, and why plenty of vets would rather never see a bone in the bowl at all.
Most dogs who swallow a few small cooked chicken bones come to no harm. In some, though, the bones get stuck or do damage, and the signs can show within minutes or not until two or three days later. Ring today if:
When a dog is choking or vomiting over and over, do not wait to see "if it passes". A bone stuck in the oesophagus is easier to get out the sooner it comes out.
If he shows none of the signs above, you have three days of keeping an eye on him. Write down:
What and how much. Note the kind of bone (chicken, pork, beef), whether it was cooked, raw or smoked, how many, how big, and what your dog weighs. A 30 kilo dog who swallowed two chicken wings is a very different case from a 4 kilo dog who ate a whole drumstick. That is exactly what you tell the vet on the phone.
The time. When he ate them. The vet may ask how many hours the bone has been in his stomach.
Three days of stools. Every one, its shape and colour. Digested bone makes stools hard, crumbly and pale. Two normal stools in a row usually mean the bones have gone through.
Food and water. Whether he is eating normally, drinking, and keeping it down.
How he is. Playing, keen for his walk, stretching out as usual, or curled up tight, hunched, head low?
His teeth. After a hard bone, open his mouth and look: a tooth with a broken edge, a pink or brown spot in the middle of a tooth, blood on the gum. The big upper molar he uses for shearing is the one that breaks most often.
Vets have no single rule for a dog who has eaten cooked bones, so ask yours over the phone. Some will want an X-ray; others will tell you to watch him at home. Your part is the detail above.
| The bone | The risk | What vets usually say |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked chicken, poultry or pork bones | Splinter into sharp shards, lodge in the throat or gut, cause injury | Never |
| Bones from the stockpot, boiled for hours | Crumble, cause constipation with chalky stools, blockages | Never |
| Smoked or dried bones from shops | Broken teeth, chunks swallowed whole, vomiting | Many vets advise against them |
| Large raw beef marrow bones | Broken teeth, a ring of bone stuck on the jaw, diarrhoea from the marrow | Only if you know your dog and stay with him, and even then many say no |
| Soft raw bones (necks, wings) in a raw diet | Bacteria (salmonella and others), blockage in dogs who gulp without chewing | Talk to your vet before changing the way he eats |
Veterinary dentists use the thumbnail rule: if you cannot leave a mark in it by pressing with your thumbnail, it is too hard for your dog's teeth. A beef bone never passes.
If you ring with warning signs, or the vet asks you in after hearing what happened, this is roughly what follows:
Before you leave, ask what he can safely chew from now on. Nearly every vet has a short list of chews and toys they are happy with.
Dogs need to chew, puppies and adolescents most of all. Whatever you give should pass the thumbnail test and be bigger than his mouth, so he cannot swallow it whole.
For teeth, brushing does more than any bone. Dogs given bones "for their teeth" regularly turn up at the vet with a broken tooth, and their teeth are no cleaner either.
If you landed here after the Sunday plate, pick up the phone and ring now. A vet who knows what your dog ate and how much he weighs can tell you in two minutes whether to come in or watch him at home.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
Ring your own vet and tell them how many bones, how big, when, and what your dog weighs. Do not make him sick. Plenty of dogs digest them without trouble, but for three days you watch for vomiting, a sore belly, stools that will not come or have blood in them, and a flat dog. Any of those means the practice the same day, usually for an X-ray.
Raw bones splinter less than cooked ones, but the risks are still there: broken teeth, chunks swallowed whole, blockages and bacteria from raw meat. Many vets advise against them. If you feed raw, talk to your vet first about which bones, what size and how you supervise, and never leave him alone with one.
Cooking dries the bone out and makes it brittle, so it snaps into sharp shards. Those can lodge in the throat or oesophagus, scratch or puncture the stomach and gut, and, packed together, form a plug of chalk-hard stool. Chicken and pork bones are the ones vets see most.
Less than people think, and at a real risk: hard beef bones and smoked bones are among the common causes of broken teeth in dogs. Veterinary dentists say never to give anything you cannot dent with your thumbnail. For teeth, regular brushing and dental check-ups do far more.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
Half a bar of dark chocolate missing, the grape stalk bare, the sock gone. Gather the wrapper, work out how much he ate and call. Do not make him sick yourself.
A brown crust on the back teeth, a red line along the gum, breath you smell from across the sofa. Lift the lip to see the mouth; under the gum, only the vet sees.
He hunches, strains and nothing comes out. Usually it's a bone or too little water. Sometimes it's a blockage, the prostate or even the bladder, and then you don't wait.
White foam on the floor, yellow bile on an empty stomach, or four bouts overnight and a chin on the floor. Not equally serious, and none is treated from the cupboard.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.