Dogs and bones go together, right? Unfortunately, not always! Since my partner and I are vegetarians, my dogs don’t come in contact with a lot of bones at home but living in NYC means coming across discarded chicken bones on sidewalks. One of the first things I teach any dog entering my life is “leave it” and “drop it.” But what happens if training fails and your dog eats a chicken bone? I spoke with Emmy-award winning veterinarian Dr. Jeff Werber about the dangers of chicken bones and what to do if your dog ate a chicken bone.
If your dog ate a chicken bone, contact your vet immediately to see if your dog needs to go to the clinic. Dr. Werber also recommends “feeding the dog something very bulky like bread to cover around the sharp edges, and it will begin to soften. Also, the digestive juices do a wonderful job softening the object even more, getting the bone to go through the intestines and out the other end.”
Dr. Werber advises that you shouldn’t induce vomiting. “Once a bone gets safely down the esophagus and into the stomach, we do not recommend having the dog throw it up because we don’t want to risk a sharp sliver of bone cutting the esophagus on the way up and out,” he explains.
While it’s scary to realize that your dog ate a chicken bone, it’s likely that your dog will be okay if he didn’t choke while eating the bone. “In most cases, the bone will be eliminated safely through the intestines,” Dr. Werber explains. “In the rare instance that surgery is required, it is preferable and safer to retrieve bones from within the stomach as opposed to in the esophagus. However, these surgeries are not often needed.”
Unlike the large, hard bones many of us buy for our dogs to chew “chicken bones are very soft and often leave very sharp edges when broken,” Dr. Werber says. This is what makes them especially dangerous for dogs. Dogs who eat chicken bones “run the risk of tearing the esophagus or tearing somewhere along the intestinal tract, ” Dr. Werber says. This is why it’s so important to make sure dogs don’t have access to chicken bones.
Most bones are actually fairly risky for dogs. Although frequently marketed to dog parents, even beef bones aren’t always safe. “[They] tend to be a bit safer than chicken bones in the sense [that] they usually can’t break them down to create a sharp edge,” Dr. Werber advises. “However, if one gets small enough to be swallowed, it becomes a choking hazard.”
Beyond the risk of choking, Dr. Werber also warns that “the bone marrow has high fat content, so dogs love it, but too much of it can create the risk for pancreatitis.”
There is also a risk of dogs becoming injured on bones. “Knuckle bones, that have a hollow center like a donut, can wrap around the lower jaw and get stuck,” Dr. Werber explains. “Also, rib bones can often get stuck on the roof of the mouth between the molar teeth”
So, Dr. Werber advises that dogs stay away from all-natural bones. “The best kinds of bones to give a dog are the ones manufactured for dogs to be eaten, such as Dreambones or Smartbones,” he says. “These bones are made of chicken and vegetables and are fully digestible, so you don’t have to worry about the hazards.”
If your dog finds a chicken bone and begins to choke on it, it could be up to you to save your dog’s life. “Choking dogs are treated very similarly to humans who are choking,” Dr. Werber says.
Here are his step-by-step instructions for how to help a choking dog: