Dog Bones How To Prepare Your Own and Save Big Money

Buying your dog bones from a pet supply store can be extremely expensive and potentially unhealthy as well. You cannot be guaranteed just what chemicals or compounds the commercial dog bones have been treated with to preserve their shelf life or even how they were handled during the processing. The dog bones from the commercial pet supply outlets including superstore seem to last a long time because many dogs refuse to eat them. Many dogs seem to carry the bones around and play with them, but a bone should not be a toy. A dog bone should be a nutritious snack for your dog one that provide your dog with healthy nutrients and helps them keep their teeth clean. The price of the pet store dog bones can be grossly inflated and if you require different sizes of bones you will likely be buying more than one so the cost can add up quickly.

Buying your dog bones from the local butcher shop can save you a great sum of money. At the butcher shop you can inquire about a bulk box of bones that they wish to dispose of and if they have some you will get a large amount of bones for a very small fee. Then you can store the bulk bones in your freezer and you can as you require cut the bones into whatever sizes your dogs prefer to eat. The bones from the butcher shop are fresh and usually contain some flesh and have not been treated with any chemicals or compounds to preserve their shelf life. You will have to keep the bulk bones in the freezer to keep them from spoiling until your dog is in need of them.

Many dog owners have more than one dog and often dogs of different sizes. Myself I have three cuddly pooches who all appreciate the opportunity to chew a tasty bone. There is no way that I could provide my dogs with all the bones that they desired if I had to buy the dog bones at the pet store pricing. I require dog bones ranging in size from very small to medium to very large to keep my pooches happy. My large dog will eat the smaller dog bones that are given to the other dogs if they leave them lying around so the bones disappear very qiuckly. By cutting my own dog bones from large bones that I purchase from the butcher shop I can always cut a new bone for the smaller dogs when the large dog eats their bones.

I stopped buying dog bones at the pet store some time ago when I discovered that I could buy fresher bones in the form of soup bones at the supermarket for much less money. But even the supermarket prices were expensive for the four or five small bones that were packaged into a five dollar bundle. I discovered that my local butcher shop sold dog bones for about half the price of what I was paying for soup bones at the supermarket. My butcher sold individual dog bones of a good size for around two dollars each. However, my butcher also had a collection of miscellaneous bones of varying sizes that he was willing to sell to me for under ten dollars per 20 pound box. These bones were not needed by the butcher shop for any product that they commonly made so the bones were in need of disposing of until I offered to purchase them for my pooches. I graciously accepted his offer and purchased the bulk bones, knowing that I could easily cut the large bones myself into smaller pieces.

Though there are electric saws that will cut the bone quite easily I am not comfortable operating a powered saw so close to my hand and fingers. I use a handsaw and it works very well for me. Most saws that can cut wood or metal will cut through bone very easily. Because I have three dogs varying in size from giant to medium to tiny I need dog bones of varying sizes also to accommodate them. By cutting my own dog bones I can decide precisely what size I desire and cut the bones accordingly. The bone needs to be held in position securely by my hand as I am sawing so for convenience sake I cut the small bones off of the larger piece held in my hand, saving the big portion for my large dog.

When I bring the big box of dog bone home from the butcher shop I just put the whole box in my freezer. Then as I need bones for my dogs I take one bone and cut up what I need for that time. If I cut a few extra pieces I will put them into a freezer bag and put them in the freezer portion of my refrigerator. You can, however, cut up a large amount of bone in one session into the sizes that you require and put the smaller bones in freezer bags and put them back into the freezer then you will have many bones for a many future feedings.

It does seem to be a great deal of extra work preparing your dog's bones yourself, but it is a practice that pays off in different ways. Buying processed bones for your dog can be expensive and you are not always guaranteed of the health quality of the bones you are getting. When you make your own dog bones from the bulk bone that you get at the local butcher shop you know that you are getting bone from a freshly slaughtered animal. You can trust that the bones have not been treated with any chemical preservative that could potentially be unhealthy for your dog. You will know exactly what you are feeding your dog and your dog will enjoy the bones and appreciate you greatly for your efforts.

I welcome all your questions and comments as well as any suggestions or ideas of your own. Please contact me through any of my links with any input that you desire to contribute. I enjoy hearing from everyone.

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