I have a young golden retriever, just two years old. I know dogs should not have poultry bones because they splinter and may puncture digestive organs, but I have heard that pork bones can also be bad. Is this so? He loves the bones from spare ribs - they last about ten seconds.

The best bones to go for are big knuckle bones from the hip or shoulder of cattle. They are safer for your dog and healthier for it's teeth. Ask your butcher for them, you'll get them a lot cheaper than spare ribs!!!

If you are concerned about bones, consider getting your dog a KONG. They are virtually indestructible and dogs love them. They really seem to satisfy their chewing instinct as well as encourage the dogs to play since KONG's bounce in all directions.

My dog loves bones as well. But I will only give her the large leg type bones. I think rib bones from any animal are to light and can be easily splintered by most dogs. It is better to be safe than sorry.

I would also recommend trying a KONG, as my dog also loves it. My vet recommended that we fill it with peanut butter as a treat. This keeps he quiet for ages and is great execise for her tongue.

Please don't ever give your dog pork chop bones! Many people don't know they are as bad as chicken bones. We learned this the hard way with our westie. We gave her a pork chop bone to enjoy, thinking it's OK becuase it's not a chicken bone. Well, it got lodged inside of her. She had to have it surgically removed with an overnight stay at the vet and everything. It was terrible. And the surgery cost $700. My mom always jokes that that was most expensive pork chop we've ever had in the house.

cris is right. You should try and stay away from bones all together. If you must, try the bones you can get from your butcher. I always give my dogs 'cow toes'. You can get them almost anywhere, and some of them are flavored. They can chew for days sometimes weeks on these and they are very affordable, as well as good for their teeth and gums.

Thanks, everyone. I give him the big bones and chunks sawn off a 3-ft rawhide 'bone'. My daughter sometimes brings spare rib bones after a meal out, but I will stop giving him them.

The Kong thing sounds good. He's young, I'm not, and he could do with more stimulation. Pity I hate the smell of peanut butter!

Stay away from pork bones and go for roasted knuckles (sounds horrible) alway monitor your dog when giving him a bone as they can still do damage.

KONGS are great and you should try a buster cube my retriever loves hers. You dont feed them there dinner in the bowl you put it in the cube and they have to push it around to get the dry food out. This means they are using there brain and having fun and getting excersise. Shop around though because some places try to overcharge i ended up getting mine from and animal shelter shop which was 50% cheaper than the local pet shop!

Thanks, Qwerty. I'll try that. He will move Heaven and Earth if he thinks there's a morsel of food to be had.