Bones
A treat I’ve trusted for years — and why it works.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Sophie would take her beef rib bone, set it down just far enough away from her body to make it look like she wasn’t that interested. Like maybe she was done with it. Like maybe she’d leave it for someone else.
She wouldn’t.
The moment another dog in our pack even glanced in that direction — took the smallest break from their own bone — Sophie would materialize. Full gangster mode. All of these are mine.
She ran that con every single time. And it worked every single time.
I’ve been giving dogs beef rib bones for years. I started buying them at Whole Foods when I was building DCDS, keeping a batch on hand for the dogs in our care. Now I grab them at Costco — same bones, better price — and keep them in my freezer for Bella.
The routine is simple. Buy the rack, separate the ribs, wrap each one in parchment paper so they don’t stick together, and freeze. Every few days or so, Bella gets one.
She has me trained. After bath and grooming time, she goes directly to the freezer and sits. She doesn’t ask. She doesn’t bark. She just sits and stares at the freezer door with the absolute certainty of someone who knows exactly how this ends.
She’s not wrong.
Here’s why I love this treat — and why I’ve recommended it for years.
Beef ribs are one of the best natural options you can give a dog. The bone itself is a raw meaty bone, which means it’s safe to chew. Raw bones are flexible, not brittle like cooked bones. As your dog works through it, it acts like a toothbrush — scraping plaque off teeth in a way that no dental chew in a plastic bag can replicate.
Beyond the dental benefit, there’s the mental stimulation piece. A dog working a bone is a dog in a flow state. Focused. Calm. Satisfied in a way that a five-minute walk doesn’t always achieve. For high-energy dogs especially, that kind of sustained engagement matters.
And it’s a high-value treat. Which means it’s useful. For training, for rewarding calm behavior, for building the kind of trust that makes a dog feel genuinely secure in their environment.
A few details worth knowing before you start.
Always give raw, never cooked. Cooked bones splinter and become dangerous. Raw bones flex. That distinction matters.
Supervise the first few times, especially with a new dog or one that tends to gulp rather than chew. You want to know how your dog handles it before you walk away. I make it a point to only give meat bones when I’m nearby and can keep an eye on things.
Size matters. The bone should be large enough that your dog can’t swallow it whole. For small dogs, a single separated rib is usually right. For larger dogs, you may need larger raw bones — knuckle bones, marrow bones — but that’s a different conversation.
And always make sure fresh water is nearby. Chewing is work.
Sophie ran her bone con on every dog who came through our doors. Didn’t matter if they were twice her size. Confidence, she understood, was its own kind of currency.
Bella just sits by the freezer and waits.
Two different personalities. Same absolute certainty that the beef rib bone is coming.
They’re not wrong to believe that.
If this resonated, you’re in the right place. Integrative Pet Parent is where I write about species-appropriate nutrition, immune health, and the practical strategies that actually move the needle for your pet’s long-term health. Subscribe — free or paid — and let’s figure this out together.