Hi Richard,
On , you wrote me:

 RW>> COnsider a bird. IT flies. because it's designed to fly its bones are
 RW>> hollow, like structural members of an aircraft. A beef bone by
 RW>> contrast is not hollow. birds need hollow bones to be light enough to
 RW>> take flight easily.

 ML>> yes, this and the splintering part are very true... a dog that i
 ML>> don't know about? no, i'd not give them chicken, turkey, or guinea
 ML>> bones... only my animals who i know have gotten them since very early
 ML>> on and who i know know how to eat and knaw on them without having
 ML>> problems...

 RW> From what ROxy the street rott's former owner's aunt told me she'd
 RW> gotten poultry bones from a very young age. sHe supposedly knew how 
 RW> to eat them, but
 RW> in her days of hunger living on the streets she'd just gotten in the
 RW> habit of wolfing down anything she could get. 

understandable... starvation will do that...

 RW> Hence the intestinal problems. sO once she was with us, she'd get
 RW> poultry meat, but only beef and other bones, no fish or poultry bones.

in her case, it is quite understandable... i'd probably have done the same
(no chicken bones) if i had acquired her...

 RW> Have seen a similar situation you describe with the pork chop bone as
 RW> well. My sister used to have this pomeranian that used to abandon
 RW> those little pork chop bones, and you could do serious damage to a
 RW> bare foot with one of them.

yup!

 RW> schatze devours pork chop bones right away, I don't ever find them
 RW> underfoot. WE give her most other types of bones, and buy her those
 RW> big knuckle bones at the store. IN fact, she keeps one stashed under
 RW> our bed, and at night I"ll wake up to find her curled up in the pile
 RW> with my wife and I, sometimes gnawing on it.

home is where you keep your bone ;)

Bye bye!
  mark

 * SeM. 2.26  * It did what? Well, it's not supposed to do that.