Why do dogs like bones?

Question

My dog love to chew on bones and I am worried it might hurt his teeth. If I stop giving him the bone, he would start gnawing on everything else in the house, such as my shoes and the dining table leg. Should I let him to have more bones? Or is it a bad habit and he needs more training to fix this behaviour?

Answer 1

Long before they are domesticated, the ancestors of dogs develop strong jaw muscles and enlarged sharp teeth around the time they start to hunt in packs. Since the bigger preys tend to herd together to protect themselves, the dogs would need to work together, similar to how a pride of lions would hunt a herd of zebras nowadays. After a few generations of pack hunting, their jaws slowly become more accustomed to biting and holding on to their prey, especially good to latch the flesh and bones. Therefore, domesticated dogs we had today love to gnaw on bones because it’s a leftover evolutionary trait. They have the tools to do so and they want to use their tools.

Answer 2

Why do dogs love bones? I think it could be the smell of it. You know there’s bone marrow inside bones, and red blood cells are made of bone marrow. And dogs are a species who’s born with the instinctive sense of smelling, so it’s the blood smell makes them desire bones so much.

Answer 3

Dogs love bones so much that they would make the effort to save and bury that piece of delicacy to savour on later. In fact, it’s not just dogs love bones and do so, all canines, such as fox and wolves, do the same too. Chewing on bones is a way for a dog to relax, a way to distract themselves. Stressful occasions such as visiting a vet or a long car trip can be soothed by giving him something to focus on and keeping himself busy.

Interestingly, the act of gnawing itself releases a flow endorphins and keeps the dog feeling happy. Often the desire to chew a bone could be so strong that they will chew on any decently hard things around the home. Moreover, bones are excellent for the pet health. It keeps the jaw strong and trained, while keeping it clean and mitigating gum diseases. Not to mention all the nutritional value they would get from chewing one, a nourishing marrow and a great calcium source.

It is an in-built natural instinct of the dogs and one that is certainly good for our man’s best friend, so you really don’t need to either worry about it or try to fix it when you can’t figure out why do dogs like bones so much.