How to Make Bone Broth for Dogs and Why You’d Want To

If it’s not practical for you to make your own bone broth, you want to see if your fussy dog will actually eat bone broth before you take the plunge and get a slow cooker, or you’re traveling and can’t take homecooked broth with you, there are plenty of store-bought options available. The key is knowing which ones are genuinely good quality, and which are useless.

While I usually make my own broth, there are times when I need something ready-made, for example, if I’m traveling or I’m leaving the dogs with their grandma for the day or, you know, life. So I do keep a few packs of my favorite brands in the pantry, just in case. Brutus Bone Broth make an awesome product, as do PrimalVore. These come in little easy-pour, resealable cartons.

However, if you’re camping so you can’t refrigerate it once you open it, or you want an even easier option, Nature’s Diet Bone Broth Protein Powder is my top choice for convenient, powdered bone broth.

A minimum of 12 hours, and preferably 24 – 48 hours. Just don’t let the slow cooker boil dry – keep it at least 1/3 full. You can cook bone broth for up to 72 hours, but no longer, as some studies suggest that after this time, if there are any heavy metals or other toxins present in the bones, they may start to leach out. I play it safe and cook my broth for 24-36 hours.

In my opinion (not a scientific fact but my own observations over the course of many years of making broth), by this time, all the goodness has been drawn from the bones, all the connective tissue has broken down, and all the healthful components are already in the broth, so why waste time or electricity by cooking it any longer?

You need a mix of bones, ideally. You should definitely include bones that contain a good supply of marrow as well as feet or necks that also contain a large quantity of connective tissues and tendons. The best bone broth is loaded with gelatin, glycine, glucosamine, chondroitin, and hyaluronic acid. Add collagen-and-gelatin-rich bones such as chicken feet, knucklebones, tendons (if you can get them), and chicken, duck, or goose heads.

If you’re using the liquid broth, just pour it over their food or feed as a little treat all on its own. If you’ve frozen the broth in icecube trays, just take a broth cube, pop it in a dish, and pour over a little hot water to thaw it. Once it’s melted, feed it to your pup. If you’re using powdered bone broth, sprinkle it on top of their food or add a little water to the powder, mix it well, and offer it to your dog.

Yes, bone broth is a great choice for dogs with an upset stomach. It’s gentle on the digestive system, so it won’t aggravate an already upset tummy. It’s hydrating and nutritious, so giving your dog bone broth is a great way to help them replenish the water and nutrients they lose when they have diarrhea. And, because it’s so intensely meaty, it’s highly palatable, so can encourage a dog with low appetite to eat.

Like anything new, potentially bone broth can give your dog diarrhea if you suddenly start feeding it large quantities. Just like when you introduce new foods, start your dog on just a small serving of broth per day and build it up gradually. Another reason bone broth would give your dog diarrhea is if the broth contains something your dog is sensitive to, so, if you’re not making the broth yourself, be sure to check the ingredients carefully for any known allergens.

Yes! It’s super-easy to freeze. I pour my cooled broth into silicon icecube trays. We use these paw print trays for dog broth so we don’t get them mixed up (because we also freeze blended offal in them for the dog’s food! I make a fairly large batch of broth at once, so I keep enough in the fridge to last 3 or 4 days, then freeze the rest. It’ll easily last up to a year in the freezer. If you’re planning on adding the broth to your meals as stock, the same advice applies – freeze it and just add the cube to the pot when you’re cooking.

Just pour a little hot water over the icecube and wait until it melts.

You should add apple cider vinegar to broth because it helps to extract the maximum amount of collagen from the connective tissues. I use this organic apple cider vinegar from Bragg, and I buy it in bulk because it saves me a lot. It’s less than half the price per fluid ounce if you buy the bulk 1-gallon bottle. ACV is also renowned for its health benefits and, because you cook the stock at lower temperatures, at least some of the goodness from the ACV remains in the broth.

Refrigerated, bone broth will last 3-4 days. Some people keep theirs for a week, but after day 4, in my opinion, it is past its best. My dogs are also not keen on it after day 4, which tells me it probably doesn’t taste good, either. I also tend to go by the general rule of, if I wouldn’t eat it, I won’t feed it to the dogs, either.

Yes and no. Fed in moderate quantities daily, bone broth is a fantastic immune booster and general conditioner for dogs. And it’s useful for ill or recovering dogs, too. However, it is not a long-term meal replacement and should definitely not be used as such. And, as mentioned above, if you just suddenly start giving your dog a large quantity of broth, you will probably make him unwell.

That really depends on how big your dog is and why you want to feed broth. I can’t give you a definitive guide on how much to feed because I don’t know your dog. However, PrimalVore recommends feeding their commercial broth at a rate of 2 tablespoons per 10 pounds of body weight twice daily. So this gives you a reasonable rule of thumb to follow. However, note that I would not recommend starting on this amount. I would at least halve it to start with.

Yes! Definitely! Once your dog has adjusted to the bone broth and you know it doesn’t cause digestive distress, you can feed bone broth to your dog twice daily.

NO! Never, ever give your dogs any form of cooked bone. I know some dubious sites online claim you can feed the bones from long-cooked broth because they crumble, but they can still cause an impaction because their cellular structure has changed. When you cook bones, you change their cellular structure.

Whole bones can get stuck and can puncture the stomach or intestines leading, at best, to aggressive, major surgery if you’re lucky enough to catch the problem early and, more commonly, a painful death. If they’ve been cooked long enough, broth bones do develop a crumbly texture, but these can still cause a painful and dangerous intestinal impaction.

So never, NEVER feed your dog cooked bones. If you want to give them a bony treat, opt for raw bones like chicken or duck wings, duck feet or duck necks.