How to Make Bone Broth for Dogs (Easy, Cheap, and Healthy Recipe)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy.

(Updated in June 2025)

It’s surprisingly easy to make bone broth for dogs. It’s an invaluable restorative for dogs (and cats and humans). It’s full of invaluable nutrients and offers an extensive range of health benefits. Because bone broth is intensely meaty, dogs adore it, too, so it’s not a struggle to get them to eat it.

Now, as many of my regular readers know, I’m a certified canine nutritionist, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time honing this recipe for bone broth. For my own dogs, I’ve tweaked and changed this recipe as they’ve aged and developed health issues to make sure the broth supports them in the best way possible.

But the recipe I’ve provided here is the base bone broth recipe that I feel is a good starting point for most people. Just remember that you can tweak it to take into account your dog’s dietary needs. For example, if your dog doesn’t do well with pork or beef, or you want a lighter, less fatty broth, use rabbit and turkey instead.

I use this bone broth recipe for both of my dogs. I make it in large batches and feed it in liquid form, add gelatine and powdered or liquid supplements, and let it set in little paw print molds I lovingly call “jelly bones”. I add it to baked dog treat recipes, and use it in all kinds of other ways.

This bone broth recipe is for dogs, cats, and humans, and it’s really easy to make. It just requires a few cheap, readily available ingredients, and a slow cooker. And you can make it on the hob or in the Instant Pot, too.

Bone broth is brilliant for all dogs, but particularly for the young, the elderly, and the unwell. DIY bone broth for dogs is a fantastic nutritional supplement, as it’s naturally full of essential nutrients dogs need.

It’s packed full of collagen, protein, and a whole host of other dietary essentials.

While I recommend homemade bone broth for dogs of all ages, I strongly encourage you to at least use bone broth for senior dogs, because it can help stave off or reverse joint issues, as well as boost the immune system, improve skin and coat health and boost overall wellbeing.

What Bones to Use for Bone Broth

This particular bone broth recipe is a slow cooker bone broth recipe for dogs, cats, and humans that shows you how to make nutritious bone broth using inexpensive animal parts that are usually discarded. Just remember that you can switch out any of these bones for whatever you have available, and whichever proteins your dog can tolerate.

For example, this slow cooker bone broth recipe uses beef and pork bones, but one of my guys is now allergic to both of those proteins. He’s also hypersensitive to chicken. So I tend to use turkey, lamb, venison, and rabbit bones. You can also use chicken, duck, elk, or whatever other dog-friendly proteins you have access to.

Just make sure you go for bones with plenty of connective tissue, like wings and feet, as well as marrow-rich bones like leg bones, knuckle joints, and whole bird carcasses.

Here are a few of the potential health benefits of bone broth for dogs:

• Bone broth supports bone and joint health thanks to the high levels of glucosamine and chondroitin
• Acts as a general immune booster
• Supports your dog’s digestive system and, because it’s easily digestible, helps to soothe tummy troubles
• Packed full of minerals and nutrients that are made easily absorbable and usable because of the cooking method
• Bone broth can help to relieve common food and environmental allergies
• Boosts overall health and condition
• Can help to relieve dry, itchy skin and can aid in conditioning the coat

Aside from those health benefits, bone broth has a number of other positives:

• Is highly palatable, so is tempting even to the fussiest dog
• Bone broth is ridiculously easy to make
• It costs very little to make a large batch of bone broth
• Humans can eat it, too, and enjoy many of the same benefits
• It can be used as stock to flavor dishes
• Bone broth can be used in other health-boosting recipes, such as golden paste

RELATED ARTICLE: What Kind of Bone Broth is Best For Dogs?

Can I Give My Dog Human Bone Broth?

It depends on the recipe. But in general, human bone broth contains salt, onions, and other seasonings and flavorings that may not be suitable for dogs. This particular bone broth recipe for dogs is safe for humans and cats, too. But, often, particularly store-bought bone broth, is not suitable for dogs. Always check the ingredients before you give broth to your dog.

Can I Use Cooked Bones to Make Bone Broth For Dogs?

Yes! Although you should NEVER give your dogs cooked bones, you can use cooked bones to make bone broth. Chicken carcasses, T-bones, lamb legs, ribs – whatever bones you’ve got left over from dinnertime, whack them in the freezer until you’re making a fresh batch of bone broth and then add them to the pot. Cooked bones can still release some nutrients and they add extra flavor to the broth, too. You may as well make the most of them and extract whatever goodness remains by using them in broth.

Can I Reuse the Bones From Broth?

You should NEVER give your dogs cooked bones, even crumbly ones from bone broth. However, you can, in theory, make multiple batches of bone broth from the same bones. But I don’t recommend it.

By the time you’ve cooked the bones for 24 to 72 hours, most of the goodness has already been leached out into the broth. So reusing those bones has little value, and each subsequent batch of broth gets less and less valuable.

Plus, there’s the risk of drawing heavy metals out of the bones. The more times you use the bones and the longer you cook them, the increased risk of heavy metals and other toxins being present in the broth.

So, unless you know the bones are from organic meat raised on organic land, then I wouldn’t risk remouillage, French for re-wetting, or reusing your bones for broth.

Do You Need to Roast or Blanch the Bones First?

No, you don’t need to roast or blanch the bones for bone broth for dogs. You don’t even really need to do it for bone broth for humans. Blanching helps to get rid of blood and other things that could cause the finished broth to be cloudy rather than beautifully clear like a fine consommé.

Roasting the bones changes and deepens the flavor of the broth.

But dogs just aren’t as fussy as humans. They don’t mind if their bone broth is cloudy. And they’re perfectly happy with the intense meatiness of the unroasted bones. So there’s no need to waste your time here.

Here are a few things to remember about bone broth for dogs:

• Bone broth is not a replacement for bone or bone meal in a raw diet
• You absolutely do not need to throw away the meat, fat, and little bits of vegetables – your dog will love it all the more if you leave this in. Just make sure you get all the bone out
• Bone broth is absolutely fine if it doesn’t gel. Don’t throw away the broth just because it hasn’t gelled
• Using a variety of bones makes the best broth, rich in collagen, protein, marrow, gelatin, glucosamine, and chondroitin

 Tips for Bone Broth for Dogs

1. Make Pupsicles

Bone broth is a great year-round dietary supplement for your dog. But as an extra summer treat, give bone broth pupsicles. Your pup will love a bone broth pupsicle, and it helps cool them a little.

2. How to Feed Bone Broth

If your dog has been unwell, is recovering from surgery, or is elderly or weak, feeding a spoonful, or a defrosted ice cube of broth along with their meals every day for at least a week or for the duration of their illness is a smart option.

For general support, I feed broth at least three times a week.

3. Getting Appropriate Bones

Ask your butcher to chop your marrow bones into smaller, manageable chunks. Unless you have an industrial-sized crockpot or you have a good bone saw, your butcher is your best option.

4. Mixing Up the Bones

Experiment. You don’t have to always use beef and pig’s feet. You can use lamb, goose, duck, turkey, venison, chicken, or whatever your preference.

And you aren’t limited to joint bones and feet, either. You can also use necks, shoulder, bird carcasses, or anything else with lots of connective tissue or marrow.

5. Is Garlic Really Safe for Dogs?

YES, it is. In spite of all the fearmongering you see online, garlic is actually very good for dogs in small quantities. For garlic to be toxic, your dog has to consume a huge amount. According to Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, the recommended daily serving sizes are:

• 10 to 15 pounds — 1/2 clove
• 20 to 40 pounds — 1 clove
• 45 to 70 pounds — 2 cloves
• 75 to 90 pounds — 2.5 cloves
• 100+ pounds — 3 cloves

So you can see, even the recommended daily intake is pretty big. So to cause even mild gastrointestinal upsets, a lot of garlic would have to be consumed. Remember, garlic has a number of health benefits for dogs, including as a digestive aid, coat conditioner, and general immune booster.

And it’s a great form of natural parasite control. I’ve given garlic to my dogs every day for decades – it’s our go-to choice for flea and tick prevention and natural wormer.

My dogs are happy, healthy, and free of parasites. Don’t let a bad, outdated study that’s been discredited over and over again (and probably had more than a little something to do with the profiteering of the big veterinary pharma companies) put you off this tried and true natural supplement.

Many of the big pet brands even sell garlic supplements for dogs and cats, like these ones I use from Amazon.

5-a. Is Garlic Safe for Cats?

Just like garlic for dogs, in the right quantities, garlic is perfectly safe for cats and has the same benefits at therapeutic levels. While many people use the standard therapeutic dog dosages for cats, others take a more conservative approach, as cats are known to be more sensitive to garlic than dogs.

According to the Innovative Veterinary Care Journal and a 2008 report from the National Research Council, the recommended garlic intake for a 15-pound cat is 0.004 ounces per day, which is around 1/25 of an average clove.

6. Use Bone Broth As Stock

By the time you’ve simmered it for 24 hours or more, your bone broth is intensely flavorsome, rich, and concentrated. So use it in place of stock or stock cubes to add depth of flavor as well as nutrition to your meals.

Use it wherever you need to layer flavors or require a richly tasty base, like gravy, chili, soup, or anything else that takes your fancy.

You can also use this bone broth as stock for flavor and nutrition for other doggy goodies, like these easy fish dog treats. It can also replace the goat milk in these pumpkin peanut butter balls.

Bone broth is brilliant for dogs, cats, and humans, and it’s really easy to make. It doesn’t cost much, either, but it’s exceptionally healthful. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of animal bones – mix it up with game, domestic livestock, and poultry. Your pet will love you for it!

FAQs

Can I use store-bought bone broth for dogs?

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.
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.

How long should I cook bone broth for to feed to my dogs?

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?

What bones are best for bone broth for dogs?

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.

How should I feed bone broth to dogs?

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 ice cube 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.

Can I give my dog bone broth for diarrhea?

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.

Can bone broth give dogs diarrhea?

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.

Can I freeze bone broth for dogs?

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!

How to store bone broth

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.

Why do you add apple cider vinegar to bone broth?

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.

How long does bone broth last in the fridge?

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 that, if I wouldn’t eat it, I won’t feed it to the dogs, either.

Can dogs have bone broth daily?

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.

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.

How much bone broth should I give my dog?

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. For more information, take a look at my detailed post about how much bone broth you can give your dog.

Can you give your dogs the bones from bone broth?

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.

Is there a difference between chicken broth and bone broth?

Yes, the difference between bone broth and chicken broth is that chicken broth tends to be lighter and made only using the meat. It’s given to dogs who are struggling with digestive complaints and who may be having difficulty eating, keeping food down, or are feeling extra picky. Bone broth is richer, has more calories, protein, and nutrients. Bone broth is better than regular broth for most dogs, but may not be suitable for dogs who already have an upset stomach and aren’t used to consuming bone broth, as it can be very rich.

Can I give pork bones to my dog?

For chewing, or as a raw meaty bone as part of a raw diet, no, pork bones are not the best choice. Even raw, they’re more likely to splinter than other bones, so your dog may try to swallow larger pieces, which can cause blockages. And, like all bones, when cooked, pork bones are incredibly dangerous.

However, pork bones are great to use in bone broth, raw or cooked. They have lots of collagen and protein, and help to create a rich, gelatinous broth that dogs love.

Now here’s my easy bone broth for dogs recipe…

If you’d rather make this bone broth in an Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or traditional pressure cooker, see my pressure cooker bone broth for dogs recipe.