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bone for bone broth

How to make bone broth for your dog

Back in the caveman days every part of the animal counted. This included the “inedible” parts, like bones, tendons, hooves and knuckles. While they aren’t edible, they are rich in nutrients that are incredibly important to helping you and your dog live your most active lives.

dog licking his lips
It’s hard to wait for the bone broth to simmer!

Just because bone broth isn’t a new discovery doesn’t mean modern science hasn’t given us a better understanding of why bone broth works the way it does. This knowledge directs us on how to make, store and use bone broth to support the our human health and our 4 legged companions.

In its simplest form, bone broth is a nutrient-dense stock made from simmering inedible animal parts in a large amount of water and an acid like lemon juice to help pull the nutrients out of the bones. By combining these simple ingredients and cooking them low and slow, you will release a bunch of healing compounds, like collagen, glucosamine, trace minerals and a ton of amino acids.

There are many articles and videos that go deep on the science behind bone broth, such as this one that is “all in” on bone broth, or this one that would like to see more studies done.

Best of all, bone broth is easy and inexpensive to make! You can even add egg shells for extra calcium.

Bone broth for your dog requires just 3 ingredients – bones, water and an acid such as apple cider vinegar (ACV) or lemon juice. You can get fancy if you want, but 3 ingredients and 1 slow cooker will make fantastic, healthy bone broth fit for a dog king or queen.

What kind of dogs benefit from bone broth?

Due to the popularity of bone broth as a “magical elixir” (it’s not, it’s just science), many well-intentioned people think of bone broth as a healing remedy only. But it’s much more than that! Bone broth is appropriate as a preventative overall health benefit, as well as having the extra nutrition and digestibility to help support dogs who aren’t in the prime of their lives, including:

Bone broth is for dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes
Bone broth is for dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes and ages
  1. Most dogs, including young, old, active and inactive (your dog almost certainly falls in one of those categories!)
  2. Pre- and post-surgery dogs
  3. Dogs with a poor appetite
  4. Pregnant or lactating females

Because bone broth is high in nutrients and easy to digest, it can be a great way to help get liquid and nutrients into dogs with cancer or dogs who are in recovery from an illness that has given them a temporary sick stomach. If your dog won’t eat, first try adding bone broth to a small amount of food. After giving that a try without any luck, offer it as just the liquid bone broth. If that is still too much, add some to drinking water so the taste and smell isn’t as strong. Remember to always have fresh water without bone broth as an option too.

Does the process of cooking bone broth for dogs differ from cooking bone broth for people?

Yes and no. The process of simmering bones for a long time is the same. The great advantage to making dog broth is you don’t have to worry about the “flavor” as you do with broth that is intended for consumption by people. This means you can save money and time by combining the bones of different animals (fish and beef flavored broth probably tastes gross to people, but awesome to dogs.) You don’t need to add vegetables for flavor. In fact, there are some vegetables that most people add which are toxic to dogs (see below).  You also save some prep steps. For example, you don’t need to brown your bones in the oven to deepen the flavor before putting them in the slow cooker. Even the pickiest of dogs won’t turn their nose up at a bone broth just because you didn’t pre-roast the bones.

Bring on your inner caveman or cavewoman when you’re planning your dogs bone broth ingredients. You’ll be surprised at what you have on hand!

How to make Hiking Hound Bone Broth for your Dog (or cat)

3 simple Ingredients to make bone broth for your dog
Everything you need to make great bone broth for your dog

Ingredient #1: Bones (obviously)

  • The best type of bones for broth will have connective tissues in them. A combination of neck bones, shanks, oxtails and knuckles work particularly well. If you’re using chicken or turkey, use the whole bird skeleton if you have it! (Leftover Thanksgiving turkey bones, anyone?)
  • You may have heard that for “people broth”, marrow bones are the best! That’s not completely true. While marrow is really healthy, it doesn’t have all of the collagen, gelatin and other goodies that you want to have in a bone broth. If you have a marrow bone, by all means include it. Nearly all butchers sell the marrow bones pre-cut. Ideally try to get a variety of bone parts to maximize the nutrition of your broth.
  • Mix and match your bones! I can assure you your dog won’t care if their broth was made from a lamb rib, chicken leg and cow knuckle. It will be delicious to them! If you’re feeling adventurous, go bold and get a bunch of chicken feet for extra gelatin and collagen. They come in a BIG bag, so you can use just a few feet at a time to give each batch of broth a boost!
  • If at all possible, avoid using bones from conventionally farmed animals. Grass fed animals provide the healthiest bones without toxic chemicals or antibiotics. If you buy conventionally raised animal products, you may end up with bone broth that has less nutrients and gelatin, and has undesirable toxins. So get the best bones you can find or afford.
  • If you want to make broth now and don’t have any saved bones, you can buy bones at your local grocery store. Be sure to use quality bones fit for human consumption and protein sources from trustworthy butchers or farmers. Easiest bones to buy pre-packaged are “soup bones”. Those will have quite a bit of meat, making it a somewhat expensive solution. But, your dog will keep loving you.  Ideally, you want grass fed beef, poultry, pastured pork or non-farmed fish bones. If you can’t find any locally, there are many places you can order quality, grass-fed bones such as Grassland Beef or Alderspring Ranch. Alderspring is a family owned ranch and they write a great newsletter that makes you feel like you are out there grazing with the cattle!


Tip: The most cost effective way to make bone broth is to save bones from the food you and your family eat. Chicken, steak, pork and fish! Don’t throw the bones away! Toss them in a dedicated “dog bone bag” in the freezer. Once you have a gallon bag full of discarded bones from your meals, you’re ready to make collagen broth that can help your dog build skin, muscle, hair, joints and even recover from surgery faster. If onion or garlic powder seasoning is on the bones, be sure to rinse them well so it doesn’t end up in your broth.  

  • Getting fancy: If you want to get extravagant with your broth, you can add carrots or celery for extra nutrients. My dogs think there is nothing more delicious that a carrot that has been soaking in bone broth for 16 hours. But avoid anything in the onion family. Onions are toxic to dogs and cats They contain sulfur compounds that are broken down during digestion and  are toxic to red blood cell membranes. While garlic isn’t as toxic as onions, the jury is out whether it’s good or bad for dogs, so it’s also best avoided.

Ingredient #2: An Acid

  • Either of these acids will help draw the nutrients out of the bones and into the broth
    • Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
    • Or Lemon Juice

Ingredient #3: Water

  • Pretty self explanatory. You want enough water to fill up your slow cooker or pot and cover your bones.

Supplies to have on hand for making bone broth

Supplies for making bone broth
Supplies for making bone broth
  • Slow cooker– You’re going to be cooking your bones for 18+ hours, so a slow cooker is an easy “set it and forget it” solution. Here is an inexpensive, no frills slow cooker that works great!
  • Or Pot on the stove– This works too, but you generally don’t want to leave the stove on when you leave the house, so plan on making pot bone broth on a weekend or when you’ll be home the whole time.
  • Or Instant Pot– If you already have one, feel free to use it. Your broth cooking will go a bit faster. If you’ve been dying for a reason to buy an Instant Pot cooker, your dogs health is a good excuse! Here is a reasonably priced Instant Pot if you’re so inclined to get one “for your dog”.
  • Colander/strainer and bowl that the colander fits in for separating the bone broth liquid from the bones after it’s done cooking
  • Some sort of storage device, depending on how much broth you’re making and how fast you’ll be using it. If you have a Great Dane, you may just keep it in the fridge for a week while you feed it each meal and not freeze any. But if you have a Dachshund, a slow cooker full of broth will last a long time and you’ll want to freeze some. You can use plastic zipper bags (after the broth has cooled).

Step by step recipe to bone broth bliss for your dog

Step 1: Add bones to the slow cooker or pot. Normally you’ll want a minimum of 1.5 pounds in an average sized 6qt slow cooker like this one. It has the added advantage of being inexpensive! If you’re being fancy, add veggies such as carrots or celery (no onions!).

Put enough water in your pot to cover the bones, but leave an inch of air at the top.
Step 3: Put in enough water to cover the bones, leave an inch at the top so the simmering doesn’t bubble over and make a mess.
add apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to draw out nutrients in bones
Step 2: two tablespoons of ACV or lemon juice will help draw the nutrients out of the bones and into your broth.
bones for bone broth ready to simmer
Step 1: Bones in the pot, ready for apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and water

Step 2: Add an acid.  2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (ACV) or lemon juice.

Step 3: Add water. Fill the pot up with water so the bones are covered and the water is about an inch or two from the top of the slow cooker or pot. It will be simmering slowly, so you want to leave a little room for bubbles.

Step 4: Simmer for 12-16 hours. Set the slow cooker to the lowest setting so it cooks as slowly as your cooker will allow. Some slow cookers have a “high/medium/low” setting, others have actual temperatures, and others have cook time (4, 6, 8, 10 hours). Choose “Low”, the lowest temperature or the longest amount of time. If using a pot on the stove, bring it to a boil, then turn it down to simmer. You don’t want to boil it for 16 hours. You want to use very low heat for a very low simmer.  If your broth is made using small bones like poultry, 12 hours is sufficient. If using big boned animals like beef, then go for 16 hours. If you have a mix, go for the time for the largest sized bone in the pot.

Step 5: Separate the bones and fat from the broth. After your broth is done simmering, turn off the heat and let your pot cool enough that you can handle the pot and liquid without burning yourself. Normally this will be about 30 minutes. Tip: Don’t let it cool all the way, otherwise your broth will stick to your bones. Put your strainer in a bowl, then dump your bones/broth into the strainer. Lift the strainer out and you’re left with a nice bowl of broth! When the bones have cooled a little, paw through them to pick off any meat that was loosened from the bones. Depending on what kind of bones you used, there may be a bunch, or there may be just a bit. Either way, your dog will love the meat as a treat or as part of their meal.

Step 6: Storing broth. You want to get your broth cooling in a fridge right away so bacteria and other nasties don’t grow. You can put the bowl in the fridge and wait for it to cool, skim the fat off the top, then separate it into individual serving sizes and freeze them. Or if you aren’t worried about your dog having the fat too, you can pour the hot liquid into the individual serving sizes and freeze them. Not sure whether to include the fat or skim it? Most experts say too much fat can lead to pancreatitis. It really depends on your dog. Here’s a quick primer on the types of fat dogs need. Tip: Quart baggies work well if you will use the broth by keeping a plastic/glass container of it in the fridge and then scooping it out at each dog meal. Another option is to freeze it in individual serving sizes by using a silicone cupcake pan. Silicone cupcake tins make it easy to get the “broth cupcakes” out of the mold. This version gives you big dog size and little dog size for freezing your broth. The mini-version also makes for great ice cubes to put in water to encourage your dog to drink more in hot weather.

TIP- Even after a long simmer, those bones still have minerals and other goodies in them. If you have the time, consider using the same bones along with a few “new” bones and go through the process again. Your end result won’t be as deep and rich as the first round, but you’ll still get a nice, nutritious broth for your dog… essentially for free! This is also a great broth to use when introducing and transitioning your dog to bone broth.

Warning: Discard the bones after you’ve simmered them for the broth, regardless of how many times you’ve simmered the same bones! Don’t feed cooked/boiled bones to your dogs.

How to feed bone broth to your dog:

  1. Always start out by feeding bone broth with some dog food. For some dogs, the broth may start out being too rich on its own.
  2. Serving sizes vary by dog size, age and health. As when introducing any new food, start slowly to see how your dogs digestion reacts.  
  3. For maintenance of a healthy dog, add enough broth to moisten dry kibble. If you put in so much that the kibble floats, then tone it down next time and put in less. A dog who is older, has a low appetite, is scheduled for surgery or is recovering from surgery, has cancer or some other serious health concern can have more or feed the broth multiple times per day.
  4. If the thought of feeding your dog dry kibble makes you cringe, then add enough broth to their canned/raw food so it squishes together nicely without being completely runny. This is an art, not a science, and results will vary by dog.
how much bone broth daily for dogs?
Serving amounts vary by dog size and health. Small bowl for 30lb active dog = 1/3 cup; Medium bowl for 90lb semi-active dog = 1/2 cup; Large bowl for 160lb older dog = 3/4 cup

Alternatives to bone Broth

If you don’t have the time or desire to make your own bone broth, you can buy it pre-packed. Warning:  pre-made broth is expensive! Also take care to avoid products with garlic or anything from the onion family (scallions, chives, etc.). There are dog specific broths. Honest Kitchen is a well known brand. Alternatively, you can buy collagen in a powder or ground bones and add it to your dogs regular food. You won’t get all of the nutrition and minerals that you get in bone broth, but it’s still a great option to help your dog limber up.  Just be sure to wet it down and mix it in. You also want to get a kind that doesn’t have flavors or sweeteners (especially avoid fake sweeteners like xylitol or aspartame) which are toxic to dogs and cats.

Bone broth is not a cure all. Always talk to your veterinarian if your dog has specific health needs that you want to assist through diet, collagen or supplements. Each dog is unique, so it’s best to check with your vet If you have specific questions on best products and dosing to address health challenges your dog has.

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