Can Dogs Eat Turkey Bones? Cooked Bones, the Carcass, Dried Necks

We get asked can dogs eat turkey bones every November, and for the cooked bones off the roasted bird the answer is no. A plain piece of turkey meat is a different question, and a small one is fine. The bones are the part that stays out of reach.

This page covers why cooked bones are the problem, which bones people forget about, what to do with the carcass, and how our own air-dried turkey necks differ from anything that came out of an oven.

Can dogs eat turkey bones? Not the cooked ones

Every bone off the roasted bird counts, from the drumstick to the wishbone to the carcass itself. The American Kennel Club writes: "Cooked bones splinter into shards. So if your dog eats one, they might choke on the tiny pieces." It adds: "These pieces can cause serious damage to the dog's mouth, throat, or intestines."

Poultry bones in particular

Turkey gets its own warning. In its AKC turkey guide, the same group writes: "Cooked poultry bones are brittle. This, combined with their smaller size, makes them very dangerous for dogs." Those are the AKC's words, not ours.

The ASPCA lists bones among the foods to avoid, and writes: "Dogs/cats might sustain injury or obstruction to the gastrointestinal tract when ingesting bones." Neither source draws a line between a drumstick and a wing. Cooked poultry bone is the thing to keep away.

The carcass, the plates and the trash

Most of the trouble at a holiday dinner is not a dog being handed a bone on purpose. It is a bone left on a plate, wrapped in a napkin or sitting in a bag. Scrape plates in the kitchen and not at the table. Put the carcass and the trimmings into a bag, tie it, and put it in a trash can with a lid. Then move the can outside or behind a closed door that night, because a dog can open a bag on the counter and tip over an open bin. A trash bag left by the back door is just as easy to reach as one in the kitchen, so the lid is what matters more than the room.

Tell the guests who carry plates around not to leave bones on the coffee table. Tell the kids too, since a drumstick passed under the table is the other way it happens.

If a dog does get one

It sometimes happens anyway. The AKC writes: "If your dog does ingest cooked bones, give your veterinarian a call for advice or schedule an appointment to rule out any serious outcomes." Our only addition is a practical one. Find the number for the nearest emergency clinic before the holiday starts, because regular offices are often closed that day.

Dried is not cooked: our air-dried turkey necks

Our shop makes one distinction here, between bone that was cooked and bone that never was. Air-Dried Turkey Necks are whole turkey necks, air-dried low and slow in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The only ingredient is turkey neck, and it is sold as one neck per order. They are dried and never cooked, because cooked poultry bone goes brittle and splinters. The meat and connective tissue stay wrapped around the bone, and roughly forty to fifty-five percent of a neck is bone.

That is still a bone, so it is a supervised chew and not something to leave on the floor. It suits medium and large dogs that chew rather than gulp. It is not for toy or small breeds, or for a dog that swallows chews whole. Keep each session to about fifteen or twenty minutes, count the neck as part of the day's food, and take it away once the piece is small enough to swallow or shows a sharp edge. The longer comparison with duck necks, including sizing by mouth, is in our turkey necks guide.

What the dog gets at dinner instead

Plain cooked turkey meat, a few small pieces, is the dinner answer. Set it aside before the seasoning and gravy go on, and keep it cold in the refrigerator until you hand it over. If you would rather give something that comes out of a bag, a few freeze-dried dog treats do the same job at the table, and they need no carving, no plate and no cleanup afterward. The stock pot is a separate case, since a stock made from the dinner carcass usually has onion and salt in it, which makes it a kitchen item and not a dog item.

Turkey bone questions

Are cooked turkey bones okay for dogs?

No. Drumsticks, wings, necks and the carcass from a roasted bird all stay away from the dog, and the sources above say why.

What about a bone that was never cooked?

That is the kind we make: whole necks, air-dried and never cooked, for medium and large dogs, with supervision. We do not suggest bones off the dinner platter in any form.

Can a dog have the neck from the stock pot?

No. A neck simmered for stock has been cooked, so it falls in the same group as every other cooked bone, even when it looks soft.

What if my dog swallowed a turkey bone?

Follow the advice quoted from the AKC above: call for advice, and do not wait to see what happens.

Is turkey bone broth okay for dogs?

Broth from a dinner carcass usually has onion and salt in it, so we would leave it in the kitchen.

How long should a dog chew a turkey neck?

About fifteen or twenty minutes, supervised, and then the piece goes away. Take it sooner if it gets small enough to swallow or shows a sharp edge.

Can small dogs have turkey necks?

We list ours for medium and large dogs that chew rather than gulp, and not for toy or small breeds.