Late one evening on an emergency visit we saw a 1 year old German Shepherd that had not eaten in approximately 4 days.  As seen in the pictures, the reason she was not eating was because she couldn't.  A marrow bone that the dog had been chewing on had somehow become lodged around her lower jaw and entrapped her tongue.  She had been losing weight and not drinking well.  The owners had tried to get the bone off at home, but it was just too painful and stuck.

When we saw her we at first attempted to remove the bone with lube and manipulation, but it was impossible to get off without sedating the dog.  To sedate her, we gave her IV propoflo, which briefly put her under anesthesia, allowing us to work in her mouth, and it also provided some pain control.  The bone was able to be removed while she was under the effect of the propoflo without cutting the bone.  As you can see in the pictures, the bone had a small broken piece that allowed her jaw to become entrapped within the bone.

This case illustrates the importance of supervision when dogs are chewing on bones.  Marrow bones can splinter, causing sharp foreign objects that may puncture the intestinal tract if swallowed, or they can get stuck in other places like this case illustrates.  Rawhide bones can be dangerous if they are swallowed in large chunks because they can cause an obstruction in the small intestinal tract.  Any cooked chicken bones or other bones should not be fed to dogs because they splinter and can cause damage to the lining of the gastrointestinal tract.  Even bones that are considered relatively safe like greenies or nylabones can be dangerous if large chunks are swallowed.  Supervision is always a good idea when you give a dog an object to chew on or play with.