I got BBQ ribs from Chili’s and am left with a bunch of bones. Is it safe to give these to a dog to chew on? I think I recall hearing somewhere that it was NOT, but I can’t remember. The dog is a medium sized yellow lab/foxhound mix approximately one year old.
I seem to recall that cooked bones and pork bones are bad news (only raw beef bones are safe). A bit of Googling seems to bear this out, although there does seem to be disagreement. Personally I wouldn’t take the chance; better safe than sorry. There are lots of safe treats that will make your pup just as happy.
Pork rib bones, IME, are very soft, compared to beef rib bones. It’s my understanding that the reason for keeping chicken bones out of the dog’s mouth is because a splintered bone is a choking hazard. Pork rib bones will splnter quite readily.
Come to think of it, I’ve noticed the same softness with pork chop bones. Anyway, the dogs in our household are always guide dogs, so table scraps are out of the question.
Thanks for the answers. I guess it’s no bones for this dog, tonight.
Sorry about that li’l guy. Maybe daddy’ll let you lick the leftover sauce molecules off his face. 
About the only thing I’ll let my 16-year-old, 26 pound, beagle have is a full hip joint from a ham. Anything smaller, and he tends to swallow too-large fragments and barf them up later. Your much larger dog? I think I would apply the same rule, although uncooked bones may work better, and he/she may be better able to grind up other bones if cooked or smaller.
I’ve been feeding my dog BBQ bones (pork) for a while and he’s never seemed to have any problems. This is a 90 lb, boxer/pit bull/shepherd and he doen’t “chew” them - he eats them.
Before I get scolded - I didn’t want to give him any bones or table scraps but my family was insistent. We tried one or two bones and didn’t see any problem so the dog can usually expect a few whenever he smells BBQ.
My mum’s dogs get roasted cow knuckles to chomp on, and they seem to be just fine - they don’t splinter at all. Pork and chicken - nope. IIRC it’s not just that they are a choking hazard, but they can also splinter into little sharp fragments that may cause injuries.
No bones are safe.
I have seen even supposedly “safe” bones cause problems. Just because a dog has eaten them before doesn’t mean that the next time won’t cause an obstruction, puncture of the intestines, a splinter stuck in the jaw causing pain and infection or even get stuck around the lower jar and cut off blood supply to the tissues (see this a lot with those rib eye bones). Everyone likes to point out that wild predators will gnaw on bones, yes they will but you don’t hear about the times that they die from the complications. Better safe than sorry or stuck with a huge vet bill.
This happened to my old dog Bear twice. The first time, it was an emergency midnight run to a very expensive 24 hour vet. By the second time, he was well-trained enough that Mom was able to keep him calm and get it off herself. But yes, it can certainly happen.