Bone marrow

    • Gold Top Dog

    Bone marrow

    Last night I bought 2 peices of frozen bone marrow.  The marrow is still in the bone.  My question is should I boil the bone first (to kill possible germs on it) before giving it to my dog?  Should I take the marrow out of the bone?  Or is it safe to just give him the frozen bone marrow?
    Thanks
    • Gold Top Dog
    absolutely do not boil the bone, that renders it unsafe. No need to worry about germs, dogs can handle them. Why would you want to take the marrow out? most of the fun and benefit for the dog is working to get it out of the bone and peeling any leftover meat off the bone. Feeding it frozen is fine.  
    • Gold Top Dog
    thanks mudpuppy.  The reasoning behind me asking about taking the marrow out is that would the marrow be too rich and too much for the dog to handle which could lead to soft stools.  Plus my guy is only 33lbs so was thinking his body might not be able to handle that much marrow.  But then I guess I could cut back on his next meal to compensate.
    • Gold Top Dog
    For some reason my post didn't make it......I agree completely that the bone shouldn't come NEAR heat, forget boiling, but I do remove some of the bone marrow when I first start giving marrow bones.  It IS very rich and I've seen it cause dire rear, which is not my favorite thing to deal with.  I take out about half, and then slowly leave more and more in....
    • Gold Top Dog
    thanks for the help.  I abosulutely love this site.  I get so much help and ideas that have made my dog and myself very happy.  As a first time dog owner, this forum has helped me tremendously and i've recommended it to many of my friends who also have dogs.  A big thank you from Boomer and myself
    • Gold Top Dog
    When I gave Bailey one I didnt take any marrow out, I thought about it because of what Glenda said but then realized her little puppy tounge wasnt getting much out anyway.  A dog with a longer and stronger tounge may need it to be given slowly like she said.  I just give it to her frozen, and she usually doesnt mess with it until it thaws a little.
    • Gold Top Dog
    oh sorry, I thought you meant scoop out the marrow and feed the marrow, discard the bone.
    I've never had any digestive problems from marrow myself.
    • Gold Top Dog
    edited b/c my post was all wrong cause I didnt read the whole thing, and it didnt make sense.   Sorry [:)]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I take the marrow out, and mix it with other stuff for bone and Kong stuffing. My dogs are small (13 and 16 pounds) and the amount of marrow inside of one 3" section of bone is too much for their little bellies. I mix it with at least twice as much other stuff, refill the bones, and freeze them. They get their frozen bone, chew for a while, I take it, and restuff. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thats a good idea, Im gonna do that.  What do you mix it with?
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    Yogurt, meat, pumpkin, fish, whatever. Canned dog food would be fine, too...
    • Gold Top Dog
    I've never had a problem with diarrhea because of marrow. Of course my dogs have iron guts.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Not ALL dogs will have problems.  The suggestion is just kind of a safety net for your carpets...and their poor butts.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I think my guy doesn't have an iron gut.  We gave him one of those stuffed bones (i believe it was with lamb).  He only was able to get at and heat about a handful of it and last night he had almost watery like stools.
    It also has to do with switching him from Innova puppy to Innova adult.  Its been about 3 weeks and he's still have soft stools. Not as bad as a couple of weeks ago but still not as solid as I would like it.
    • Gold Top Dog
    i took emma's first bone after she cleaned it all out and then chewed on the empty bone for a couple days, then i took it and washed it with dish soap and dried it and stuffed it 1/2 with peanut butter and 1/2 with mashed potatoes and put it in the freezer, did i do this right?