How to Prepare Marrow Bones For Dogs?

The purpose of this research is to explain the “How to Prepare Marrow Bones For Dogs?“.

Dog owners are also searching for that “silver bullet” like parents of toddlers. 

Distractions activities or items that will occupy the dog and give us a bit of “me” time without the constant nagging.

What are the advantages of marrow bones? If so how should they be prepared before you feed them to your dog? 

In this post I attempt to answer that question by looking at it from all angles. 

Its not necessary to do a lot of physical preparation before giving your dog marrow bones because they should be raw.

In order to provide a more detailed answer can I begin by giving a quick definition of marrow bones?

Marrow bones: a quick definition

Almost every animal bone contains marrow but marrow bones in the dog bone sense usually come from cow leg bones since they are the biggest and longest bones in a cows body and contain a lot of marrow. 

You may also find pork marrow bones or even lamb marrow bones but these are smaller than beef marrow bones.

Marrow bones come in all shapes and sizes

Depending on the source you can get a variety of sizes and shapes for your bone marrow.

It can range anywhere between 10cm and 20cm in length.

In some cases the marrow bones will be cut into semicircular shapes while in others the shapes will be circular.

The right size of marrowbone for your dog

Making sure that the bones you give your dog are the right size is one of the steps in preparing marrow bones for your dog.

It will be important to make sure that the marrow bone isnot too big with most marrow bones.

While some bones can pose real choking hazards to dogs I do not think that applies to most beef marrow bones since they are far too large to choke on.

Occasionally a dogs teeth become stuck with hard bones such as marrow bones.

The size of your dog is important since marrow is extremely rich food which your dog can overdo. 

Two of the biggest dangers of marrow for dogs are that 85% of it is fat and that too much marrow may cause diarrhea.

In addition the bone is so large that the dog can not get to all of the marrow on the bone with your dog and marrow bones.

Marrow bones are primarily used so your dog can lick out all of the yummy marrow. You may want your dog to chew on some of the bone but this is not the main purpose.

The bone itself is the wrong size for your dog if it is too long for your dog to reach all of the marrow inside.

However we will explore this topic more in the following section where we will discuss how to prepare marrow bones for dogs.

How to prepare cooked marrow bones

For those of you who came to this page looking for advice on how to cook marrow bones for your dog I must say right now that you should never give your dog any cooked bones marrow included.

You should never give your dog cooked bones as they are far too brittle and more likely to break into razor-sharp pieces if swallowed.

When you prepare a broth for your dog from marrow bones there is a slight exception.

In this post I will discuss marrow bone broth and how any bones are removed from the broth before it is given to a dog. 

How to prepare raw marrow bones

Most of you would not have to do much preparation with your marrow bones particularly if you purchased them from a website that specializes in raw dog food.

We should be able to use these marrow bones soon. 

Earlier I described how marrow bones are available in a variety of sizes and shapes.

The marrow of some marrow bones is circular (so that access to the marrow is only possible from either end of the bone) while the marrow of other marrow bones is semicircular in shape. 

If the marrow bones are semicircular then a dog of any size can access all of the marrow but if the bones are circular then the amount of marrow a dog can access depends on the length of its tongue compared to the length of the bones.

If you take the bones out of the package you will notice that the outside of the bones has been cleaned to remove any strands of meat but also to ensure that there are no sharp edges or pieces of bone along the length of them.

Getting your marrow bones from your local butcher or meat market may not be as clean.

Check that there are no sharp or broken edges or shards of bone sticking out of the bone do not worry about any bits of meat or gristle attached to the outside of the bone.

You should clean them up if they exist.  

The next step is to decide whether to feed your dog these bones straight from the freezer or from the fridge after you have prepared the bone to an appropriate size for your dog to eat.

Frozen vs unfrozen marrow bones

Straight from the freezer is the best way to present a marrow bone to your dog.

Doesnot that one seem odd?

Marrow bones whether frozen or at room temperature are softer than ones that have been refrigerated or kept at room temperature.

Furthermore frozen bones are less hard and that makes them safer for your dog to handle since there is less chance that they will break a tooth while chewing and gnawing on them. 

Having decided on the storage of marrow bones it is time to consider their shelf life. Does their shelf life last forever? 

Do dog marrow bones go bad? 

The “best before” dates for marrow bones are the same as those for other bones once they have been defrosted. 

Your first clue is the time that you think the bone smells bad and your second clue is when your dog withdraws from it! 

In most cases bones dissolve within a day so this isnot a big deal.

It is a matter of choice whether to discard or store a marrow bone that lasts longer than a day.

You alone are responsible for the rights and wrongs of this decision. 

Store your dog food in a separate fridge or freezer if you have one rather than if you do not.

Do you think your dog will be interested in the bone again? It would be best if it were thrown away if they wouldnot.

The stomach of your dog should also be considered when gnawing on an “older” bone.

It might be a good idea to throw the bone away after a day if your dog has a sensitive stomach.

You just have to decide how tolerant you are of the smell of rotting meat if your dog does not suffer from gnawing on “aged” bones!

Thats all there is to the unsavory section! Next I will discuss marrow bone broth which is the one and only time when you should consider cooking marrow bones before giving them to your dog. 

How to prepare marrow bone broth

Cooked bones should only be given to your dog after they are partially dissolved in a tasty broth!

Many consider marrow bone broth to be a miracle drink- sort of like a protein shake only its made from marrow bones apple cider vinegar and water. 

We owners might also benefit from it as well as our dogs. 

You can find much more information about how and why you should make a bone marrow broth for dogs in my book. The number of vitamins and minerals released from a very long-simmering process is amazing.  

After discussing the one exception to the strict rule about cooked bones and dogs I would like to discuss why dogs should never be left alone with bones.

Supervising bone chewing

There should still be a warning on any bone you give your dog regardless of how carefully you prepare it.

The shards of a bone can cut the lining of a dogs stomach or block its intestines. Bones can become stuck in a dogs throat get caught in their teeth or get stuck on their teeth and become stuck.

My arm is as long as the list of potential dangers.

Unfortunately many dogs enjoy chewing on bones more than anything else it is in their DNA.

The chewing of bones provides dogs with many benefits and a really good idea that I just read about is to give your dog a bone when they are in stressful situations such as thunderstorms and fireworks.

You should always be around when you give your dog a bone just in case.

I do not mean that you should sit next to your dog while they chew on their bone on the sofa.

As soon as I give my two golden retrievers a bone they look for a secluded place away from everyone else. 

However you should never give your dog a bone before leaving the house for work. 

When it comes to marrow bones in particular do not leave your dog with the bone for more than an hour.

Indulging in such an enjoyable activity will provide them with some peace of mind as they have licked out all the marrow cleaned their teeth by gnawing on the outside of the bone and cleaned their teeth.

It is not enough time for them to have broken a tooth or two from gnawing so much!

I will now get to the last section in this research about how to prepare marrow bones for dogs which is to ensure that you have a guaranteed way to get the bone away from your dog!

How to take a bone away from a dog

Since I suggest that you limit the amount of time that your dog spends with a bone it means that you should be able to remove the bone as quickly as possible.

For some dogs and their owners getting back a broken bone is like getting crack cocaine.

It is impossible to imagine a more loving gentle and sweet dog than Sylvie my youngest golden retriever.

You can give her a bone or some food until then. 

Her desire to claim any of these possessions brings out her devilish side. 

She used to be aggressive with balls or other toys when she was younger but she has now given up those things since she realizes that they are merely a game.

I always make sure she is in an area of the house where she will not be disturbed when I give her a marrow bone.

The next step is to make sure that I have something she finds so irresistible that she will leave her bone for it.

Otherwise removing the bone from her would be too traumatic for me and for her.

Moreover if I can distract her by chasing a ball I can quickly retrieve the bone without any confrontation. 

Its most important feature is its lack of confrontation. 

After retrieving the bone throw it away and ensure that your dog cannot get it out of the bin again!

What are you going to do with the bone?

Conclusion

I hope that in this research I have shown you that preparing marrow bones for dogs means more than just making sure that the bone is the right size for your dog or that it does not have any sharp edges.

We should not just give our dogs a bone that we just bought from the meat market and then forget about it. Marrow bones can be an important occasional treat for our dogs. 

If you want to read more about dog food tips read here: Dog Food Tips and Tricks.

How to Prepare Marrow Bones For Dogs? (Watch Video)