What exactly are

[vicnbud]

I am sorry if this sounds like a strange question, but what exactly are "marrow bones"?????

I feed my Buddy raw bones and frankly, I thought all bones had marrow in them....maybe *marrow bones* carries a different context? The reason why I am asking is, I heard that marrow bones cause harder stools, which is something I would love to happen:\ .....Buddy's stools are often soft. Some bones I feed him, cause his stools to be on the soft side and muccosy. I was thinking that perhaps I was feeding him the wrong kind of bones...the ones I usually feed him are raw ribs with lots of meat on them.
Could someone please tell me what kind of bone is the best?

Also...... is it safe to feed your dog frozen meat? Sometimes, I give slabs of meat to Buddy frozen as it takes him longer to eat them. He is a bit of a glutton and tends to inhale his food!
Any suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated!

[SweetDaisyDew]

I'm not sure about what constitutes a "marrow bone." When I go to the butcher shop to ask for a marrow bone, I get a large knuckle bone. She loves these and will chew for hours if I let her. I would imagine you are right though, that all bones contain at least some amount of marrow.

Be careful with the rib bones. I used to let Daisy have rib bones and once she swallowed the whole bone. Scared me. I called the vet and was told to give her 5-6 pieces of bread to cushion it going through. Never saw the bone again so she obviously digested it. Now I make sure to give her bones that are too big for her to swallow whole.

[messano]

<Also...... is it safe to feed your dog frozen meat? Sometimes, I give slabs of meat to Buddy frozen as it takes him longer to eat them. He is a bit of a glutton and tends to inhale his food!>

Frozen bones and meat are perfectly safe to feed. Think of dogs that live and work in the frozen regions of the world, frozen is often all they eat.
It always amazes me that dogs that can pull a fully laden sled for 50+ miles per day can thrive on a diet of almost exclusively seal blubber, raw and usually frozen.

messano

[AussieGoldenLover]

Jessie and Shadow love their marrowbones too. I buy them from the local butcher, and usually have them cut in half, then half again. That way they have 2 to eat today, and another 2 for tomorrow.
They love crunching and gnawing on them. Even old bones found in the yard, will be picked up and paraded around, with head high, and tail wagging, as if to say..."Look at me! Look what I've got!! Nahh, nahhh, nah, nah, nahhhhh, YOU DON'T have one!!!!"
And even with one bone for each of them, Shadow will want the bone that Jessie has, and hang around her, edging closer and closer, trying to get the bone. In the meantime, her top lip goes up, and she starts snarling and growling, as if to say......."Get lost pup, get your own bone!!" [mind you, the tails are wagging at the same time]
I was wondering about marrow bones, and calorie value, cos Jessie needs to shed some weight. [like her mum!!!!], and I wasn't sure if marrow bones should be excluded.
But I'll look elsewhere in case it's been posted before, or post a separate one.

[KatysPal]

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>The reason why I am asking is, I heard that marrow bones cause harder stools, which is something I would love to happen .....Buddy's stools are often soft. Some bones I feed him, cause his stools to be on the soft side and muccosy. I was thinking that perhaps I was feeding him the wrong kind of bones...the ones I usually feed him are raw ribs with lots of meat on them. <hr></blockquote>

Ah. For starters, I suggest you nip out there and read one of the good raw-feeding books which explain what sorts of bones to feed, and why, and how. There's a lot to know about feeding bones, too much info to rewrite the books here. And I'd recommend lurking at some diehard raw-feeding groups for awhile to get a sense of what they feed and why.

That said, practical experience to follow: I've seen "good" stools and "bad" stools from raw feeding in my house [well, in my yard, to be precise :)] and perhaps my observations will be helpful. When digestion goes well, we have nice firm stools--gray-brown bleaching to white in a day or so--consisting of mainly excreted bone debris. Like Lucky Strikes in the '40s, they might be referred to as "so round, so firm, so fully-packed." Perhaps only I think this is funny, I don't know. <img border=0 src="http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/eyes.gif" /> I haven't bothered stepping on one lately, but as I recall the consistency was sort of granulated--no fragments. If I let them sit for a few days to dry out, they explode into fine white powder when stepped on.

When digestion goes poorly, we get largeish bone fragments in clearly bone-like undigested chunks, and mucus. This is because the undigested bone irritates the GI tract, which produces mucus to encase the feces and ease its exit--this is, um, loosely paraphrased from my vet's explanation. [Sorry sorry sorry.]

Anyway, if you're getting mucus, there's irritation going on in there and your bones are not being thoroughly digested. I gave up attempting to feed whole bones [chicken backs, turkey necks, chicken wings] as it seems my two, even the raw-weaned puppy, do not consistently handle them well. Now I grind all the bones meant for consumption around here: this, for us, results in nice firm stools which easily express the anal glands. Occasionally I heave a whole bone [chicken back, pork neck, lamb neck very popular] at the puppy, frozen, to make sure she gets some practice, and she handles them fine--just not over a long period. Even more rarely the adult dog gets one, to get some variety. For recreation they often get nice dense beef leg bones which I take away once pieces break off.

Many raw feeders do not have this problem--their dogs turn parts into poops with no trouble whatsoever. It drives me mad that this doesn't work for us, but grinding does so hey.

For what it's worth it's been my experience that anything called a marrow bone is typically a large dense weight-bearing beef leg bone, which the majority of raw feeders regard as a teeth-cleaning recreational toy rather than a diet staple. Too hard to easily consume, though big dogs can crack off big chunks and swallow them. The marrow itself is pretty rich, which itself can cause diarrhea. If you're looking for firm stools but are having digestive troubles, I'd recommend trying ground-up
chicken bones first. Or, frankly, ground-up anything bone.

Hope this helps!

Anne S

[GoldenKoda]

When you buy these bones from the butcher, how do you ask for them? Do you just ask for a "Marrow Bone" or do you ask for a Knuckle? I had always thought bones were bad for your dog, but since I hear they are not I would like to start giving them to my dog.

[AussieGoldenLover]

In Australia, when I go to our local butcher, I just ask for a marrow bone, and thats what I get. Usually they are really big bones with a knuckle at either end, a little bit of meat left on them, but not much. I tend to ask for the big marrow bones to be cut in half, then half again.
Cooked bones are strictly no go for dogs, but the marrow bones are fine, and great for the dogs teeth.
Chicken wings/necks are also good for dogs, as long as they are strictly raw!!!!
But supervision is needed cos some dogs will 'inhale' the bones and there's a risk of them getting stuck in throat if they gobble too fast.

[taxingmybrain]

Marrow bones aka soup bones are not rib bones. knuckle bones are closer but still not the same. the bones you are looking for are typically about 2-3" diameter, 6-8" long and of uniform diameter. no knuckle on the end. they are hollow and filled with marrow. ask your butcher to cut them into 3-4" wide disks/circles. then assuming you dont want to deal with the raw diet issue and spoilage, boil the bones for 5 mins. cool. push out the cooked marrow and just leave a little fat on the edges. make 10 or 20 at a time. freeze for later. the bones will wear a bit during recreational chewing (this is not a dietary supplment) but as a general rule they will not break or chip -- our friend's st bernard has only managed to crack a few thinner bones. our GR has never broken one.

[KatysPal]

<blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>ask your butcher to cut them into 3-4" wide disks/circles<hr></blockquote>

I personally prefer to leave the bones long, as my GRs can more easily crack off pieces of the smaller sizes. Just our experience.

Anne S