marrow bones, raw or cooked?

[Jodi and Stella]

I just gave Stella a marrow bone, which she loves. I boiled it before hand. Are they better cooked or raw?

[Jennifer and Jack]

 

I give Jack his raw!!! Instincts sells a raw bone that comes in the freezer section of the "health food store for dogs"  I am from the philosophy that their stomachs can handle raw food, after all they are genetically the same as wolves. I am very selective what I let him have, but he just loves them raw.

 

http://www.naturesvariety.com/products/treats/NV/bones

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

I always feed raw bones also Karen, I was told that they also do not splinter like cooked bones - in your vast knowledge is this the case?  I just trusted my source because she had been raw feeding her dogs for about 3 years and seemed very educated.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Weight-bearing bones like the kind of beef marrow bones we are talking about here will not splinter. Raw feeders distinguish between edible bones (those the dogs can actually crunch up and consume) and recreational bones, which are too hard to be chewed or eaten, whether raw or cooked, and do not provide any nutritional value. It is true that edible bones of the type that raw feeders give will splinter and that kind of bone should never be given cooked. They can splinter even in a raw state.

But a big beef marrow bone (or femur, if that helps) will not splinter. Even if you cook it all day.

 

[Jodi and Stella]

Karen you are a wealth of information! I think several of us learned alot. Thank you so much.

[Michael Gurley]

I have never seen them raw, actually. I think that all the bones sold in pet stores are already boiled or otherwise cooked, and the ones I give my dogs are cooked.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can buy them raw from the butcher section of many grocery stores. Also, some pet supply stores sell them raw in the freezer case.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've done both; I prefer to cook them first, though, because that way you can give them the cooked marrow separately in their bowls. Otherwise, the part of the marrow that they can't reach becomes rancid over time. The bones themselves last forever, and you can sterilize them in your dishwasher and refill them.

We have lots of discussions on marrow bones & ways to use them in the Food Group.

[Sandi]

I feed them raw.  That way the dogs gnaw on them.  I find cooked bones can be splintered.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Marrow bones won't splinter. They are not edible bones, they are what is known as "recreational bones". They might possibly break, but that would be rare, and they are much too thick and hard to splinter.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Karen, Your Jack is adorable!!! That is a really good point. I always have given Jack his bones raw and then threw them out after a day because you are right, the part they can not reach gets rancid.

 

Is the marrow just as good for them cooked? I am thinking I would like to try it for him. Can you tell me how you cook them?

 

Thanks so much

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you! Your Jack is adorable, too!

Here are some FG discussions on cooking marrow bones:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/marrow-bones-with-pictures...
http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/dog-bones-1?groupUrl=thefo...
You can boil the bone for awhile until the marrow is soft enough to push trhough...can't give you an exact amount of time, but i have given bones that cooked three hours in a pot of soup with no problem, and JD is a large dog. I've tried microwaving them, too.
The marrow is very good for them cooked; for us, too.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

OMD, Karen do you eat the marrow too??  LOL!