Emme's First (and Perhaps Last) Marrow Bone

Over the weekend, I gave Emme her first marrow bone and it was a wonderful and an awful experience. We never give Emme and Rudy table scraps or bones. We have read that bones, especially chicken bones, shatter and can do major damage to a dog's throat and intestines. Years ago I read a dog book by Daniel Pinkwater and he said that the only safe bone to give a dog was a beef femur bone. If the bone is sturdy enough to hold up a cow, they are sturdy enough for a dog to chew. So occasionally I began to get marrow bones for Rudy. I would go to the grocery store and have the meat department cut up marrow bones about six inches long. I would take them home and following Pinkwater's instructions would boil them for 20 minutes to kill anything lurking in the raw meat and to make the bones even denser. Then I would wrap them individually in foil and place them in the freezer. Rudy loved these bones and after the initial chew, they would be a permanent addition to his toy box. They would be revisited and chewed again months and even years later.

When we got Emme as a little puppy, I stopped giving Rudy new marrow bones because I did not want Emme to get hold of one. I wanted to wait until she was all grown up. So two marrow bones waited in the freezer for the right time. Well, I decided this past weekend was the right time. Because the bones have a small amount of meat and fat clinging to the outside, I never give them to Rudy inside because of the carpets. I give them to him on the porch at Wooster or on the deck or out in the garage at the lake house. After he has chewed off the outside, they can come inside and they don't make a mess on the carpets.

So the weather was warm this weekend and we were going to the lake. I took these two old, long-frozen bones out of freezer and took them to the lake house. After they thawed, I took a table knife and scraped out the marrow because in the past, too much marrow has made Rudy's stool loose and I didn't want either dog to have a problem. There is still the taste of the marrow inside the bone, but a couple tablespoons of marrow which is essentially fat goes into the garbage.

Ken and I went outside on the deck with a bottle of wine for us and the two thawed, de-marrowed bones for the dogs. Both Emme and Rudy were delighted. They chewed for a long time and really enjoyed themselves. Emme didn't know about these treats and she was impressed with them. After about 45 minutes I picked up the bones, put them in a plastic bag and returned them to the freezer for a return trip when the weather was warm again and they could go out on the deck. Emme was distraught. While we were in the living room, she went to the counter in the kitchen, sat down and whined. She wanted the bone back. It took her a long time to realize that we were done with bones for the day.

As we were sleeping that night, I could hear Emme being very restless. She kept rearranging her blankets and pillow and couldn't settle down. I got up and took her outside to take care of business and then returned to bed. In just a few minutes, Emme got restless again and then went over by Ken's dresser and got sick three times. While I held Emme, Ken went for paper towels and stain remover. Even though I was cautious, the bones were too much of a good thing. Even with the marrow dug out, there must have been enough meat and fat to upset Emme's system. She is used to dry kibble, puppy biscuits, an occasional bite of fruit or vegetable when I am preparing meals and little else. The bone was not something her stomach was used to dealing with. After I cleaned up the bedroom rug, I took Emme to the love seat in the living room and we slept there for about two hours. After I got horribly uncomfortable and my legs were cramped and I was sure Emme was all right, we returned to the bedroom for the rest of the night.

I don't know if I will repeat the bones again. If I do, I will have the butcher cut pieces smaller, about three inches long for Emme, and hope for the best. Emme loved the bones, but I paid dearly for her enjoyment.