Is it safe to give my dog a beef marrow bone after neutering?

Great question! I personally don't recommend giving dogs any bones, even though with bone marrow in it, because they break teeth, and can cause choking and obstructions in the GI tract. I don't feel it's safe and it's not worth the risks to the dog. If you do decide to give one to Maya, I would monitor her the entire time she is chewing on it, making sure she doesn't swallow large pieces of it whole. I hope this helps!

In large breed dogs (i..e Golden Retriever, Labs, Rottweilers, etc) the newer recommendations is to wait until the pet is 2-3 years of age before neutering to decrease the chances of inadvertently causing bone cancer. So I would recommend waiting a bit longer.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Charlie. I do not recommend giving him a real bone from a butcher nor a pet supply store. The main concern I have is the dog can break off a piece of bone and swallow it. I have had to perform surgery more than once to remove such pieces out of a dog's intestines. I hope this information helps!

No it won't crack any teeth (or at least it is very unlikely to do so), but I would suggest not to give any bone at all (neither cooked or raw) to avoid any risk of secondary gastrointestinal complications. A KONG would be a good alternative, providing both a game and a chew with food. https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/brand/kong Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

As with any bone or hard chew toy, there are concerns for tooth trauma. In my experience, I've seen many broken teeth from dogs chewing on deer antlers, hard bones, etc. I would usually recommend against giving these for that reason. As Rocky is a larger breed dog, the pieces of bone that he is chewing off of the main bone should not be a problem and they should pass through his intestines just fine. However, if given a large enough bone and he eats it whole, this could lead to a GI foreign body obstruction as the bone tries to pass through and gets stuck. There are alternatives you can use such as Kong toys that you can put treats in or put peanut butter in that would keep him busy. Hopefully this helps! Please do not hesitate to contact me with any other concerns you may have.

I would not recommend feeding cooked bones, and it’s best to avoid raw bones as well. Cooked bones can splinter and cause an obstruction, constipation or diarrhea. Raw bones could cause an obstruction as well and could result in food borne illness.

If the bones were as soft as you describe then your dog probably will be fine. Just keep an eye on him for any GI signs, like vomiting or diarrhea and if you notice these things take him to the vet as soon as possible.