As usual, I thought I was a smart cookie for thinking up this idea and then found that the entire Internet had already thought of it. Hey, great: they gave me lots of great ideas for how to refill those expensive marrow bones you buy for dogs at the pet food store only to be left after a few hours with a hollow bone your dog is no longer interested in.
Basically you need something pasty and/or moussy—in other words, a mixture that won’t flow. I suppose you could engineer a truly stiff paste or gel that stays stable at room temp, like the original commercial bones, but I couldn’t make that happen. So, I resorted to creating a kind of fluffy paste, filling the bones, and then freezing them to set.
What kinds of ingredients can you use? It depends on if your dog has particular allergies (chicken, for Tali) and if the place they’re likely to take the bone to eat it will stain (the white-ish carpet by the fireplace in my case; I call it her Lair because it ends up littered with bones and antlers when she’s done chewing—I’ll try to take a pic next time and post it; at any rate, pumpkin is a no-go in the Lair). In general you’re looking for a combo of fiber, protein, veg or fruit, probiotic, and something that will smell enticing. I’ve settled on a mix of banana, pumpkin seed butter (because I’m allergic to peanut butter), cooked oatmeal, a little Greek yoghurt, and a little fried bacon (with the grease) or smoked salmon. Other popular ingredients online are mashed potato, sweet potato, or pumpkin, canned chicken or tuna, a little honey or maple syrup, and wet dog food.
I like to put the finished mix in a quart ziplock and then snip off one corner to make an impromptu pastry bag—that makes filling the bones a lot quicker and neater. Then, I freeze them flat for 4-6 hours or overnight, then dump them into a gallon freezer bag once they’re frozen solid for parcelling out when Tali needs some entertainment—during a long drive, or a party, or while I’m gone to work. She absolutely loves them and so far hasn’t made a mess of the Lair.
The Rookery 