chewing options
Becca has been on a chewing frenzy. How long should I let her have rawhide, bully sticks etc.? I have been letting her have them for about an hour then taking them away. My last dog couldn't have consumable chews so it it all new. She also has a few beef bones and a nylabone or two. Beef tendons are her favorite and they don't smell as bad as the bully sticks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Throw away the nylabones. They are notorious for breaking teeth, not worth the risk. As for rawhides, I let my dogs chew as much as they want as long as their gums aren't bleeding. Franklin can eat an entire retriever roll in a few hours, but it keeps him occupied and helps his teeth. My vet recommends rawhides since they are digestable. Frank and Kirby will also eat entire bully sticks but they are usually only about 6" so they only last about 20 min. I generally just have rawhides scattered throughout the house and deer antlers and let my dogs chew when they want. I think this may result in them not being as obsessive with them because they are around all the time. When I used to give raw knuckle bones I'd let Frank have it for about an hour then take it away because he would sit and eat the whole thing if I let him and the bones would turn his poo to concrete if I let him eat the whole thing.
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Permalink Reply by Beca and Mishka on
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Is she teething? You can also try damp (but clean) cotton rags, tied in a knot and frozen. Mishka liked those when he was teething. We also found some fresh/soft antlers (not dried out) that have lasted longer than bully sticks but are clearly softer than nylabones. Our vet generally tells people to stick to the flexi-chew nylabones and avoid the dura-chew ones. Had to nix rawhides because Mishka got addicted - he would sit and look at the cupboard they were kept in instead of doing ANYTHING ELSE with his day.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I usually give my guys one cow ear each night and just let them have it until they're finished with it, which is usually 30-60 minutes. As long as the chews are a reasonable size (i.e. she's not going to get sick if she eats the whole thing) I'd just let her have it. I think any type of chew carries some sort of risk - I'm not sure how a rock hard antler could be much safer than a nylabone to be honest lol.
On a side note, you can buy chewies pretty inexpensively on bestbullysticks.com. If you sign up for their email they sometimes send out coupon codes too.
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Permalink Reply by Alex on
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I agree with Melissa and Franklin about nylabones. They sure chipped Dee Dee's teeth! She was a huge chewer when she was young, and thought nylabones were perfect. Not so. They chipped a couple of her small teeth, and she also had to have root canal done on the big tooth. Not so worth it. I know they last long time, but it's because they are too hard on their teeth. Go with rawhide or antler, but Becca should not have either while she's unsupervised. Not sure about antler, but dogs can choke on rawhide pieces. And oh, I used to hate the stains rawhide made on carpet, but smell? Yeah, go with the better smelling one!
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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on
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I'm finding this interesting. Every vet I ever worked for told people NOT to use rawhides because of the digestion issue and how it could cause such horrid obstruction issues. I've been using Nylabones (the hardest variety) because so far it's the only thing I've found that lasts more than five minutes with either of mine. I used the softest variety when Kadi was teething, but as soon as she got her teeth in she could eat an entire bone in five minutes. I used to give my Dalmatian cows hooves and they lasted him well, but I can't find those around here any more. I give my Boston a pigs ear every morning (lasts him about 10 minutes), but they make the corgis sick. Where are you getting deer antlers? That might be a good option for these guys. I never heard of that before. We have a terrible issue with stuffed toys because Brodie loves them and takes care of them and Kadi destroys them in minutes. So he has to keep his hidden from her! Unfortunately none of them are interested in the Kongs, even when I put stuff in them.
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I got our last one online from Pet Expertise....6 months ago? I'd say it's about halfway through its life. We get the XL size and we ask for the ones for dogs who are picky about chews (they're softer? fresher? smell better to the dog?). I could only find little ones in the pet stores around here and wanted something big enough to deter any attempts to bite in half. The website has a FAQ type thing about good chewing habits (no more than .5" - 1" per day, etc.) Antlers are also nice because they don't stain things or leave an odor.
As with all recreational activities, we never assume that anything is 100% safe, and try to keep risks to a reasonable level and tailor stuff to the specific dog. In our case, rawhides didn't really work as recreational chews - Mishka's chewing style meant they were swallowed in chunks and I got worried about blockages. His gnawing habits are much better, so antlers get a good slow work-over. We monitor chewing, whether it's destroying a soft toy or gnawing on antlers, and check teeth for unusual wear when we brush them. For our dog the antlers are a better chew than rawhide. No doubt the opposite is true for other dogs.
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When Dee Dee was younger, we used to give her rawhide, but she would have diarrhea or slimy poo, so we stopped giving them to her. Now she's older, antlers are probably too hard for her. Oh, and toys. We gave her a hamburger and hot dog toys, we went to bed, found half the hamburger on the floor the next morning. No pieces found anywhere... Next day, she pooed orange poo... We never left her alone with toys ever again. Whatever works for your dogs, but I still don't recommend Nylabone just from my experience.
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Permalink Reply by Marcie on
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Becca doesn't really gnaw hard on her nylabones, she just uses them for variety. I may get an antler and cow hoof this weekend to try. Antlers are just so expensive. I might also get a new beef bone, she hasn't had a new one for over a month. I hate the raw messy grossness.
I let her have rawhide for an hour or so at a time, but I'm a little paranoid about it She has a Kong when she is crated. At this point anything is better than having her chew the woodwork lol. She will be a year old in two weeks, so I assume she is done teething. She has a vet appointment Thursday to check a red ear (infected bug bite?). I'll ask them too.
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Permalink Reply by Snickmom on
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I bought a couple of moose antlers from an Amazon vendor. They laid around the house with little interest until a few days ago when the dogs took turns gnawing on one of them. The 3 dogs reduced it from 8 inches to 2 inches in one day. I think our Spaniel did most of the damage- and BOY do his teeth look shiny white. I posted a movie of Snickers chewing it, here it is again.
http://www.mycorgi.com/video/snickers-chewing-on-moose-antler
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Permalink Reply by Vicki/Kurt Pegel on
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What kind of antler is that? it looks flat, the ones I have are round and my Sophie wont touch it.
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It is a moose antler It sat around several weeks before all the sudden all 3 decided it was yummy. I think getting it started was the key. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G5ZYNI/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i01
I wish dog stuff wasn't so expensive. I spend more on each of them than I do my kids. really.
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Permalink Reply by aronna welsh on
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I don't understand why do you take them away. Mine chew the things they can eat then switch to the ones they can't eat.
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