What do you let your dog chew on?

TomSeller · Mar 19, 2017

The wife was running out of slippers that were not chewed on. I told her it was a sign of affection, but that didn't go far. So I figured I better get the new dog something to chew on. I am trying the compressed rawhide. So far so good if I take them away after a couple of hours and if I watch for the stick getting too small where they can be swallowed. That would seem to me to create a digestion problem.

CurlyDave · Mar 19, 2017

I have larger dogs, 2 labs and a golden retriever. We get rolled rawhide from Costco. They are called "Retriever Rolls".

Somewhat expensive, but the dogs love them. Try putting a little peanut butter into the gaps between the layers on one end -- makes them even better. They just get smaller and smaller over time, I expect that the dogs eat the little pieces they tear off. From time to time the dogs do have some digestion problems, but I have always correlated that more with finding a deer corpse in the woods than the rawhide. They sometimes bring deer bones home...

MinnesotaEric · Mar 19, 2017

About the only thing I allow my adult Labradors to chew on are the tough rubber toys. Experience tells me that hard toys, bones and other things leads to abscessed tech, teeth getting pulled and other costly vet bills.

The normal rule with dogs is weird stuff in, weird stuff out. So avoid all weird stuff.

MarkE · Mar 19, 2017

We give our Rottie USA made beef cheeks. They are easier to digest than rawhide and don't smell at all. The packaged ones are petty expensive, but we have found several places nearby that have them in bulk which are lower cost.

EddieWalker · Mar 19, 2017

Our dogs are extremly spoiled. Every month we get a Bark Box with several doggy toys in it and a few different types of treats. Most of the time the chickens end up with the treats since the dogs are picky and only get excited about Nudges. The toys are fairly well built, but eventually they get torn apart. For the hours and hours of entertainment the dogs get out of them, its not that big of a deal picking up the destroyed toys before mowing the lawn. Some toys are like stuffed animals, others are more for tug a way. They know what toys are for them, and leave everything else alone.

Dog Toys, Treats & Gifts Every Month | BarkBox

nybirdman · Mar 19, 2017

Just brought my 11 month old GSP home to live with me(Long story),he had been at my son's since he was 8 weeks old.Any-way he destroyed all the stuffed toys that my old dog had for years;in very short order.Gave him some toughter stuff and he is doing a pretty good job of wrecking them too.
I don't believe in giving dogs any raw-hides or bones.He can peal the cover off a tennis ball.
He is proving to be an out-standing bird dog,does it all;points,retrieve to hand and backs.I am dog sitting this week-end;three GSP's a year old and younger plus the older dogs;lots of fun.

jimmyj · Mar 19, 2017

We recommend hard rubber toys, cow tails, beef pizzles (don't ask) and beef tendon for chewing dogs at the store. Anything too hard can damage their teeth. The veterinary college has a test, whack it against your knee. If it's so hard it hurts, don't let your dog chew it. The biggest tooth damaging items are bones and antlers, although for gentle chewing dogs you can sometimes use them. If any of you invent and indestructible safe dog chew you will be very rich!!

Streetcar · Mar 19, 2017

What type of dog do you have.
My pits will eat rawhide. They love nylabone chews

GregbkH · Mar 19, 2017

My Black Mouth Cur loves Jolly balls ( horse toy ). It's the only toy he plays with anymore. They are almost indestructable and last from 3 to 6 months. He'll even carry it with him when we go for walks.

Bird · Mar 19, 2017

You guys make me realize how lucky we are that our 11 year old Chihuahua doesn't care about chewing on anything other than her food.:laughing:

rustyshakelford · Mar 19, 2017

During deer season I'll give out outside dog the lower legs of any deer I shoot. They love them. Our inside pit is still a puppy so all he gets are over priced dog toys from the store. He loves the tennis ball on a rope but wrecks it pretty quick

Brett

Avondale · Mar 19, 2017

I give my dogs the hard rubber Kongs but try to make sure they do not take them outside. The large yellow poly-type rope attached to one really locked up my snow blower when it got tangled in the auger bearing area. It stretched and heated, shrunk wrapped to the spindle and took many hours of work to free up.

2LaneCruzer · Mar 19, 2017

Lucy Lu, our Boston Terrier, loves "Milo's Kitchen Chicken Jerky Recipe" with at passion. They are more of a treat than a chew, but she absolutely loves them...more than a cookie, and we call her the Cookie Monster. She likes to chew on a big old beef rib bone, and she always has a couple in her toy box. She doesn't chew them to splinters, so we don't worry about her chewing on them. She mostly chews them slick and leaves them in the yard for the varmints.

jimmyj · Mar 19, 2017

GregbkH said:
My Black Mouth Cur loves Jolly balls ( horse toy ). It's the only toy he plays with anymore. They are almost indestructable and last from 3 to 6 months. He'll even carry it with him when we go for walks.

We have a new Belgian Malinois (don't get one by the way they are nuts LOL), she LOVES Jolly Balls and Jolly Eggs. They do last a long time too.

bigtiller · Mar 19, 2017

Our Maltese dogs are content with chewing their fingernails.

gsganzer · Mar 19, 2017

GregbkH said:
My Black Mouth Cur loves Jolly balls ( horse toy ). It's the only toy he plays with anymore. They are almost indestructable and last from 3 to 6 months. He'll even carry it with him when we go for walks.

Our 8 month old Black Mouth Cur also plays with a jolly ball. That is, when he's not chewing the patio cushions or our shoes.

He's an interesting dog. We have to be careful in disciplining him, because he'll take it real hard and sulk for hours. I hear this is a trait for many BMC's. They're so eager to please their owner, that they get really bummed out if they think they failed or did something wrong. He's incredibly loyal to our oldest daughter and wants to follow her everywhere she goes.

k0ua · Mar 19, 2017

beef pizzles (don't ask)

Now how are people supposed to know what a thing is if they don't ask?

* hint, cows don't have them...

check · Mar 19, 2017

jimmyj said:
We recommend hard rubber toys, cow tails, beef pizzles (don't ask) and beef tendon for chewing dogs at the store. Anything too hard can damage their teeth. The veterinary college has a test, whack it against your knee. If it's so hard it hurts, don't let your dog chew it. The biggest tooth damaging items are bones and antlers, although for gentle chewing dogs you can sometimes use them. If any of you invent and indestructible safe dog chew you will be very rich!!

Hey, Jimmy, what is your authority for these statements that you should not allow dogs to have hard chewing toys? They sell all kinds of them at the pet stores.

hosspuller · Mar 19, 2017

We have had 30 years of serial Dobermans. They are prodigious chewers as pups. The choice is give them something to chew or they will find something themselves. Antlers and bones are dangerous to teeth. Rawhide is gone within an hour. Other dog toys are destroyed. The "tough" fire hose toy didn't last 10 minutes. WE only give and recommend the Nylabone ... wolf size. Do not get anything that has soft pads or even small knuckles. Nor the Nylabone dental products. The pup will chew them off and swallow it. Leads to impactions or worse. As long as the pup can only scrape off small pieces (like shavings), it should pass when swallowed.