Safe Treats & Chew Toys

istuart

istuart

Member
I have a 15lb. dachshund/chihuahua mix who is an aggressive chewer. A rawhide chew or a bullystick will last her for a day or so at best. I am considering trying a flavored nylabone. I've also thought about trying real bones but am a little nervous having once had a lab/retriever get a chunk of rib bone stuck in the roof of her mouth. It took 2 of us to remove it and I haven't given any of my dogs a real bone since. I see that some of you do use real bones - which beef bone could you recommend?

Also, I see postings on Facebook to avoid dog treats made in China. I don't know if this is misinformation or not. Can someone recommend treats you might find at Petsmart or Petco that are safe?

Thanks!
Iris
 
My dogs also love antlers. Dog treats from several foreign countries are reputed to contain hazardous ingredients- for instance rawhide cured with arsenic. Personally I don't buy them.
My dogs enjoyed their nylabones before they had antlers now they rarely touch them and they have been out of antlers for about a month.
 
I've moved onto Antlers, now I can buy them on-line here, and my boys LOVE them. They will not touch the nylabones though, total waste of time and effort there:(

Treats made in China contain all sorts of nasties, I NEVER buy them.

Antlers are really good because they don't splinter and do last forever! One of my boys especially is an aggressive chewer, he's still on his first Antler which is amazing!
 
I must be the only one who doesn't like antlers... I have had 3 different dogs break teeth on them. I give mine nylabones, and stuffed kongs, mostly, with the odd raw chicken leg or back or neck. I have 2 mini dachshunds and a larger terrier x.
 
Aside from antlers and raw meaty bones Thor really loves toys from West Paw Designs. He has a Bumi, Zisc, and Hurley. Two he's had since I got him and they lasted through his teething stage. The zisc got left outside for a good 3 months in which time it was in constant sunlight, rained on, snowed on, frozen, thawed, froze again and thawed and now it's been chewed on insistently since I found it during a thaw and it's still as nice as the day I bought it.

As far as treats. the one ingredient treats such as dehydrated liver and lung are some of Thor's favourites. Zukes are another great choice for training treats. As well as My Mighty Wolf treats. If I'm on a budget I'll buy one of those big tubes of Rollover (which is meant to be fed as food) or a bag of the refrigerated fresh pet select food. Or if chicken is on sale I just cook it and cut it into little pieces. Simple Thor loves it I can snack on it when training. It's win win.
 
sara said:
I must be the only one who doesn't like antlers... I have had 3 different dogs break teeth on them. I give mine nylabones, and stuffed kongs, mostly, with the odd raw chicken leg or back or neck. I have 2 mini dachshunds and a larger terrier x.
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Was it the little dogs who broke teeth on them?

I was about to ask Mary where she bought the antlers from (It'd be great for Evie B to have something to chew on inside) but I dont like the sound of broken teeth..
 
Ok, here are the results of my shopping trip for chewy toys for Fannie. I spent about $50 and I've stashed about half of them for later once (if) these have been used.

2 Chicken flavored Nylabones (1 in the car, 1 in the house) - untouched. She has no interest.
Antler - liked in the store. chewed once at home, ignored.
Nylabone toy (one for heavy chewers) - ignored.

Oh yeah - 1 Shoe - chewed (caught her before damage was done). Roll of paper towels in the car - chewed. Her go-to chewy in the house is a hoof that she's been chewing off and on for about 3 months. I guess I'll get one of these for the car.

I also bought some other "bones" made by Nylabone thinking they were heavy duty. Nope. One was eaten within a couple of hours. I had put 2 out in the car and couldn't find the 2nd one after a couple of hours. The next day I gave her the one I'd found and a few minutes later half of it was gone (which is when I realized she'd eaten the other in one sitting). I also bought a couple of hard beef straps. The one I put out lasted about 3 days which is not too bad considering 2 dogs were taking turns with it.

I think that if Fannie is bored enough that she'll eventually adopt the Nylabones and the antler. I won't buy any more of the softer Nylabones since they disappear too quickly (not worth the money).
 
Oh dear, sounds like Fannie is quite a gal when it comes to chewy toys!!!!!!!!! Know what you mean about ignoring Nylabones, my boy Zeus sniffed then has ignored ever since. Same with Kongs, he prefers something he can DESTROY like rubber balls.

Maybe you could make some tug toys. Just braid, best a four braid, some inexpensive fabric. May not last long but at least you can quickly and inexpensively make new ones. There's a thread on this forum for making toys, some are just with things around the house, cheap and easy. That way when (I don't think it's a case of 'if') Fannie destroys the toy she hasn't cost you an arm and a leg:D
 
Evie said:
Was it the little dogs who broke teeth on them?

I was about to ask Mary where she bought the antlers from (It'd be great for Evie B to have something to chew on inside) but I dont like the sound of broken teeth..
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Scout broke a tooth, which had to be removed (to the tune of $320), then 2 weeks later, I found Zoe had broke 2 teeth ($430 later...) then Mouse broke a tooth a few months after that, thankfully that one doesn't have to be removed, yet. Oliver has a couple of nicks, but I cant prove that's the antlers. I have completely given up on them though, and won't buy another one.
 
istuart said:
Ok, here are the results of my shopping trip for chewy toys for Fannie. I spent about $50 and I've stashed about half of them for later once (if) these have been used.

2 Chicken flavored Nylabones (1 in the car, 1 in the house) - untouched. She has no interest.
Antler - liked in the store. chewed once at home, ignored.
Nylabone toy (one for heavy chewers) - ignored.

Oh yeah - 1 Shoe - chewed (caught her before damage was done). Roll of paper towels in the car - chewed. Her go-to chewy in the house is a hoof that she's been chewing off and on for about 3 months. I guess I'll get one of these for the car.

I also bought some other "bones" made by Nylabone thinking they were heavy duty. Nope. One was eaten within a couple of hours. I had put 2 out in the car and couldn't find the 2nd one after a couple of hours. The next day I gave her the one I'd found and a few minutes later half of it was gone (which is when I realized she'd eaten the other in one sitting). I also bought a couple of hard beef straps. The one I put out lasted about 3 days which is not too bad considering 2 dogs were taking turns with it.

I think that if Fannie is bored enough that she'll eventually adopt the Nylabones and the antler. I won't buy any more of the softer Nylabones since they disappear too quickly (not worth the money).
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When Holly got her first antler she showed interest in it in the car on the way home but once we were home she ignored it for about a week, then one day she decided to have a cheew and now she loves antlers. We got two new antlers at christmas for her and Lewis and they are both about half the size that they were when we got them.
We haven't had any problems with chipped teeth yet (although the vet did say to keep an eye on Holly's teeth to make sure they don't get blunted from all the chewing she does), the dogs seem to scrape their teeth across the ends of the antler rather than biting down on it so I don't see how that could result in chipped teeth.

Maybe the Nylabones you got were for puppies, some of the smaller ones are ment for puppies and are made of a softer plastic.

You could make ice cubes with treats in them for the dogs to chew. I make them and it keeps the dogs entertained for a couple of minutes at practically no cost (I just freeze some of their kibble into the ice so it really doesn't cost anything extra, or I use whatever I'm putting in their kongs).

You could also see if your dog will chew a carrot. Holly likes carrot, although it does make a bit of a mess because she doesn't eat it all so their are some carrot chips left behind :LOL:
 
If they don't show interest in antlers put a little peanut butter on, sandpaper it a little to get some shards off and it'll start to smell more enticing, or soak in water over night. When the antler is down to its last nub we soak ours in water and Russ takes an interest again
 
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