My 12-13 week old puppy (whippet – 13 pounds) is going insane trying to chew on things. But all of her toys are too soft and new (i.e. flavorless) for her to go to work on. She’ll chew on anything that smells like me, leather, or wood, but ignores her toys.
I have some doggie treats that are relatively hard, but she’s still able to go through one in 10 minutes or so. Is there anything that I can get for her that will last several hours and I don’t need to worry about letting her go at unattended? Hooves? Real bones? I feel almost like she’d be happiest if I could give her a log to chew a hole through…
I can’t even pet or play with her, she tries to chew on my hand, wrist, foot, or any other bit that comes in reach, and trying to keep her at bay just gets her excited like we’re play-wrestling, which makes her more bitey.
Nylabones are infused with different flavors and they last forever. I still have some that have been chewed on by several of the dogs I’ve had for probably the past 20 years. They can only chew off tiny bits and if they eat them they soften in the intestinal tract and pass on through. Just be sure to take it away from them if they do manage to whittle it down to a small size because then it may become a chocking hazard. I believe they make a slightly softer one for puppies to help with teething issues.
We used to give our dog cow hooves to chew on. You can find them in most big pet stores, the down side is they start to stink after a few minutes of hard core dog slober.
Depends on the dog - I used to have a dog that would chew up a Nylabone in a matter of hours. Unflavored bones lasted much longer (weeks). They are available at most pet stores, they look like bleached and sterilized femurs (probably because that’s exactly what they are). I know the OP said “with flavor”, but those bones seemed to keep the dogs’ interest. Actually they also sell those bones with flavored stuffings, but I’ve never tried those.
Cow hooves last long too, but they smell horrible. They literally smell like manure.
As a whippet owner who still has chew-damaged furniture these six years later, I heartily second the motion for the Nylabones. Keep in mind there are different toughnesses depending on the characteristics of the chewer.
For the biting during play, don’t panic, and I assume you already realize it’s play biting, right? I just let ours take my hand, but make it hurt so that it wasn’t worth her while. How do I describe it? I can’t – just kind of use the hand in her mouth to dis-incentive him or her. No blood should flow. Had to do a similar thing with the leash for leash training, too.
My two dogs (Bostons) can chew through pretty much anything. I give them each their own Nylabone Galileo each year. The things are rock hard plastic but they manage to gnaw them down to 1/4 their size over a years time.
When my dog was a puppy it would take him a couple days to go through a pig ear. They love them. You have to get over the fact that it really looks like a pig’s ear, though. And YMMV, because now they disappear in half an hour, and he isn’t a big dog.
If you lived in Decatur, I’d send you over to Garver Feeds, who stock an assortment of Really Huge Bones (cow and pig leg bones, basically), as well as pig ears by the bin-load.
Are rawhides no longer in fashion? Daisy the Beagle went through rawhides like potato chips, but it was better than having her chew on chair legs.
A ham bone will also work, but only after you’ve used it to make bean soup, so that the grease and cartilage are all gone.
IN addition to the nylabones, as suggested, you can get a Kong toy and they make canned favor that you can squirt inside, or spoon some peanut better inside of it. Even after they eat it all out of it, the smell and interest still lingers. They also have real bones where the marrow has been hollowed out and filled with a hardened flavor, those work great with my 90 lb German Shepherd. They have those at any pet store pretty much…
When they nip, try yelping. Let out a little yelp, that lets them know that it’s too much or too hard, like a litter mate would. It’s the darndest thing, it it works.
My mom discourages them since tile-sized bits can come off and be swallowed, which could be dangerous. No idea if such a thing has actually happened, though.
FWIW, in my 20 plus years working with animals I have never seen an obstruction, choking hazard* or GI problems related to Nylabones. I have seen plenty involving cow hooves, pig ears, rawhides and real bones. I swore off rawhides when my own golden started choking on a rawhide chip and I had a few panicked moments trying to grab the slippery, slimy thing out of her throat.
*It’s still important to get the right size bone and take it away if it gets small enough to choke on.
I’m a member of a dog-community message board and there’s a total dog health nut on there cursing any manufactured dog anythings…but she suggested some sort of pork skin, all natural organic something or other over rawhide and cursed all the horrible owners who allowed their dogs to have them…
So I took her advice and got that pig crap and gave it to my dog…in less that 5 minutes, he was choking. A moment before I figured out how the dog-heimlich might be done, he coughed out, like Sage Rat mentioned, a tile-sized piece.
I won’t take any chances. I’ve been told they should be monitored with any chewy that can break off or splinter (which they shouldn’t have) or be choked on.
I work for a company that makes Kong toys here in sunny Colorado. My dog loves my job.
Kongs are pretty tough. The red and the black toys are more durable than multicolored.
The Kong toys we make are lead-free and Phthalate-free, I just had the testing done myself, and are made from natural rubber.
I put a biscuit in the round toy and that keeps my dog occupied for hours.
Well, I got a nylabone and some pig ears. The pig ear lasted her about an hour and is now entirely eaten and gone. She’s started in on the nylabone, so we’ll see how that goes.
Ha ha! They look cool though. I got one of those dinosaur bones. My 80lb Boxer chewed it for a a few weeks. I noticed it went missing. He had buried it. He would occasionally dig it up and chew on it then rebury it.
I have no experience with Kong toys, but I’ve only heard good things.
Have you tried bully sticks? I think I’d categorize them as more of a treat than a regular tidbit.
I have a friend who’s dog loves to shred toys and she found one that’s been almost indestructible. It’s material though. If you want, I can try to find out what it is. Perhaps your pup would like the texture enough to try it out.
[sub]Can I report a user to the mods for talking about puppies and not posting a picture? [/sub]
Mtydog likes bully sticks, also. I’ve also gotten her what looks like bully sticks but are identified as beef tendons. These seem to have much more “chew” than “eat”.
