What do you let your dogs chew?

[Samiam]

We have a Lab, about 5 years old, who is past chewing random things, but does enjoy a chew bone now and then. She tends to have sensitive stomach so we are careful what she eats.

 

We have a 5 month old pound puppy, who is just starting her chew-random-things-teething stage. She also apparently has a sensitive stomach. For the past month, I've been working on getting her on a food that doesn't cause loose stools, aka mush. Perhaps TMI, but mush is not an easy clean up when potty training :(. I'm using high quality food, and think perhaps her stomach has settled on Newman's Organic food. It seems to be getting better. BM had been forming into solids.

 

With the sensitive stomach in mind, what type of chew things do you give your dogs? I gave them both a rawhide stick a few days ago, and the next day, puppy has pure juice stools... It had to be that rawhide because she had been getting much better.

 

We have light carpets, so I don't want anything that will stain. Pig ears look like they will stain..and frankly, gross. Don't want an super expensive rubber toy thing, like Kong, because I need to have two, so they don't fight over it.

 

Ideas?

[Dory]

You could try a bully stick, but I find a lot of the more sensitive dogs don't handle them well until they are 6 months or so. The amount of chews that I go through during the puppy stage though costs more money than buying a few good quality toys (we don't own Kong here, they are too expensive).

 

You could also try giving them knuckle bones, and a couple of mine have done well with antlers.

[poiema]

We have had several tummy issues, vet visits, and food changes. I am afraid to give my dog anything but ropes and carrots to chew on. He does still occasionally find crayons, pencils, erasers, and toys to chew on, but thankfully that has only resulted in very colorful poop. You might want to look into probiotics. I got some when I was just so sick and tired of all the tummy issues. I don't know if they have helped or not, or if the problem just resolved itself. I hardly ever remember to give them to him anymore. Also, consider a grain-free food. I think that grain was what was causing my pup's issues. And, maybe it's just my dog, but he would get nasty poop when he would eat leaves, so maybe keep an eye on that too. Anyway, from what I have heard, rawhide isn't great for dogs anyway. I just stick to dog ropes and baby carrots. Oh, and he loves ice cubes. I started with small pieces at first. He runs to the freezer whenever he hears it open.

[AngieW in Texas]

Kylie has pig hooves, an antler, two cow knuckle bones, a cow femur, and many many many beef finger ribs.

 

The pig hooves do not stain or smell at all. She has had them for 7 months now and she is never going to be able to chew them up. She still likes to chew on them.

 

She hasn't really made a dent in the antler, but from what I've read, I should have bought her a cracked antler first.

 

The knuckle bone and femur are both large smoked bones that I got from a pet store.

 

I buy beef finger ribs and beef neck bones every week. I am alternating which one I give her. She gets a bone on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday because those are days when I need to keep her quietly outside for more than an hour at a time. I wouldn't give either one to a puppy with a sensitive stomach.

 

I should add that when her stomach is bothering her, I mix canned pumpkin with her food. Make sure to get 100% canned pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie mix. For a long while, I was mixing all of her kibble with canned pumpkin and then stuffing it into Kongs (we have 5 of them). She got the rest of her food in her bowl.

[Joker]

Our dog is allergic to just about everything (he takes daily Rx meds due to allergies and tummy issues). He has a kong that we fill with a marshmallow and peanut butter. That keeps him busy for a bit in the evenings and doesn't cause him problems.

[beaners]

We have a Lab, about 5 years old, who is past chewing random things, but does enjoy a chew bone now and then. She tends to have sensitive stomach so we are careful what she eats.

 

We have a 5 month old pound puppy, who is just starting her chew-random-things-teething stage. She also apparently has a sensitive stomach. For the past month, I've been working on getting her on a food that doesn't cause loose stools, aka mush.

 

You've probably already done this, but have you checked out things like giardia and coccidia for the new puppy? We have a lot (only 6 right now ;)) of dogs, and plain nylabones have been good. They're not so high-value that the dogs get into a snit over them, but they offer an alternative to household items. We've also not had much tummy trouble with soup bones, but those do tend to be high-value, so you'd need to buy a few. They're not expensive, but they can wear the teeth down in an excessive chewer.

[zoobie]

Our vet says no rawhide or pigs ears. I tried bones with our old girl and they gave her gas and were just gross to deal with, so I've avoided edible chewing things.

 

My dogs don't play with the traditional Kong we have.. We have a metal bucket that all the dog toys go in, and they pick and choose. One day I will have a dog smart enough to pick up his/her own toys and put them away, but for now, I have children. ;) The dogs love Zogoflex toys. We have 2 of the abstract bone shapes, the one that looks like 3 balls, and the z shape. They've lasted a year and are still going strong. I think the investment in lasting toys is cheaper in the long run than buying stuff that gets consumed. We also keep tennis balls around for them, but they do get destroyed. Kong makes some sturdier ones.

[Pawz4me]

Ditto the advice to consult your vet regarding the possibility of giardia/coccidia in the puppy. The testing for those isn't very accurate, so some vets choose to treat "as if" when a puppy or dog presents with symptoms. Also, intestinal worms and over-feeeding are two common causes of loose stools, especially in puppies.

 

As far as things to chew on, my dogs get Nylabones and elk/deer antlers. The antlers are expensive but they love them. They do NOT get rawhide, pig ears, hooves or anything else with tons of artificial "stuff" added. They get Kongs filled with a little peanut butter and frozen, but I view those more as treats than as something they actively enjoy chewing on. If you get soup bones make sure you remove some or all of the marrow. It's very rich and can cause stomach upsets even in dogs who usually have cast-iron stomachs.

[TN Mama]

Elk antler

 

This isn't the one I purchased for my heavy chewer, but it's similar. I purchased from a pet store. My dog has had it for almost a year and a half and hasn't made a dent. It's not really consumable like a bully stick (which my dog will eat in 5-10 minutes). We also do Kong stuffed w/peanut butter & put in the freezer, but I usually give him that treat in his kennel.

[Miss Innocent]

Another vote here for antlers. We live next the the New Forest so ours are all deer antlers. I'm guessing you have a wider range of antlers available to you in the USA! Even if they are expensive they are worth every penny.

 

Emma

[jenn-]

We use Nylabone products for our chewing dog. We also have some black Kongs that were well worth the investment. She does not chew on them, but she does like getting her treats out of them. Nylabone is not all that cheap either, but they last a really long time. We used to do bones until she cracked one way faster than we expected and she ingested small bone fragments.

[amsunshine]

Another vote for antlers. They don't smell or stain, and they last for a reasonably long time (a few weeks). Cow hooves can be pretty good, too, but some we've bought smell a tiny bit. In our experience, bully sticks are super smelly, and I won't buy them again for that reason -- but maybe there are different kinds that don't smell. Plus, bully sticks don't last long with our puppy -- maybe a few minutes at most? We find that pig ears are not smelly, although they only last a few minutes, too. So, we buy pig ears instead of bully sticks for occasional treats. Oh, and I agree with a pp who recommended a grain free dog food for your dogs.

[Murphy101]

I'd take her to the vet to double check it isn't more than a sensitive tummy.

 

We have pig ears as special treats because they go through them in one sitting. No stains here.

[Chris in VA]

We like Kongs, too--we freeze them with whatever we put in it. They more than pay for themselves over time!

We also like those straight beef bones (soup bones?). We give them raw and frozen, but we don't let him chew on the carpet, and we pick them up after the first day b/c of bacteria, and roast them and give them back. He doesn't break the bone like some heavy chewers might.

 

Ours didn't like Nylas or any other non-tasty chew toy.

[gingersmom]

Kongs are indestructible.

 

My chesapeake bay retriever can eat a deer antler in record time.

 

We stick to nylabones and kongs only.

 

She has some rubber bones from JW (wright?). Any other rubber toy/ stuffed toy is destroyed in record time.

 

I would avoid any chew toy that is ingested.

[Plink]

I didn't read all of the replies, but wanted to point out that many dogs can get loose stools, and even fevers, when teething, so it may not have anything to do with the food you are serving.

 

Kong and Bully Sticks are favorites here.

[songsparrow]

My dog loves antlers (the Etsy shop where I buy them is here). He chews on them just about every day and when he needs to release excitement or stress. They look really expensive when you first look at them, but they last forever! He often gets them in his stocking from Santa, and they last the whole year. They don't get yucky (no soggy, slimy messes). They have kept his teeth super clean (before he got his first one, the vet told me I should schedule a dental cleaning; within 3 months of having the antler the vet said he didn't need a cleaning). Love them!

[Parrothead]

Kylie has pig hooves, an antler, two cow knuckle bones, a cow femur, and many many many beef finger ribs.

 

 

 

This is what Baxter has. He also has a couple Kongs that I fill on occasion.

[Samiam]

Thxs all! I've never heard of using the elk antlers and so definitely interested in those!

 

The pup has been tested at the Vet who suggested it was the food. We tried 3 diff ones before, all high end , grain free, etc before we found one that she was forming firm BM. And that was happening for about a week then this recent episode, so I'm sure it was the rawhide.

 

Great ideas, and I'm off to research ! Thxs!

[Ruby Rose]

Cow hooves last a long time. My Maltese has had his for a year. Pig ears get devoured in hours so they wouldn't last long with a big dog. The hooves aren't really consumed so I don't think their would be tummy issues. We have also used the kong with food inside.

[AngieW in Texas]

If you decide to stuff a kong, I recommend mixing kibble with canned pumpkin rather than peanut butter. Canned pumpkin is fine for dogs to eat and many vets will recommend it for an upset stomach. Too much peanut butter can cause an upset stomach and it doesn't take very much to be too much.

[Ruby Rose]

My dog loves antlers (the Etsy shop where I buy them is here). He chews on them just about every day and when he needs to release excitement or stress. They look really expensive when you first look at them, but they last forever! He often gets them in his stocking from Santa, and they last the whole year. They don't get yucky (no soggy, slimy messes). They have kept his teeth super clean (before he got his first one, the vet told me I should schedule a dental cleaning; within 3 months of having the antler the vet said he didn't need a cleaning). Love them!

 

 

Just ordered some! They sound awesome!

[Swimtaxi234]

Our dogs have various chew toys, but their favorites are the ones my daughter makes likes these: (original blog post with more photos)