Dog bones. Dog gone nutty priced?

[Murphy101]

I usually buy most things in bulk, including Cookie’s large rawhide dog bones. She gets one when we have to grate her on the rare occasion everyone is out of the house to help her self-soothe relief stress.  She hates being alone ever.

So she’s down to two bones so I figured I buy another big bag of them for around $10-15.

HOLY MOLY! I can’t find them anywhere and the few places online are insanely priced.  Is there a dog treat bone shortage or something I missed?!

[Katy]

Remember those outbreaks in meat processing plants?  Less meat processing = less meat byproducts. The byproducts are generally what’s turned into treats.  That’s where the bones & bully sticks come from.

Not only are factories short of workers, they were so backed up prices dropped do some farmers are raising less meat.  And many people bought pandemic pets, so demand is up.

Fewer products + increased demand = skyrocketing prices. 

[Murphy101]

My Cookie is going to have to learn to cope some other way. I’m not buying any at those prices.

[Pawz4me]

It's really not a good idea to give rawhide to an unattended dog anyway due to the choking risk. There are lots of much safer choices that are probably less expensive, too.

[Scarlett]

A few things I give to my dog when I have to crate her…..frozen half a banana. A cong filled with dog cookie treats and peanut butter.  If I think ahead to freeze this even better. 

[Tap]

3 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

My Cookie is going to have to learn to cope some other way. I’m not buying any at those prices.

Have you looked at any of the Nylabone or similar products? My goldendoodle loves these and these  There are always a risk of breaking a tooth on hard chew toys, but there are choking hazards on ones that can be eaten.  I go with the ones that will only cause discomfort and vet bill lol. Anecdotally, my vet agrees. 

We also use Kongs filled with peanut butter and frozen. She loves those as an occasional treat too. 

[Selkie]

2 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

It's really not a good idea to give rawhide to an unattended dog anyway due to the choking risk. There are lots of much safer choices that are probably less expensive, too.

Agree, and rawhides can also cause obstructions.

[Murphy101]

26 minutes ago, Tap said:

Have you looked at any of the Nylabone or similar products? My goldendoodle loves these and these  There are always a risk of breaking a tooth on hard chew toys, but there are choking hazards on ones that can be eaten.  I go with the ones that will only cause discomfort and vet bill lol. Anecdotally, my vet agrees. 

We also use Kongs filled with peanut butter and frozen. She loves those as an occasional treat too. 

Those are big fat pants on fire liars that those nylon thing are indestructible. Cookie has reduced them to nothing in less than an hour every time. Back when we had an English mastiff, she’d shred them too. I find it unlikely that it’s better for my dog to digest nylon bits than rawhide. I know it’s possible rawhide can be an issue, but frankly so can anything else a dog puts in its mouth. If it comforts others to know, Cookie is very methodical with her rawhide. She likes to get it really sloppy wet and then unravel it and eat it like fruit leather. It’s the worst sticky mess ever which is why she only gets them when crated. LOL. Those nylon things? She will chew one inch sized bites off them and just keep on chewing like it’s kibble. I’ve tried so darn many of them and now I just won’t use them.  She adores puzzles and I think maybe she gets so determined with those nylon things bc they make them smell edible and I think she is expecting a treat to pop out at some point like on her other puzzle toys. 

[AbcdeDooDah]

I don’t know how much you’re paying for rawhide treats but bull sticks at Costco are less than $3 each.

[Pen]

I was looking at teething chews for new pup.  Everything seems very expensive. I am planning on fillsble rubber toys (like a west paw tux) with frozen food in them  - filled Kong  frozen world be similar

current adult dog particularly liked to shred boxes to self soothe when he was younger  .  

[Serenade]

1 hour ago, Murphy101 said:

 She likes to get it really sloppy wet and then unravel it and eat it like fruit leather. 

🤣

[Tap]

3 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

Those are big fat pants on fire liars that those nylon thing are indestructible. Cookie has reduced them to nothing in less than an hour every time. Back when we had an English mastiff, she’d shred them too. I find it unlikely that it’s better for my dog to digest nylon bits than rawhide. I know it’s possible rawhide can be an issue, but frankly so can anything else a dog puts in its mouth. If it comforts others to know, Cookie is very methodical with her rawhide. She likes to get it really sloppy wet and then unravel it and eat it like fruit leather. It’s the worst sticky mess ever which is why she only gets them when crated. LOL. Those nylon things? She will chew one inch sized bites off them and just keep on chewing like it’s kibble. I’ve tried so darn many of them and now I just won’t use them.  She adores puzzles and I think maybe she gets so determined with those nylon things bc they make them smell edible and I think she is expecting a treat to pop out at some point like on her other puzzle toys. 

Maybe it is the type of teeth different breeds have. My goldendoodle has very rounded teeth. She broke bits off a rawhide and chewed them until she could swallow them. She is a rehome and the previous owners sent her to my home, with some as a 'favorite treat'. I gave them to her one time as a comfort item and found quarter size chunks laying around the floor she had chewed and dropped.  Honestly, after the first night, when I gave them to her again, she had zero interest, so I tossed the bag.

She has chewed a few nylon toys and got bits off them, but I tossed those. The ones I linked she has had for 6 months and aside from roughing them up, they are entirely whole. A soft toy....she will happily shred and destuff!

My daughter has a smaller dog with sharp teeth.  His toys last forever unless they are real meat/raw hide and those he will chew until he bloodies his mouth. 

[Scarlett]

12 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

Those are big fat pants on fire liars that those nylon thing are indestructible. Cookie has reduced them to nothing in less than an hour every time. Back when we had an English mastiff, she’d shred them too. I find it unlikely that it’s better for my dog to digest nylon bits than rawhide. I know it’s possible rawhide can be an issue, but frankly so can anything else a dog puts in its mouth. If it comforts others to know, Cookie is very methodical with her rawhide. She likes to get it really sloppy wet and then unravel it and eat it like fruit leather. It’s the worst sticky mess ever which is why she only gets them when crated. LOL. Those nylon things? She will chew one inch sized bites off them and just keep on chewing like it’s kibble. I’ve tried so darn many of them and now I just won’t use them.  She adores puzzles and I think maybe she gets so determined with those nylon things bc they make them smell edible and I think she is expecting a treat to pop out at some point like on her other puzzle toys. 

Nylon bones don’t work for my dog either.  Nothing really holds up to her except her Kong…I suspect she likes it because of the puzzle of getting the food out of it.  

[Murphy101]

12 hours ago, Tap said:

Maybe it is the type of teeth different breeds have. My goldendoodle has very rounded teeth. She broke bits off a rawhide and chewed them until she could swallow them. She is a rehome and the previous owners sent her to my home, with some as a 'favorite treat'. I gave them to her one time as a comfort item and found quarter size chunks laying around the floor she had chewed and dropped.  Honestly, after the first night, when I gave them to her again, she had zero interest, so I tossed the bag.

She has chewed a few nylon toys and got bits off them, but I tossed those. The ones I linked she has had for 6 months and aside from roughing them up, they are entirely whole. A soft toy....she will happily shred and destuff!

My daughter has a smaller dog with sharp teeth.  His toys last forever unless they are real meat/raw hide and those he will chew until he bloodies his mouth. 

I have bought the ones you linked.😂

I have never had a dog bloody their mouth on either kind. Dogs are weird. 🤷‍♀️

ETA: now cookie loves loves loves puzzles and even the furry ones she works really carefully with until she is bored with them. Those squirrels in a log and hedgehogs in a burrow ones? She played with those for a week or so before tearing the squeaker out in gleeful abandon after reaching a point where she could get them all out within seconds without tearing anything up. After that she was like okay conquered this one. Next!

Edited August 1, 2021 by Murphy101

[Murphy101]

3 hours ago, Scarlett said:

Nylon bones don’t work for my dog either.  Nothing really holds up to her except her Kong…I suspect she likes it because of the puzzle of getting the food out of it.  

We do have 2 Kong puzzles that have managed to last, mostly because she can’t really get her teeth into them to really grip and pull.  She destroyed the other 4, but I’ll admit it took her a lot longer to do it.

Her latest ploy is to beg for a treat for her treat puzzle, then she will drop it in front of Purrl the Cat or Chip the dog and wait until they get it out, then she knocks them out of the way and steals it.  Now no treats for her without supervision.  We will give Chip one and Purrl one and then Cookie has to work for hers all on her own bc we won’t let the other critters get involved. So now all the critters sit around watching her hoping she will give up. Oh the drama of pet life. 😆

[Tap]

3 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

I have bought the ones you linked.😂

I have never had a dog bloody their mouth on either kind. Dogs are weird. 🤷‍♀️

ETA: now cookie loves loves loves puzzles and even the furry ones she works really carefully with until she is bored with them. Those squirrels in a log and hedgehogs in a burrow ones? She played with those for a week or so before tearing the squeaker out in gleeful abandon after reaching a point where she could get them all out within seconds without tearing anything up. After that she was like okay conquered this one. Next!

The squirrel in a log toy....lasted a few hours here. haha. She got them out, by grabbing the log with her paws and using her teeth to rip the log and then the poor creatures to shreds. There was more than one disemboweled stuffed squirrel on my rug. Oy!  She lost interest after that. The remaining two squirrels live happily in her toy box. I think getting her a squirrel toy was too much for her....our yard squirrels like to taunt he by sitting in the tree to high up for her to get them and chatter back and forth. I think she got her revenge on the stuffed version! 

[Katy]

When we had a dog get sick (we eventually figured out it was pancreatic cancer) we made homemade dog food for a while.  We roasted a turkey, shredded it, and then served by volume 1/3 rice, 1/3 mixed frozen vegetables (that corn, pea, green bean mix), and 1/3 meat.  He would pick out the meat and ignore the rest so then we started shredding it together in a food processor. 

When we talked to the vet she said she made basically the same thing for dog treats, and froze servings into bars for a regular treat or small pieces using a candy mold for dog training. It took a whole afternoon, but lasted forever.  If you have the freezer space it might be a good option.