# Can anyone recommend a bone toy for a heavy chewer?



## Tanner (Nov 15, 2010)

I have a ~100lb shepherd mix that really likes to chew, but no toy seems to hold up for more than a day after I buy it. I give him his chew toys when I need to do something in the apartment and can't take him out or actively play with him. I wouldn't leave him alone with his toys longer than it takes me to go to the bathroom (but he usually follows me there).

I have two kong toys for him, but he's only interested in those as long as there's something edible inside. He goes nuts for bone toys though, I bought a bone toy made by Kong that lasted a little over a day and another one that was black and smelled like a bicycle tire which lasted maybe 10 minutes before I had to take it away from him.

I'm looking for recommendations on what I could use to keep him busy while I work on homework, dinner, try to watch a movie etc and will hold together for more than a couple days. Anyone have an idea?


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## Loki Love (May 23, 2010)

Have you tried antlers?


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## Tanner (Nov 15, 2010)

I've never tried antlers. I haven't used bones, rawhide or bullysticks because I didn't want him to eat too much of those. Do antlers last longer or are they safer to give to dogs?


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## JustTess (Mar 19, 2008)

I got very tired of buying toys for Ilya.... my very aggressive chewer. He chews so hard, I don't give him large bones because I think he'll break his teeth. I still want him to have toys though so in the past, I have bought yard sale basketballs and Kong Wubbas. He really loves the wubba and could tear it apart in one day, so I taught him to chew a little gentler by monitoring his play with it at first. I will trade toys with him when he starts chewing the wubba with his inscisors and put the wubba up. Now the wubbas last about a month.

I think Kong makes a toy that is pretty tough and you fill parts of it with kibbles. They are interlocking so the dogs can pull them apart and try to figure out how to get the kibbles out. It's a little awkward for Ilya to get his inscisors around the rubber toy so he doesn't/hasn't chewed it up yet.


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## Loki Love (May 23, 2010)

Tanner said:


> I've never tried antlers. I haven't used bones, rawhide or bullysticks because I didn't want him to eat too much of those. Do antlers last longer or are they safer to give to dogs?


Antlers tend to last longer in my household. They are definitely safe for dogs (as are raw bones and bullysticks). I wouldn't recommend rawhide, period. Rawhide doesn't digest properly and can cause blockages.


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## Tanner (Nov 15, 2010)

Is it this?
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=kong+dog+toys&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&cid=11718587501162865566&os=contents
I haven't seen one in the pet stores near my home. Do you think they'd start stocking them if I asked? I'm a little reluctant to buy things for my dogs before I can examine them in person.

Loki, when you say raw bones, do you mean from a butcher or is this something I could buy from a pet store?


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## Conard10 (Sep 25, 2010)

I agree with the bully stick and antler recommendations! Our pup LOVES bully sticks....but, a 13 inch braided stick only lasts her 30-45 minutes. But antlers last much longer. She's seems to lose interest in the antler, but after a few days she'll bring it back out and chew on it for a couple hours. One large antler has lasted her a couple months.

We buy our bully sticks and antlers from bestbullysticks.com


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## Tanner (Nov 15, 2010)

I'll give the antlers a try. I give him a bully stick about once a week, he goes through them in around 20 minutes usually.

I like the interlocking bone toy JustTess mentioned too, I hope I can find it in a store. My grandmother used to give her sheltie treats/heartworm medication in a pill bottle and she would spend 10-15 minutes trying to twist off the cap.

Thanks for the suggestions.


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

Tanner said:


> Is it this?
> http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=kong+dog+toys&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&cid=11718587501162865566&os=contents
> I haven't seen one in the pet stores near my home. Do you think they'd start stocking them if I asked? I'm a little reluctant to buy things for my dogs before I can examine them in person.


Whether or not your local pet store starts stocking them, antlers will most likely be cheaper online.



Tanner said:


> Loki, when you say raw bones, do you mean from a butcher or is this something I could buy from a pet store?


Some pet and feed stores have a fridge or freezer with raw bones, but they'll be MUCH cheaper if you just go to the butcher.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

FilleBelle said:


> Some pet and feed stores have a fridge or freezer with raw bones, but they'll be MUCH cheaper if you just go to the butcher.


Or a lot of grocery stores have them in the Mexican meats section.


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## Tanner (Nov 15, 2010)

One more question about raw bones, is there any particular bone that's good for chewing, I imagine the pelvis is quite sturdy?


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## drshdw (Sep 30, 2010)

Elk antlers!


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

Tanner said:


> One more question about raw bones, is there any particular bone that's good for chewing, I imagine the pelvis is quite sturdy?


Marrow bones are good if you get them big but not to often.

Rib bones are great.

I can generally go to my butcher and ask for a bag of dog bones and get a bag for $5 and just sort out the ones i want and don't want.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Get the large Kong, fill it with moistened Kibble, peanut butter, etc. .... then freeze it. Pure ice is not good for dog's teeth, but a frozen Kong does not freeze as solidly as ice.

Also, I let my Lab chew on a hard rubber bone. He cannot destroy it, although he can rip off tiny bits of it.


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