# New chewy/bone suggestion



## Caroline162 (Jan 6, 2009)

I have a 11-12 week old puppy (lab/border collie neutered male shelter pup), and this is my first time owning this little of a puppy since I was a kid... this baby likes to CHEW, of course, and chew and chew and chew! He has lots of toys, and pretty much everything that's not dog toy or furniture is off the floor. But I can tell he wants something more than just his toys to chew on. Also, while we're housebreaking him, he goes in the crate anytime we can't DIRECTLY supervise him - so like when I'm cooking dinner or bathing the kids. We're lucky that there's almost always someone at home, so he's not in the crate for very long periods of time (except at night). But sometimes he doesn't want to be crated and gets SO yippy... I would love to have something for him to chew on to keep him happy for the 30 minutes I'm cooking, etc. Plus he NEEDS to chew, and so far he doesn't love chewing any of his toys. He doesn't like the Kong (even with peanut butter in it) but I think it's too big for him, even though I got the puppy one. He does like his squeaky stuffed animal toys and rope toys, but more for tossing and chewing a little, not serious chewing. This is actually his favorite, and sometimes he'll chew on it for a while: http://www.petco.com/product/106917/Petstages-Mini-Barbell-Chew-Dog-Toy.aspx My older dogs have always been either too old to really care about chewing or they've been Kong addicts, so this is new for me! 

Anyway, I've heard good and bad things about rawhide. My vet always said as long as they don't devour it, it's fine, so I got these: http://www.petco.com/product/100500/Dingo-Bone-Small.aspx but he just chews off the red part and then loses interest in the rest. I bought a Jumbone tonight and he LOVES it. The ingredients look really unhealthy, but so far he's not ingesting much of it - he's just chewing on it, and it's like the size of his head LOL! 

So I'm wondering, what's the best thing for puppies to chew on other than toys - something that they really love and that isn't bad for them (I don't mind if it's a little junk-foodie, as long as it won't make him sick or hurt him).

Thanks!


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## jesterjigger (Dec 12, 2008)

My puppy loves the blue Nylabone that's covered with little nubbies. She likes it a lot better than the regular Nylabones, though she prefers rawhide over all of those, but she doesn't get those unsupervised, and rarely now that we found the blue nubby bone anyway. 

We also give our puppy dried sweet potato treats, they take her a while to chew up.


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

The blue nubby bones are a hit here too. Our dogs also get raw bones like long beef rib bones (the kind you bbq in slabs with the meat, but you can cut the meat off and just give the bone with some remnants of meat on it for entertainment). And I have found good bully sticks at Costco for a reasonable price. I think a dozen 12" sticks are around $20.


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## Snoppykins (Dec 19, 2008)

I heard bad things about the rawhide and I saw something...I dog sat one of my dogs littermates. She came with raw hide bones! The night I had her she pooped about 3 inches of undigested rawhide bone. It was a good thing it didnt get blocked!

So I would avoid them really, even if you pup chews them slow right now that could change when he/she gets older. Our Sai now goes through everything sooo fast!


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## myminpins (Dec 20, 2008)

The absolute best chew toy for puppies are raw meaty bones.


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## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

I would stay away from rawhide and any other chemically processed product.

Antlers are a big hit here. They last a long time, there's no mess, they don't smell and the dogs love them.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

Raw bones are safe, and are thoroughly enjoyed!

Try wetting a washcloth, twist it, and stick it in the freezer until it's stiff.

Peanut butter isn't the only thing you can use to stuff a Kong (my dogs aren't that fond of peanut butter). Diced cheese, liver treats, low fat cottage cheese, cut up hard boiled egg, braunsweiger (liver sausage), and seal the holes with cream cheese. Freeze for longer-lasting enjoyment. 

Rawhide is laden with chemicals, and can result in a bowel obstruction requiring emergency surgery, which may, or may not, save the life of your dog. I don't give my puppy or adult dogs those Nylabones, either. 

Many people leave out lots of toys and chewies all the time. The puppy/dog loses interest, fast. By limiting them to one or two at any given time, and then putting them away before the dog tires of it, keeps them high value.


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## libbyanddarci (Jan 2, 2009)

There are chewable nylabones specially designed for puppies bellies. My one pup go nuts over them. Another is the cow hoofs (plain, not stuffed with anything). They are rawhide material but they cant chew at them and break pieces off. That keeps them busy for a while. 
I have recently found that ice cubes are my girls favorite. They lick and chew on it. They now come running to the kitchen when they here the ice machine. I don't know if it is bad for their teeth but they seem to be fine with them and I think the cold might make our teething pups gum's feel better (like a baby).


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