are nylabones "safe"?

iv been on a warpath for so long about everything natural and organic, that i hasent bought my dogs chews or toys that werent raw bones in... a long time

are nylabones "safe" or are they like the walmart/hartz/cancer kind of chewie? if nylabones are not safe, what is? im looking for a toy they can have UNsupervised, and they do not seem to enjoy kongs, even with peanut butter

My dogs have managed to chew off big chunks of their nylabones I wouldn't give them unsupervised.

the mastiff or the lil guys? my dogs are both very small American Bullies, one is 7 years and has bad teeth so likely wouldnt be bearing down very hard, the other is 15 months or so and acts like a gamebred APBT so will need something sturdier

I've always used them for my guys unsupervised and they are moderate chewers. The Galileo bones especially are very tough.

*shrugs* My dogs have always had nylabones and they've yet to die because of it.

As long as you purchase either the edible kind, or the kind that is meant for heavy chewers and replace as needed, you should be safe. Abrams still has his regular, borning nylabone from when he was a pup, and it is the one toy that has been able to withstand his jaw strength. I want to purchase him one that is more "fun" to chew on, but they're, like, almost $15 a bone and that makes me go .

Moses has had the same nylabone for at least five years now, and it's still completely intact. I find they're either hit or miss. He's not a huge toy fan, but it's the one nylabone he actually chews on out of the dozens we've bought him over the years. Cali chews it as well. Both prefer Himalayan chews and beef tracheas/bully sticks but they'll chew the nylabone if it's the only thing hanging around.

Hudson had one as a puppy that he liked and we accidentally lost it So I got him a new one that he didn't like as well, so I was hesitant to purchase any more. When I was at my monthly pet store run, I picked up a bacon flavored one that he seems to enjoy. I have not had any issues with him chewing large chunks off, but he isn't a super heavy chewer. The one thing that I am having issues with, and this is surprising to me, is that the little red pieces seem to come out. I took one away from Hudson after he got it out and the 2nd I was able to push in enough to keep it in there pretty solidly. I don't think it would have caused any obstruction problems for him, but something I thought I should mention.

(Not the exact one he has, but it shows the little red things I'm talking about)

Gage chewed parts off the Galileo one, diesel can't even lift it lol. Diesel chewed parts off the size they said are good for up too 15lbs. Now I get him these kind http://www.nylabone.com/product-finder/by-product-type/non-edible-for-powerful-chewers.php that are size appropriate.

We've never had an issue with Nylabones. Luckily we can find the size we need here for $5-8 at the farm stores.

This is the size we get. I think it's called the 'souper' size.

We use the large knot nylabones - no issues to date!

My dogs love them. I still have a few from when Teagan was a pup. We just grind down the end once in a while.

We have a few Nylabones here. They're just about the only thing I can give Juno knowing it's not going to be destroyed in 5 seconds.

I have a ring, a dinosaur, a galileo, and 2 puppy ones (because we got one for Cajun and then all the other dogs thought it was the best thing ever, so needed another one lol). The puppy ones are soft and rubbery and are more easily worn down but I think that's why my guys are liking them so much. The other ones I've had for a few years and they're covered in chew marks but don't actually have any chunks taken out of them.

Although I am not sure how appealing a Nylabone is going to be to a dog that doesn't even like a peanut butter Kong!

After a dog died on another forum from a broken off piece of a nylabone I won't use them even with supervision.....not worth the risk IMO.

well what do you give as a chew?

I honestly don't see how a dog could break off a piece of an appropriately sized, regular hardness nylabone. The gummy puppy ones sure, I could see that breaking off and getting swallowed.

Let's face it - LOTS of things can kill our dogs. LOTS of things can harm our dogs. You (general you) could probably find a dog on the internet who has died from choking on a milkbone.

I like the Galileo Nylabones (and so does Morgan), and he's never been able to chew off large pieces.

FWIW, I tend to buy chews rated a size larger than he actually is.

I wouldn't say that Morgan is a seriously heavy chewer, but he definitely needs to have chews around because those are what he trends to when he's feeling bored or anxious. When he is in a chewing mood, he's pretty dedicated to it. We have two Galileo bones that are somewhere between 3-5 years old, and still mostly intact, aside from being obviously worn.

Other than the Galileo bones, his other favorite is a chunk of elk antler. Again, it's a really big one, bigger than what was "recommended" for Morgan's size.

He's never really been interested in Kongs, either. He will play with them if I'm playing with him, but he will never pick one out on his own. Even if I put peanut butter in them, he just licks them, rather than chewing.

Hope that helps!

I use the ones like sizzle posted. Solid dura-chew. The bone shaped one with the red nubs is hollow on the inside, and the one made for giant dogs, my little dog chewed a big hole in and it's no good anymore. The solid ones just get steadily smaller. They stay around for years. Any pieces that they may ingest would be plenty small enough to pass.

Stay away from "flexi-chew"s.

Antlers, RMB's and cow hooves

Several dogs have died from all three of them as well.

My current dogs don't LOVE love them, but get infatuated with them every once in awhile and I have used them for years with previous dogs without incident.

Like Sizzle, I don't really get how a dog could break off a big hunk of the appropriate size and hardness of nylabone. The most mine have ever been able to do is sort of grind down the ends by shaving off tiny bits. And really, no chewing material is "safe" to the degree that no dog in the history of dogs has ever been harmed by it.