Good things to chew on?

[dhollister]

Hey guys -

My Watson (large German Shepherd male) is very picky about what he likes to chew. He loves to have something to chew on, but he only likes certain things. Doesn't like nylon bones or really any bones at all that I've found, even flavored ones and whatnot.

The only thing he seems to LOVE to chew on is those rawhide pieces, but then I was told that they are awful for dogs!

1) Is this true? He's a huge dog... I heard it's not as bad for big dogs, but I want to be safe. He does indeed appear to enjoy eating them after a while, not JUST chewing them.

2) If this is awful for him, can anyone recommend something Watson might like to chew on? He doesn't like those plain bones or anything. Rawhide, ironically, is the only thing he likes to chew on besides actual food and Greenies and such! He devours actual food bones too fast, and the kind you're supposed to chew don't generally seem to interest him.

 

[Demonic Angels]

Hi there,
rawhides are definetely bad for dogs. I seem to remember that there's another thread in here about what other people give their dogs for chews. Take a look. My dogs only get RMBs though.

Here's one of the many many sites out there with cautions for rawhides.
http://www.bdnhumanesociety.com/rawhides.htm

 

[Herschel]

How about Sam's Yams?

http://www.frontporchpets.com/

Sweet potato chews!

 

[ihartgonzo]

Have you tried any raw bones? Soup bones with a lot of meat & cartilege on them help clean teeth and satisfy chewing sooo much. :0)

My dogs also love Merrick brand chews, like Bully sticks, cow tails, lamb ears, etc.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

Compressed rawhides aren't too bad. When my dogs start getting to the end of them though, I take them away and throw 'em out.

 

[PoodleMommy]

I noticed you said you feed Greenies.

They are not good for dogs... please look into these more before you make a decision on whether or not to continue feeding them.

Elissa

 

[Roxy's CD]

My guys get their kongs filled with stuff, and raw bones.

They both of super white teeth and they *love* them.

They last for about a week and by then all the good stuff's gone. They get probably one a month.

 

[Saje]

My pup likes carrots oddly enough. She'll eat anything though. You can feed raw meaty bones. They love to gnaw on those. Or whatever those things are called - the bull penises. lol yup I said it.

 

[Herschel]

My pup likes carrots oddly enough. She'll eat anything though. You can feed raw meaty bones. They love to gnaw on those. Or whatever those things are called - the bull penises. lol yup I said it.

Steer penises. The first time I saw it I couldn't believe it, but apparently they are one of the safest chews for dogs.

http://www.sitstay.com/store/edibles/chews2.shtml

 

[Saje]

Mm hmm. Bully sticks. I just saw ihartgonzo mentioned them already. I've never bought them but I guess they love them. the dogs out on the farm where I worked sure loved it when the horses got gelded lol.

 

[Bobsk8]

It is amazing at the number of different rawhide bones that are sold in pet stores and apparently are given to dogs on a regular basis. My dog can eat one a week easily, and I went to a up scale Pet store today where the women there cautioned me on using these bones. She said that the ones from out of the country contain formaldehyde. The brand I have been getting is Dently's and sure enough, when I got home, I see they are made in Columbia and imported by a company in Phoenix ,

 

[DanL]

There was a lot of bad press about greenies recently. I would never feed them to my dogs.

Like the others have said- raw bones are the best. Stay away from things like shin bones that are cut into slices as they are very hard and can break teeth.

 

[Tugger's Mom]

Tugger started out on cow hoofs.....but he got aggressive when we took it away...so we decided not to give those to him anymore. And he also got very sick on rawhide....so those were taken away months ago. Then we tried him on the edible nylabones.....but he ate them too quickly--throws them up. I'm convinced "FOOD" doesn't always work for dogs to chew on. So we gave him those yellow (like tennis ball material) toys that he can play with--chew. He tears them to shreds and eats the stuff. So we took those away. You'd think Tugger was a huge, rough dog....but he's only a beagle! LOL!

So as a last resort....we tried something else. Have you ever seen the Pet Smart commercial....the one where the owner takes the old toy back to the store with her pet....gets the same exact toy and the dachshund carries it out the store. We got one of those for Tugger.....and he's been chewing on that thing like it's a binky! He reminds us of the commercial--and goes no where without it. We've already gone through 1 (made the mistake of cutting off the tags too close to the seam--and Tugger tore it to shreds!)....he's on his 2nd toy....and I stocked up and bought a 3rd for an emergency. They cost under $10 each....and he occupies himself for hours with it. We've nicknamed the toy "chewy" so Tugger knows when we want him to go get his "chewy"...he goes and gets that toy. It's been over a month with #2 chewy and as filthy as it is....that dog is very content and happy and doesn't chizzle on my furniture anymore...and it seems to help him chew near his rear teeth where he needs comfort the most.

 

[bmarley]

Never seen that commercial----

can you please put a link, or a description up?

thanks

 

[Brattina88]

I love that commercial... lol
Maddie has to get the same type of squirrel every time we go to pets mart, and she carries it out just like the commercial. People stop and ask to take her picture

Click Here: Loofa Dog

 

[Tugger's Mom]

Here's the commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UoR3jwgpU8

Here's Tugger with his: