What can we give our boys to chew on???
We have been told negative things about common treats:
Pigs ears - often contaminated with Samonella
Rawhide - may contain glue (i.e. Elmer's glue)
Nylabones - can splinter
We love to spoil all of our animals however we certainly do not want to "kill them with kindness"!
Please share with us what is a safe chew treat that your hound/s love/s!

I voted "other" because we give a combo of the items listed.

1. Rawhide -- actually C.E.T. chews that are treated with an enzyme to help clean teeth. Also Chew-eez from the grocery -- cheap! We give these most often.

2. Greenies -- these are saved for special occasions, not because I think there is anything wrong with them, I just think there are more nutritional/beneficial treats. Our dogs really like them, though.

3. Marrow bones -- because these are rather rich, these are special occasion treats as well. If I could find a good source of meatier bones, I would give those more often.

4. Nylabones -- this for Damien only, Ruby doesn't care for them. We get the "souper" size for him and he really enjoys it, and it keeps him from chewing library books, soap, etc! No problems with splintering, just little bits that come off.

5. Ears -- lamb and cow -- see my other post.

I give greenies--not to often--they don't last to long and boy are they pricey!

We give greenies (regular size) at least once a week, plus we have the bone-shaped kong that we fill with all kinds of goodies - PB, yogourt, biscuits, etc. Mica likes to work away chewing and licking at that. )

We started giving C.E.T. chews as part of our "improved" dental plan. I use the C.E.T. toothpaste to brush - trying for at least once a day. They get Greenies as a special treat on our Saturday stay-at-home mornings. They really like both the Greenies & the Chews, but neither lasts very long, and they are both pricey. Oh, well, its for the dogs

I give a combination of the above. they get greenies (when I can afford them), they have Kongs filled with peanut butter and biscuits, pigs ears, rawhide, bones very occasionally, they've got Nylabones but pretty much ignore them, dried sausages are their favourite treat though

My dogs love bully sticks. They get occasional cow ears and ox tails, too.

I give a combination of the above. An occasional greenie (used to be more often, but he would rather carry them around than eat them all the sudden), a pig ear every time we stop by the pet store, occassional flavored rawhide (always American made), my mom buys him Nylabones every now and then, and he LOVES his kong.

I give a combination of the above. They get greenies and biscuits daily; Kongs, rawhides (only American made), pig ears, and raw meaty bones on occasion.

Greenies, healthy biscuits, Milkbones or the occasional Beggin' Strip or Snausage... my boys love all of those plus chew toys, too, of course.

I don't trust Nylabones (heard bad things about the makeup of them), pig ears (cuts gums b/c of sharp corners), rawhide (not digestable, sharp edges), or bones (same.)

We give Milkbones 2 every day at 8:00 pm (better be prompt)
We have the original nylabones, about 5 that get picked up when wanted. Never had any problem with splintering and one is 4 years old.
Sterilized marrow bones - they really like these
Greenies once every couple of weeks
Real knuckle bones once or twice a month

Bully sticks are number-one in my book.

I voted "Other" because I give more than one item on the list.

1) Cookies (Old Mother Hubbard small mixed flavor dog biscuits) in Kongs when I leave the house and before bed (just 'cause).

2) knuckle bones-- I get large knuckle bones from a dog training center. They are tumbled until there is no meat/fat on the bone but they have not been treated with any preservatives. I always supervise Piper with real bones and refrigerate or freeze between uses. He has twice chewed the bones in such a way that the bone got wedged on his teeth and he couldn't get it out of his mouth. No damage done, but I was glad I was there to gently wiggle the bone off and trim the offending part off the bone.

3) Nylabones, Souper size, and the large Galileo bone (similar to Nylabone but a different shape). No problems here with splintering. I replace them if they get too worn.

I think that some of the other things on your list might be ok in general but I avoid as many chemical preservatives as I can for Piper because of his epilepsy and avoid the fatty aspect of ears/snouts because of some of Pipers medications (increased chance of pancreatitis for him with these meds and unusually fatty meals). If you dog doesn't have any of these health worries, I think you can be freer in what you offer for chewing and treats.

Lucy and Piper

Greenies - I buy them by the 50 count box.

OMH - Peanut Butter flavored chews.

Bully Stix - an occasional treat.

Pigs ears are the only thing Bess likes to chew on, but she only gets them once or twice a week. She gets a cookie (I forget the brand, but it's supposed to be "tartar control") when we leave the house in the morning. Personally, I think the pigs ears are disgusting, but she looooves them.

I also use nylabones, but every so often I boil them in beef or chicken bouillon . It sure attracts Amber and encourages her chewing in a safe way.

American made pressed rawhide and the nylabones that are original--not the dental, not the puppy ones and I used to buy the wolf size ones. There also is a vegtable chewy someone makes.

Durable nylabones have not splintered for us yet, and I have a couple of dedicated chewers. Just tiny little bits (smaller than a grain of rice) come off and they wear them down eventually. For crate time I smear the chewed ends with a bit of PB to keep their interest.

No marrow bones for my guys (big tooth breaking risk), but we do feed raw so they get bones everyday, except it's usually a chicken quarter or turkey drumstick these days.

I only have one grey so I give a greenie every day. He also gets small dog bones and every once in a while I buy a raw knuckle bone from the pet store.

If you're looking for a safe chew, I think they all have their risk's whenther it's a choking risk or other. Every chew should be given with supervision just in case. I've heard of several choking stories and dogs swallowing sticks and chews whole. It's a risk with everything. My girls prefer greenies and they get one everyday for their teeth, but I would never let them eat one unsupervised.

I voted rawhides because that's the most frequent item (pressed ones) but also I give greenies on occasion (1 large one lasts about 3 minutes) and pigs ears (also about 3 minutes). The rawhides are the only thing that lasts any amount of time. I tried a nylabone once but he chews little bits off (about the size of a grain of rice) and throws them up later, usually in the middle of the night. This is too annoying for a repeat. He doesn't like kongs, filled or otherwise. I wish there was something else that lasted longer than a rawhide (about 2 hours for the large ones).

Mainly Greenies, but sometimes pig ear strips, chicken breast jerky, or dehydrated lamb.

-

I voted rawhide b/c that is the most frequent (Mother Hubbard's Fortified with Flouride) they are just a strip of hide instead of the bones. She loves greenies but only gets them on trips to petsmart or petco (single for like 5 bucks wicked expensive) Likes pig ears.
She doesn't like real bones (bad teeth) or kongs. We have a ball kong never chews it just rolls it around get treats out of it or lick it when I used to smear PB or the dental creme on it.
Chewing is her favorite thing so I try to keep it entertaining for her.

Oh my, I bought some "Moo Tubes" the other day -- they're smoked beef tracheas ( ). They're supposed to be a good source of glucosamine/chondroiton, but I'm not too sure how much they have in them. I was nearly mauled trying to get them out of the wrapping, the dogs were going NUTS! They're a chewy/crunchy thing, it kept them occupied a while. They went around afterward sniffing to see if they missed any microscopic bits. I'll get more, but they are a bit expensive.

I stumbled onto the Merrick site the other day (the Moo Tubes are from them), they have a big variety of chew treats.

I voted "other" because I prefer to use either CET Dental chews, a kong stuffed with peanut butter or a nylabone.

Dentabones :-)

They love the sterilized femer bones you can get at Petedge or other stores. Although, their new favorite is marrow bones (Buffalo Femer). They know they have to go to the crate to eat them and come out when they are done and let someone else in. They also know once they are empty, they can play with them where ever. With 7+ dogs, this is pretty amazing... no squabbles once everything was figured out.

We give a mix of most of those things.

We used to give the Wolf sized Nylabones and the boys really liked them. We never had any problems with them either.

Now, we give frozen quartered pig's feet.

Our grey gets a combination of milk bones, american made rawhide, and greenies, which are saved for special times, or when mom and dad are made to feel "guilty" with the "are you leaving me again" look. He really enjoys the kongs with PB, cooked chicken (white meat strips), and a trail mix kind of thing we buy here locally. I don't like the pig ears or snouts (they stink), nylabone, or processed rawhide. For training I use liver treats. Good luck!

I do a combination of greenies, CET chews, biscuits, and bully sticks. I think that the CET chews do the most for them in terms of dental health.

I give cows hoofs, pigs ears, greenies, milkbones, and any other treat that looks good when I go to the pet store! Not everyday of course. They get a regular frozen(I freeze them to last longer, I heard that on GT) greenie once a day. And it took them a half-hour to finish them!!

The current favorite at our house is the Merrick braided bully stick. I order on line as they are cheaper. They last quite a while too, which is good! Also, outside, its bones from the butcher.

Plain old beef marrow bones (sold in our grocery as "soup bones.") They are super cheap and Penny loves them. She will work on one for hours. She has excellent teeth! I don't give Greenies because she has no interest in them and they are so expensive.

I voted greenies, but give a variety of things. One some may not have thought of is half a frozen bagel. My guys love them and they take a bit of chewing. I get the day old bagels from the bakery at my local grocery store, they sell them to me VERY cheap.

On a recent visit I gave my sister's grey one and he at first thought it was a toy I think. LOL He tossed it in the air, ran with it in his mouth. Dropped it and barked at it. Finally settled down and chewed on it til it was all gone! Cost of the bagel = 1/2 cent, cost of the entertainment = PRICELESS!

I'm a fan of long pressed rawhide sticks and knuckle bones. they're cheap, and they last forever.

Nylabones for strong chewers. Always supervised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I give beef marrow bones and baked real liver treats made from liver purchased at the grocery store and sprinkled with garlic.
Athena also likes dehydrated bananas with no additives or preservatives......







Athena's mom

Currently braided bully sticks are her favorite. Cheapest source I have found for 6" dogcat@dogcatsupply.com

Also, Dr Smith & Foster - large "healthy bones" and once a week she gets a nice bone from the butcher to call her own!

Do you make your own chicken breast jerky?If so do you use your oven or a dehydrator.

It's usually Greenies but I got them some knuckle bones the other day and they really liked them and their teeth got a really good cleaning from all of the gnawing, so we'll probably do those more from now on

My grey actually doesn't like greenies. I'm trying to find something that she LIKES that she'll be able to chew on a while for her teeth. So far nothing. Her favorite snack as of yesterday is SARDINES. I love it because they are cheap and good for her!

I voted other, as I give

Pigs ears,

Raw bones

Greenies

Shapes biscuites

Shawn

My dogs love Greenies.

We buy the big bag of American made Pigs Ears at Costco.

We also buy pressed rawhide bones which we give them several times a week in the evening so we can watch TV in peace! I like to buy the giant ones at Target so I can throw them away when there's about a quarter left so it doesn't get too small for them to choke on.

Old Mother Hubbard biscuits are good too. I like Three Dog Bakery biscuits if I'm too lazy to make any myself.

My gang have a variety of treats the love rawhide and pigs ears which help to keep their teeth clean but they also like dried tripe sticks and beef jerky.

We've found a great chew/treat that is dehydrated strips of sweet potato. They don't last as long as a rawhide, but they soften up with chewing so we don't worry about giving them to Nora in the crate when we have to leave. She loves them, and they're full of good nutrients! I think they are called Sam's Sweet Potatoes and they cost about $5 a bag at the pet store in Madison. I haven't looked online to see if they are cheaper anywhere.

Ginger stole my son's big starfish from the Bahamas and chewed the ends off! We'll have to put that up on a high shelf from now on...

She also tends to chew on the wooden furniture sometimes. I don't give her a lot of treats, but the occasional dental stick, and of course she has her stuffies.

Booda Velvets--the chips seem safer from a choking standpoint than the bone shaped ones with the big knobs on the ends. They last longer than Greenies or pig's ears or beef tendons, and they don't cause the big D the way the beef tendon and pig's ears did when I gave too many. They are clean indoors and have caused us no problems.

Does dentabone really clean teeth? Any big D? It would be nice to have something for him at the inlaw's that isn't a body part.