Anyone Know Of Good Long-Lasting Bones?

[Guest MountainRunner]

Hi all,

 

So, my girl Nadia has finally found her one true love and that love is rawhide bones. When I first got Nadia (only 2 months ago) she wouldn't chew any bones, dog chews, or other tempting things I put in-front of her. I'm assuming that was due to the anxiety of getting a whole new living situation, but it might have been due to what her last owners allowed her to do (I've re-adopted Nadia at 7 1/2 after her last owners returned her). Anyways, after a week of gentle encouragement and slathering a dog chew in peanut butter she finally stated chewing and then we graduated to a rawhide bone which took her 3 weeks to finish. The next bone took her two weeks, the next a week, and now we're at the point where the latest bone I gave her finished in a day!

 

So, unfortunately I'm at the point where I can't fund her new found love of chewing. I went to the store and got a nylabone, but now we're back at square one where she just looks at me like i'm insane as I encourage her to chew the bone. This time though, I can't fill the bone with peanut butter to encourage her to take her first bite. So, I'm looking for any other options that might be out there for long-lasting bones or any ideas to help encourage her to take that first bite of that weird looking nylabone!

 

I feel like I should add, Nadia doesn't have any reaction to toys beyond "Why do you keep putting this thing near my face? Why are you dancing around like a loon with that weird thing in your hands? I just want to sleep mommy, go away." So chewing bones is the only thing I can really give her right now to keep her entertained. I'm kind of at a loose end. Any and all suggestions are extremely welcome! Thanks guys.

[Time4ANap]

Try an antler. http://www.amazon.com/Antler-Pet-Expertise-X-Large-Piece/dp/B004JB7GC6

 

Linked to Amazon above for convenience, but shop around. Prices really vary, and they last a very long time.

[Feisty49]

The first thing I wondered is why you think she needs something to chew on. Maybe she's just not a chewer -- or is she chewing on things she shouldn't and you're trying to give her an alternative. I'm not fond of rawhide. I've heard a few stories of a dog choking because s/he didn't chew it well and have never given it to Annie.

 

Lots of dogs aren't into toys of any kind or even chewy things. My girl Annie doesn't chew on things and most of the time she uses her toys for pillows when she has head bed fail. If I'm taking too long to get ready for our walk, she will toss around and play with a toy for 30 seconds to indicate her impatience. I haven't bought her a new toy in 2 years because nothing wears out.

 

Two years ago I bought Annie an antler. It was beautiful. Just ready for her teeth. She barely sniffed it. Eventually she did chew on it once for less than a minute and decided it wasn't worth the energy, or whatever. LOL

 

They're all different. Some destroy their toys. Some ignore them. Some love to chew. Some don't care for it. We like to enhance our dogs' lives by giving them something special but sometimes it's just a waste of energy and money.

[Houndtime]

I did put some peanut butter on the nyla bone to get Shine interested. What about a Kong filled will peanut butter, frozen yogurt, or cheese. I give my guys dental chews. They don't last very long though. I have bought bully sticks, too. A little expensive.

[rascalsmom]

I'd like to find a good chew thing for Phoebe too. She has an antler but I worry about her breaking a tooth on it. She does seem to enjoy chewing. I got her a medium size Himalayan dog chew and she finished it in about 20 minutes! That's way too expensive for me! I hesitate to give her rawhide though I suspect she'd love it. Ditto stuff like pig ears. She has a kong but that's more for when I'll be away for awhile. She'd enjoy something for intermittent chewing but I don't know what.

Edited May 3, 2015 by rascalsmom

[lukasmom]

Be careful with raw hide. Can get stuck in the gut and cause problems. I haven't given any of my dogs rawhides in many years.

[Guest MountainRunner]

Like rascalsmom, I'd basically like to find something for her to chew as Nadia definitely loves chewing (though I don't think she could finish a Himalayan bone in 20 mins! ... yet ;-) ). Once she started chewing the dental chews she definitely started looking for other things to chew.

 

I do have a kong that I fill with various pumpkin/peanut butter/treats mixes but I usually give her that when I leave for work and it doesn't really fulfill any chewing desire.

 

The only reason I'm weary about antlers is for her teeth as she is an older girl. Does anyone have experience with giving an antler to an older dog?

 

I knew about the choking hazard of rawhide and always monitored her, but I didn't know about the possibility it could get stuck in her gut! So I'll be avoiding rawhide in the future then.

Edited May 3, 2015 by MountainRunner

[heartdogs]

I give mine cow leg bones & these last a long time.

[Guest Doggone]

Autumn loves rawhide, but rawhide doesn't love her tummy; the result is "pudding".

Since she enjoys chewing, I give her Himalayan chews........they're hard, long-lasting, and look like bones, but they're made from yak milk. Once they get to a small size and I feel they could be a hazard, I pop the morsel in the microwave, and in no time it turns into a cookie-like snack for her.

[Guest MountainRunner]

That sounds good. I think I'll try out Himalayan bones next then. Thanks!

[a_daerr]

If you want to do rawhide, try the compressed rawhide rolls. We get them at Sam's Club for $12. We've used those for years and never had any issue.

[GeorgeofNE]

Ugh. My dog got slimey poo from rawhides. It was gross.

 

I give my greyhound "marrow" bones from the supermarket. They sell them as soup bones, or beef shins. They don't last all that long, but he really does love them.

[NeedlenoseJake]

You can also try bully sticks. They take Jake awhile, especially the really long ones.

[Guest BlueCatch]

Catch LOVES cow ears and venision ears.

[shawna]

I get marrow bones from the butcher, they sell them for $1.00 a pound, so I buy 10 lbs and freeze them.

[Guest Lizard_King1503]

I don't know if you have an independent butcher near you but if you do go there and just ask for a dog bone, they usually have them at the start of the week. Nina loves them and it takes her half the day to get through it sometimes she has a break then comes back to it

[Busderpuddle]

I use the thickest Himalayan Chew that I can find, and they take Ruby a few weeks. Other than those, she is not interested in anything. I bought a antler and she just stared at it.

[GreytTerp]

Our guy can just inhale any edible bone, but we finally got two huge raw beef bones from our neighborhood farmers' market, and they are perfect. The downside is that you do need to give it to them outside. The upside is that after 45 min or whenever they get tired, it can go right into a plastic bag and into the freezer. We tried the frozen turkey necks, but they lasted less than 2 minutes. I would not recommend the knuckle bones, as the one we got seemed to be very mealy and consumable. It had terrible results - the bone meal was too much for our guy, and he was shrieking in pain trying to poo the next day as things were crumbly and stuck. I had to um...assist...I felt so bad for Marvin and won't ever give him any bone like that again. Marvin's not a hard chewer, so he has done well with his antler as well.

[Guest CarryOnAMusing]

I don't want to hijack the thread, just a quick question. how long does everyone set their bones out for their pup? And how frequently (every day, once a week)?

 

I'm thinking of give Solny one as additional assistance to her dental health and obviously don't want to leave her alone with it.

[DocsDoctor]

I don't want to hijack the thread, just a quick question. how long does everyone set their bones out for their pup? And how frequently (every day, once a week)?

 

I'm thinking of give Solny one as additional assistance to her dental health and obviously don't want to leave her alone with it.

For Ken, it's a Saturday morning treat. I buy goat feet (each one is actually a whole foot + leg chopped off below the knee/hock, so including marrow bone) for him at our local halal butcher, very inexpensively. One goat foot lasts about an hour, and is ecstatically chewed on the lawn while I sit on the patio with a pot of coffee and the newspaper. I'm not sure what we will do come the winter - maybe let him have it on his bed, covered with an old shower curtain to contain any mess!

 

I struggled to find bones locally - neither the supermarkets or the posh independent butchers sold them - until I thought of trying the ethnic stores. Human recipes use the feet in stews, I believe - adds body as well as flavour, like using a pig's trotter.

[SanTanSnuggles]

I gave up on rawhide chews/bones, after my mail greyhound decided to one day try and swallow a very large piece. They did work for a long time and fine till he decided to change his way of eating them. I walked in on him swallowing it and getting it caught a little in his throat. Worried about it digesting properly. Tried to get it from him, but he would have no part of it and took off. That was enough for me. Dog biscuit will be his treat of choice.

[peglywegly]

Our current foster, likes to chew wood. i have a sheet of plywood in the sewing room so my chair will move on the carpeted floor. he was chewing on the plywood. we have mesquite and peach trees in out yard, that were trimmed in the spring. i cut about a 16" piece of each, that are about 1 1/2 in diameter. Apollo the foster likes his new sticks for chewing. and he is a toy destroyer. he has had denta sticks when the other dogs get them, they are gone in less than a minute. I have tried antlers w/my golden he sniffed and never chewed.

my sister gives her greys, fresh beef short ribs. and takes the bones once they are completely clean. they are lucky dogs.

[JenniferS]

I gave my first greyhound raw/frozen marrow bones all the time, but eventually he got a slab fracture on a tooth from them. I do give rawhide to my current greyhound, but only supervised and for short periods of time (10 - 15 min). I have given antlers, but I find after a little while, mot dogs become bored with them and do not go back to them.

[Batmom]

Cuckoo Coco likes this:

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/rubber-toys/dental-rubber-toys/stuff-a-ball/

I smear a little peanutbutter or dog toothpaste on it and she'll chew for quite a long while. Star just licks the peanutbutter off so YMMV. But, it seems sturdy and at least one dog loves it.

[XTRAWLD]

I avoid rawhide. I buy long, smoked marrow bones that they work on and when the middles are gone, I stuff peanut butter inside. I find smoked knee caps also work well, but are more awkward for them to work on. Neither boy had blinked an eye towards antlers, and I tested them only in store. They were way too expensive for me to buy to have as a carpet weight.

 

These things - http://askthemeatman.com/images/dogbones_shanks_600pix.JPG

Edited August 7, 2015 by XTRAWLD