Recommended chews for teething puppies

[alisoninmd]

For those that have raised puppies, what chew toys have helped them out with teething? Dutchie has been chewing a Doggy Hoot, a puppy kong, and some bones. It's hard to keep his interest though. He chewed the peepad the other day. :faint:

Any suggestions?

[Juneysmom]

Hm...paper products seems to be on a regular menu for dogs. :)

I've been very successful with bully sticks. I just got used to the odor. :)

[feofil]

Yep. Bully Sticks! No rawhides at all! Never! Ever! Bully sticks are available at SitStay.com, and they call them Macho Stix, but I recommend the "Not-So_Macho Stix" for little puppies. Cute names. :)

Anyway, an alternative is the small bone from a chuck steak. He will work on that for a year! Mersey still has his first little bone, and keeps it in his night time kennel.

[Irminsul]

No rawhides at all! Never! Ever!

may I ask why?

[Juneysmom]

I understand that the reason for no rawhides is because when they get soft enough, the pups will sometimes swallow them whole and choke. Also even if they don't choke, it can sometimes get caught inside and block everything.

The thing about raw bones is that you give them to your pups for a day or two, but then after that, you throw them away. The reason is being that they become hard as a rock because they no longer have any moisture. This can cause your pup's teeth to chip or worse.

You definitely don't give your pups cooked bones because the splinters can damage or destroy the insides. (I learned that lesson with my first dog when I had to take her to the vet for an emergency operation to remove the splintered bone fragments).

[feofil]

The rawhide can also fragment when they are soft, and can be swallowed. There is something called "beef chews" which look an awful lot like rawhides, except they are already soft. I let Mersey munch on those in supervised settings. When they get too short, I remove it because he could swallow the large chunk and have it lodge in his throat. But if a little piece breaks off and he swallows it, it wont lodge (it is soft and small) and it will digest naturally. Rawhide is impervious to digestive juices.

I also dont give greenies for the same reason. They get swallowed, and they digest very slowly. I have heard about dogs who have had to have them surgically removed.

The other nice thing about bully sticks is they last a really long time, about five times as long as a rawhide would.

Patrick

[alisoninmd]

Thanks for the input! Dutch has been chewing on a marrow bone. I've heard about the potential dangers of rawhides, but this is the first time I've heard anything negative about a greenie. Dutch hasn't showed interest in them, but Rex loves them.

I just checked PetEdge and they also have bully sticks. When I place our next order, I'll give those a try. Thanks again!

[Irminsul]

The other nice thing about bully sticks is they last a really long time, about five times as long as a rawhide would.

Patrick

Not with my two :circle: they do love them though. Do they have a lot of calories?

[Kim H.]

of both rawhides and Greenies if you do an archive search. That being said, I have given both without problem as do other members. If you want to try them, the key is CLOSE SUPERVISION. You may have a puppy who will just gnaw on them forever - or you may have one who will make it his mission to try to gulp the whole thing down instantly.

As puppies in the teething stage, my girls gnawed on the CET chews for hours... and it probably saved our house, because they gnawed on parts of that, too (cabinets, baseboards, etc.). Now they go through them too fast, but I will sometimes give one for a few minutes if I have a lot of grooming to do. Cassie just loves them beyond all else. We had vomiting on Bully Sticks and I don't like the smell.

I would advise to never leave a dog with a rawhide or Greenie without supervision. The only thing I leave in the girls' crate while we are gone is durable Nylabones.

Are you stuffing your puppy's Kong (we use peanut butter Kong stuffing and a few tiny treats and kibble pieces)? Those can entertain a dog for a long time. :) They don't usually do much with unstuffed ones.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

you can also get small bully stix at Petco--Chapo's mom bought some for Gunner for X-mas, they are small and great for a pup. I don't know what they call them but they have the same smell as the bully stix. I get Gunners and Petunia at a HAY and FEED sore.

[alisoninmd]

Kim- definitely some good points to remember. When Rex has had greenies, we have always been present. In a few, rare occasions we have given USDA approved and inpsected rawhide, but again, we've been steps away. The only treats we have given while they are not in our sight are filled kongs and the non-edible nylabones. Most of the time, just the kong. The nylabones should be ok, but they still make me paranoid.

We've been putting little biscuits and peanut butter in Dutchie's kong.

Irma- thanks for the tip! I'm not a PetCo fan, but I did find smaller ones we can order through petedge.com.

[pixiey]

Nylabones are a good substitute for rawhide. It doesn't break off into big pieces, at most it will be tiny digestable shreds. Justice has been working hard at a nylabone for over a year, and only had the bone part nubs at the top finished off. A good investment, they are a little more money, but they last (almost) forever. Though I do recommend throwing them out if they do become very tiny, I don't trust my pupper not to try to swallow it whole.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Alison I'm not a Petco fan either I love Petsmart but if I can't find it at Petsmart I go to Petco. I have to go 75 miles to go to these shops so most of the time I check them both out. :)

[alisoninmd]

Alison I'm not a Petco fan either I love Petsmart but if I can't find it at Petsmart I go to Petco. I have to go 75 miles to go to these shops so most of the time I check them both out. :)

75 miles!! Good gracious, woman. I can't imagine. I grew up in Amish country, but a 30 minute drive to Lancaster could at least give you some options. Now we live outside of DC and have 4 major shopping malls within 15 minutes, 2 PetSmarts, and 3 Petcos. Bless your heart!!! I like shopping at "The Ark" Pet supply store- it is run by the shelter, and so that's where the proceeds go. There is another family-owned store near us too. With those kinds of options, shopping at PetCo isn't a necessary thing for us. Too many documented cases of abuse of small animals-- we also have 2 guinea pigs, so that really hits home for me. In your situation though, it makes more sense.

Have you tried www.petedge.com for some things? We found their prices to be quite good.