Do I Own a Dog or a Crocodile? - Page 1

In the last few days, my 11 mo. GSD pup has destroyed three dog toys.

The first victim I noticed was her puppy kong. Luckily, I caught her in the act, and removed the pieces from her mouth before she could swallow them.

Next, I found the really tough, hard rubber ball that the dog sitter had allowed her to take into the backyard. When I'd left home for the weekend, it was still intact. Not anymore....

Desperate to find something for her to chew on, so she didn't start in on the furniture, I gave her the very first toy I'd bought for her, a hard plastic puppy teething ring, that was shaped like a triangle, with little nubs on it to massage sore gums. Within a couple of hours, she'd chewed the point off one side of the triangle. So much for that! I threw it in the garbage, and went out to the store to buy her another Kong.

This is what the Kong looked like, about an hour after I gave it to her:

You can see she is well on the way to chewing a chunk out of it. And, as most dog owners k now, the black Kongs are the hardest ones they make!

Any suggestions as to what I can buy my pirannah pup that won't be destroyed in a couple of hours, and possibly muck up her digestive system? Some people have recommended Nylabones, but I've also heard of Nylabones breaking teeth. I don't want to give her real bones, for the same reason. I have a friend whose Cardigan broke THREE teeth while chewing bones. It was a VERY expensive trip to the vet to fix THAT problem!

Someone suggested a tire, so I tried one of the Tire Biters dog toys. Here's the result, after only a week or so:

Arrrgh!!!! What to do?  This is getting $$expensive$$$ and VERY frustrating!

I had a similar problem with a small crew of carpet-shark of a Jack Russell that used to claim me. I eventually switched to bulk corn-starch chews. I had peace-of-mind that when they did eat them, it wouldn't hurt them.

Never had a dog that wanted anything to do with a Nylabone. Anyways, they could theoretically shred one of those too, and each the pieces.

Nylabone-brand makes edible chews... but those lasted about 15 minutes, even for the "souper" size. Corn startch, like Booda-Chews lasted the longest. I used to bulk order from Doctors Foster and Smith.

Care-a-lot-Pets also has similar. You might want to price-shop, they run specials periodically.

Regards,

Silverbolt

What about the really hard natural rawhide bones? Not the ones that are a piece of rawhide with knots tied in the end, but the ones that are pressed into a mould, so they're really hard, and the dog can only swallow small bits at a time? Are they safe?

I'm in Canada, BTW, and our national chain is Pet Valu. We also have a PetSmart store not too far away, but I prefer to support our 'home grown' chain, rather than PetSmart.

Maybe try a real leg bone, the long bone (cannon/marrow), you can scoop out some of the marrow,its kinda rich for some dogs. My female can demolish alot of things but not those bones.

I have found the Rhino brand far outlasts the Kong toys. My dogs will destroy a Kong in minutes but the Rhino Cone will last pretty good. I use them for training/play then put them up.

The Rhino super tough rubber bones have lasted a long time that I use even leaving out for them to chew at will. One thing is while my dogs will chew on the Rhino they don't go crazy over it.

First off...I very rarely ever give my dogs anything while not being watched...and about the only things I do give them and leave them with are knuckle bones from the grocery store with a little meat still on them...they will chew on them or hours on end...and they're good for their teeth too...they will clean their teeth at the same time that they're having fun with them...I leave these with my dogs in the kennel over night and usually only check them twice a day...

~Bob~

We have one girl who can only have the huge black King Kongs.  Anything smaller she destroys.  I like the knuckle bones too.  A good reminder I need to get some more.. 

I generally watch the dogs when they have toys, too. The puppy is crated when I' m not at home, or sleeping, and she is not allowed a toy in her crate. However, I'm not always paying 100% attention to what she's doing, and sometimes a toy is damaged before I notice.

Thank you for the suggestions, but let me clarify my stand on bones. No, never, not for one of my dogs. I have personally seen dogs with spintered teeth due to bones. I watched another dog languish in the veterinary hospital for 10 days, while a bone worked its way through its digestive system. The bill came to around $1000, and this was THIRTY YEARS AGO. Any vet will tell you of dogs he/she has treated for perforated intestines, due to eating bone fragments. You may say 'this won't happen with the RIGHT bone', but I say it CAN and DOES! If my pup can destroy the toughest dog toys on the market, I do NOT trust her to not splinter fragments off a bone, even a large shank bone. It is NOT worth the risk, in my opinion. I do NOT need extra vet bills!

Your mileage may vary, of course...

I like the idea of chews that are digestible, and will look into this. I may try a pressed rawhide bone, too, but under supervision, so I can take it away if it gets so small she's at risk of swallowing the whole thing.  I haven't seen the Rhinos in the store here, but will look for them, and check them out.

Nylabone makes a bone called a galileo (sp?) which is pretty darn hard and heavy, don't want that dropped on a bare foot.

looks like this is what they are calling the dino bone now.

http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/big-chews/big-chews-for-big-dogs-dino-bone.htm