Appa is not a chewer. He doesn't really chew anything. I've given him meaty bones, Nylabones, rawhide, kongs, and he just barely nibbles them. The real bone barely has some scrapes on it, and he's been working on it for a week. My concern is his teeth are getting some build up, any ideas on how I can encourage him to chew on a bone more than a light nibble?

Ginger isn't a chewer either, however, she does like Zukes Z-Ridge Dental bones. She'll every now and then gnaw on a small beef jerky knee cap bone, but not like Storm. Maybe Appa will grow into it as he gets older, but for now, try Zukes.

Ginger also tends to have tartar build up on her teeth easily. And it was looking like we'd still have to do a dental cleaning even with the Zukes dental bones, but since I've started feeding her raw chicken with the bone, her teeth are good! The only thing I would have to brush with a doggie toothbrush would be her canines, if that...

...but feeding raw isn't for everyone, and there's some thought that needs to go into feeding raw or even partial raw diets....

I've tried Zukes chews and my dogs got bored with it quickly. Have you tried antlers or bully sticks?

Before feeding raw I used Petzlife Oral Care spray and it works amazingly well when used as directed. I got so many comments on my dogs' teeth including 2 vets when I was using Petzlife spray. Within days of starting Petzlife, the plaque was literally popping off Dakota's teeth. I highly recommend Petzlife Oral care spray!

A bully stick or antler was my next attempt! I'll look into all of these options and see if anything will keep Appa chewing.

Val, this is it, right?

http://www.petzlife.com/catalog/oral-care-products.html?limit=15

I think I'm going to get it because even though Mya has raw chicken w/ bone every other day for dinner and a rawhide here and there she still seems to have tartar. She refuses to let me brush her teeth and doesn't like me spraying stuff in her mouth. I'm thinking if i get the gel it will be easier for me to put it on my finger and put it in her mouth. Kody's teeth are perfect and he doesn't mind me doing anything. Funny how they're so different!

Yep that's it! You can use the gel if that works better for your dog. I like the spray because it's so quick and easy but I will admit my dogs hate it! Lol

I'm going to have to try this too if Ginger STILL needs a little more help than her bones.

Appa's life mission: Contradict everything Riley says/thinks.

He's been going for nearly 10 minutes now.

I tried not to look to closely but is that a rawhide bone?


If so be careful rawhide can block a dog's digestive track up really bad.... (Been there done that)


Love the signature photo of Appa.

?! Please, do look closely at everything I do. Also, having gone through art school I can take a critique like you wouldn't believe! Never worry about hurt feelings. I'll be removing the raw hide now.

And thanks, I thought it was rather fitting. He lays around almost all day long.

I third antlers. Nikolai is such a picky eater and I struggle SO MUCH with finding things he might want to eat or chew on, I sort of picked it up on a lark, then WHAM it's his new favorite thing ever. ;-) Even Ginger worked on an antler for a while (marrow exposed).

If you try the antler make sure it is split (sawed in half to show the marrow). We have both a whole and a split and the split antler is BY FAR the favorite! Bully sticks are a huge hit here. They can be pricey and we were letting Sabaka have one to entertain him during our kids' sporting events. It is rather embarrassing when people ask, "What is that thing??" LOL!

He DEVOURED a pig skin roll (like beef rawhide, but pig) in a couple hours once. I read that pig skin is more easily digested... is that true? I can't remember the brand, but I probably paid about $5 for something that lasted only 2 hours. ...AND my guy's not much of a chewer either...

Ginger got bored of her split antler very fast...but she LOVES real, raw marrow bones!! And I mean LOVES them!!! Really, really LOVES them! (Do you know how much Ginger LOVES real, raw marrow bones?!)....I don't give those too often to her because it's 'fatty' and too much fat in their diet can cause health issues. So it's a BIG special treat for her.

OH!
If you write to Ziwipeaks (creme de la creme of raw, dry dog food) and ask them you want to try their dog food but cannot find trial bags near you, they may send you some of their food along with one or 2 of their antlers! It'll take anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks if you get one, but totally worth a try. One of their antlers can cost anywhere from $15 on up. And one for their trial bags of dog food is at least $15. So if you get one of each, it's worth at the very least $30-$40....if you get 2 of each, score!

Here's what I got when I wrote them:


I got 3 antlers! The short white one is the split antler exposing the marrow. So I at least got $75 worth of goodies from Ziwipeaks!

Oh wow, that must've been some letter(email?) you sent them.

What magical words did you weave to them to score all that?

We've been trying to come up with a nice, special treat for Aevyn to have in his crate. The last attempt took him 10 minutes to devour, so it was a bit of a miss. The Antler idea sounds a bit more promising but I've never seen them around here.

Antlers will last a long long long time...

Here's what I basically said in my email to Ziwipeaks:
-I heard of your product
-My female Sibe has food intolerances
-Recommended by other Sibe owners how Ziwipeaks helped their Sibes with food intolerances
-I asked them if they carried trial bags and if I could order them

I got a response about a week later from a US rep saying she would send me a sample....and about 3 or 4 weeks later, I got my loot.

Thats great! I sent them off an email myself, lets see if we end up with a successful bounty like you did!

We have a thread started for Ziwipeaks: We Love Ziwipeaks

You can take a look at some of us got in our loot. Hopefully you'll get something to post back and share

Where do you guys get the antlers? I've never seen them at any of the pet stores that I go to =\