hey guys,

Just wondering if you know of any alternatives to the rawhide bones for my 4 month old puppy? She gets through one jumbo one a day easily but hates her kong no matter what I put in it.

Is there anything else that will last a bit longer? I know that bones as such arent suitable because of them splintering etc and she will be losing her teeth in no time.

Thanks

Bully sticks are great, Freya's last her a good week or longer and she's just over 5 months.

I give Freya dried pork trotters and roo lumber (part of the spine).

I haven't tried them yet but people swear by antlers. The trainer I spoke with about Callie said her dog still has the one she bought him a year ago.

It might be bad parenting, but I did break away from the rawhides and started giving Callie real bones that I can find in Petsmart. It's not ideal for young pups and there's been so many times I want to take it away but she likes it and they last a long time. It holds her attention for hours at a time and it's cleaning her teeth.

As Francine mentioned, bully sticks are awesome. Just make sure you get the unscented ones, because if not you're house will quickly smell like a barn yard.

The thing that has lasted both my pups the longest however is antlers! They are a bit more pricey, but they last a very long time and the dog's seem to enjoy them quite a bit! If you know anyone that hunt's deer, you can always ask for the antlers, just make sure you clean them well and file the points down.

I also give mine frozen beef/bison knee caps as well as frozen bison marrow bones. They love the knee caps the best, but make sure you give this treat to them separate, because a fight can quickly break out! This is more of a treat I would give in the crate.

As a quick treat I gave chicken wings to Freya when she was 3-4 months old.
Pigs ears are good , they last a bit longer too.

If you are looking at something that will last you a while, a pig ear in my experience (while they ADORE them) will last about 1 hour, if that. They destroy those things.
Rawhides are not really recommended for a variety of reasons, personally we have never given Tika or Ripley any, so I dont know how long they would last with our pups.
You could try a Nyla bone, which is more of a chew bone, they dont eat it. The deer antlers are pretty popular, but our dogs couldnt care less about them. We have used bully sticks as well, but Tika got a few that turned really fibrous and mushy and so we opted to stop buying those.
Finally now we use marrow bones. We get big ones with cured meat dried on, and these will last them about a week each. Its great as a high reward treat, and its very good at cleaning their teeth.

Hope you find something that works!
Kelly

Try deer antlers
If someone else already said that sorry lol.

I think antlers are a bit too hard for puppy teeth to handle, but that's my personal opinion. I'd wait till she has all of her adult teeth before starting on antlers. Possibly another month or so. I'd go with bully sticks for a longer lasting treat in the meantime.. I'd give them to Kale, but they are the ONLY treat that he gets temperamental about (meaning he won't let anyone near him). lol I can give him any other treat and he's fine It's just something about them. lol

I agree with Brooke on the antlers for non puppies due to the hardness of it. Bully sticks have been a husky fav around my house, mainly with Mika cause when she grabs them, she out runs the others and keeps them lol

Nylabones and bully sticks were a big hit with mine as pups and still are to this day. They also had this cloth bone that we soaked in water, then put it in the feezer. They seemed to enjoy that when they were teething.

I've never tried nyla bones, but I'm heading down to City Farmers (a large pet supply warehouse franchise) tomorrow so might take a look in there.

Can I ask why the raw hide bones aren't a good idea? I thought there were and bought some for our two this morning, hope I haven't done the wrong thing...

raw hide is hard for the dogs to digest and can cause choking and blockages in the digestive track, in severe cases surgeries have been needed to retrieve the raw hide.

Thjey're okay so long as you watch them closely while they eat them.

I would also suggest hooves, my guy really enjoys noming on them and they last a long time. I also believe they aren't too hard for puppy teeth. Aside from that bully sticks and cow ears are a hit in our household.

I've seen hooves at farmer jacks but have never gotten then before. I might get Freya a couple to try out.

One should last her a good while, but be for warned they can get stinky

as stinky as bully sticks?

No I don't think they are as stinky its a more subtle stink and it doesn't spread as far as the bully sticks. I don't think it's bad at all from either but thought I should let you know

Thanks for the heads up. I dont mind bully sticks but I hate touching them, the smell lingers on your hands and even after you've weashed, it's like it is stuck in your pours lol.

Once they hit 6 months and have adult teeth - antlers fine. I gave trachea chews and duck feet to Cato before that.

We give Onyx both the bully sticks and raw hides. He will go through a bully stick in an evening, the raw hides will last him a little longer.

My question is where do you get marrow bones, or cow/bison kneecaps? Do you go to a butcher or a local feed mill? I don't raw feed but I want to start giving Onyx some actual bones, I will also check with a deer processor in the area to see if they have extra antlers.

We get them at our local Pet Supply store, the girls go nuts for them, you can also ask butchers for leftovers as well, but I think you have to boil them first. If someone could chime in on that, I have never gotten them direct from a butcher before.
Kelly

In the fall we measure time in "soccer game time", so a bully stick or a twist of pig hide only lasts Sabaka about 1/2 of a soccer game (maybe 45 mins or less). Last week I got him a pressed rawhide bone. I never give him regular rawhide because of the fear of blockages (and the farts!), but this pressed rawhide is ground-up rawhide mush re-dried into a bone shape and, therefore, less likely to come apart in large hunks. It lasted 2 soccer games! He also did not have the usual dog farts associated with his eating rawhide. Perhaps that has more to do with the original processing of the rawhide and less to do with it being pressed.

Sabaka never chews his Nylabone and rarely his antlers.

Sabaka is weird with knuckle bones. He never actually chews them, but become obsessed with "burying" them! He paces through the house trying to hide his bone in piles of laundry, under carpet edges, under his bed, under OUR beds, under the Christmas tree skirt (that was a favorite, too bad it's unavailable year-round). Crazy dog!