Safety of chew treats... booda bone velvets, rawhide, and bones

[rainbow]

I agree.

[technodoll]

why not a big raw beef knuckebone? cheap (and often free), safe, tasty...

[rainbow]

Not always safe though. My last dogs broke and chipped teeth on them. :sad:

[technodoll]

yes, it totally depends on how strong your dog's teeth are. my boy's teeth chip and break at the drop of a hat, and my girl's teeth are hard as nails. strange genetics... guess who the BYB dog is?

[rainbow]

You mean Dakotah was BYB?

[technodoll]

nooo! that's the irony! maika is the byb girl... yet, she's the healthier of the two so far. how crazy is that?

[rainbow]

That is crazy. My last two huskies were the ones that had papers and guaranteed for all the usual stuff for huskies yet they were the only dogs I've had that got broken/chipped teeth. All my dogs before that were mutts and rescues and never had a problem. The two I have now are BYB (unfortuneately, but a long story for both). Maybe I should try the bones again.

[technodoll]

i say yes, try the bones again... maybe 15 minutes? and then check the teeth carefullly.... do that for a few days and if all is well, increase the chewing time... maybe they'll be fine

[mummummum]

Yup ~ you can't beat a big, RAW bone straight from the butcher for hours of gnawing pleasure in my house. Great for cleaning teeth and a little calcium boost too! It's also a good training tool if your dog tends to be food/ toy possessive. Nothing else lasts for more than a couple of minutes in my house and I don't trust rawhides, pigs ears, pizzles etc. Whenever I need to get something done I get out a bunch of bones to occupy the troops so I can have my "me time".

[rainbow]

Thanks guys. I'm just so hesitant though because of my previous vet bills for broken/chipped teeth for two dogs.

[technodoll]

i have learned through trial and error and through member's shared experiences here that it *totally* depends on the dog's own "tooth strength", i thought all dogs were the same but nope, just like with humans, some have strong normal teeth and some have weaker more fragile teeth.

[rainbow]

My lab is going to the veterinary dental specialist when she comes to town on Thursday re his teeth that are turning black so I'm going to see what she has to say first.

[mafiaprincess]

I give raw marrow bones from the butcher, hooves and only the once in a blue moon piece of flat rawhide. But Cider is small, and doesn't eat it instantly.

Greenies, edible nylabones and the like Scare me a little.. My 25 pound girl as a pup could eat an entire large size edible nylabone in one sitting, and then try to swallow the remaining chunk.. So I wouldn't be leaving those around unsupervised.

I only leave real bones, hooves of a kong when I go out, but it was lots of sneaking up watching her to see what she was doing with them before I felt okay leaving them in her crate when I went out. For the most part she sleeps rather than chews anyhow.

[technodoll]

oh and a nice, thick, big skinless turkey neck served frozen provides lots of chewing pleasure, it's a great natural toothbrush AND is completely digestible, most dogs LOVE it

[alisiaj78]

[QUOTE=jessi76]I don't know about your area, but where I live I pay between $3.99-$5.99 for a 12" bully stick. I always dig through the whole bin to find the thickest ones. I even saw a 2 FT bully stick the other day at the store for about $10.


That's not bad... I've only seen them at Petco and PetSmart, where a 12" stick is $10.99. I'll look on Dog.com, which I've found generally has much better prices. Although, my boyfriend is reluctant to try bully sticks. For some reason the idea of a dog chewing on a penis makes him uncomfortable

[alisiaj78]

Originally Posted by raingirl

personally, I don't recommend the nylabone edible bones at all. They easily break off into HUGE sharp chunks. Sorta like if you have a hard candy or peice of ice, it breaks almost like glass. I don't think they are safe at all.

Thanks for the info on the nylabone edibles! Although what I ordered for her is called an "N-Bone", it's not made by Nylabone. I've only seen it on Dog.com, so I'm not sure what to expect... it was just something labelled as a "healthy alternative" to rawhide and real bones. It should be coming in the mail today, I'll let you know what I think of it.

[alisiaj78]

Originally Posted by technodoll

i have learned through trial and error and through member's shared experiences here that it *totally* depends on the dog's own "tooth strength", i thought all dogs were the same but nope, just like with humans, some have strong normal teeth and some have weaker more fragile teeth.

I've always heard that chewing bones helps strengthen teeth... maybe only if you start them young? I get nervous sometimes when Scout chews on bones because of the scraping sounds she makes, it sounds like she's destroying her teeth. But so far all of her teeth appear very healthy.

[ChancesMom]

Have you tried ValleyVet.com for prices? I have ordered from them a few times and their prices seem to be pretty good... not sure if they have what you are looking for.

I also am not sure if they ship out of the US.

[alisiaj78]

Hey, I wanted to let you guys know what I thought if the "N-Bone", which we got yesterday. My dog LOVED it, she seemed more excited by it than any chew treat she's has so far. It also seemed safe, breaking off smoothly into bite-sized pieces, and it didn't make a mess. The ingredients seemed to be pretty healthy, too, so I feel better about giving it to my dog than rawhides or booda bones. It's low in fat, high in protein, and has Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. The downside, though, is that it is not long lasting at all... she ate half of a 6-in bone in only 10 minutes! At 3 bucks a piece, I'm not sure if it's the most economical choice. I might try a larger one, maybe it will take her longer to get through it...

[lorimar]

I recently had an experience with Feline Greenies. My 5 year old cat was given the treats and began to vomit for the entire day. She continued to vomit for two more days. I then took her to the vet and explained that I had given her Greenies treats. He said he hadn't heard of problems with cats but that there have been issues with dogs.

He then proceeded to take all sorts of tests to a tune of $430. All the tests were negative and so we are assuming that it was the Greenie treats. I just felt it necessary to share this with our pet-loving community.

[cell]

this thread is 3 years dead, probably would be more helpful to start a new thread about your experience.