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Best Chew Snacks for Pups?


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As Quinn grows and develops, I've been trying out a variety of different chew snacks for him. We've tried deer antlers, moose antlers, himalayan cheese, raw frozen bones, rawhide, no raw-hide. We've run the gambit. What chew treats have you found that were really durable and worked well for you and your pup?

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Be very careful about raw frozen bones. I've paid for that decision with 2 broken teeth.

Antlers and some kinds of bones (think the hard marrow bones aka as weight bearing bones of large ungulates) are also too hard and can result in broken teeth.

Rawhide's pretty nasty and also can be a health threat both in terms of it's production and the possibility of intestinal blockages. Look it up.

Sadly, the longest lasting chews are all the most dangerous ones.

 

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59 minutes ago, GentleLake said:

Be very careful about raw frozen bones. I've paid for that decision with 2 broken teeth.

Antlers and and some kinds of bones (think the hard marrow bones aka as weight bearing bones of large ungulates) are also too hard and can result in broken teeth.

Rawhide's pretty nasty and also can be a health threat both in terms of it's production and the possibility of intestinal blockages. Look it up.

I've been worried about the teeth as he scrapes them across but still ok for now. He's less interested in antlers so we've only had a few over the months. And we did rawhide until I stopped buying them for the aforementioned reasons. 

So now that you've mentioned which ones don't work, any recommendations on which ones have worked for you and your dogs, @GentleLake? We've stuck with Himalayan Chews recently.

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12 hours ago, GentleLake said:

Himalayan chews may be one of the safer choices, though I've never tried them. They're out of my price range.

My dog get cow hooves. I've read cautions about them but we' never had a problem with them (touch wood.)

Yeah, I stockpile himalayan chews from Chewy once a month and we go through them, but he's been bored of them lately it seems. They're actually much more economical through Chewy I've found. 3 for $12.50 (or less if you do their autoship). In the stores you'd find one for that price usually and these are big and last a while. Link here: https://www.chewy.com/bones-chews-himalayan-cheese-large/dp/137096

Ohhh I've not tried cow hooves yet, though I know Quinn's sister, Lexie loves them. I'll have to take a look and maybe buy one. 

10 hours ago, ShellyF said:

So the pigs ears that are dried to a crunch texture are gone quickly but the lambs ears seem to be dried in a different way. Now that Merlin is older he can chew them more quickly but when he had baby teeth it took him quite a while :)

 

Pig ears here are gone quickly too. And they smell quite porky (and not in a mmmm bacon kind of way :rolleyes:). I've never tried lamb ears though. I'll have to check those out too! 

Thanks @GentleLake and @ShellyF! Good suggestions!

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I have been told by some folks that the hooves reek once they have been chewed, so just thought I would mention it. Lambs ears have not lasted any longer than pig ears with dogs I have had. Mostly, I have simply done a Kong filled with a mixture of ground up dry kibble and peanut butter and then frozen. Pretty much everything else is either too pricey or dangerous in one way or another.

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Yeah, the hooves smell rather like burnt hair, w/out the burnt part of it (if that makes sense) when they're being chewed. :wacko: Just lying about they don't smell much.

I think I'm just nose blind to it; I don't even notice it any more. :rolleyes:

IIRC the black ones are stronger smelling than the lighter ones. But I buy them in cases of a hundred or so (so much cheaper that way) so you're stuck with whatever mixture you get.

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What D'Elle said:  Kongs.  Kongs.  and more Kongs!!

They can be filled with any number of items:  peanut butter (be sure it has no xylitol in it!), cream cheese, ground meat, ground kibble, whole kibble (with something like PB to hold it in), chunks of cheese, etc.  and frozen.  They last quite awhile, and Kong makes a variety of sizes and hardnesses (e.g., softer ones for puppy teeth or older dogs).  It's handy to have at least several (don't ask how many I have!), so a few can be frozen, one being worked on and one drying after washing.

I've been known to resort to bully sticks, but actually prefer Kongs (for my dogs!).

diane

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Our dog trainer suggested raw, frozen chicken wings for our pup, who was about 18 weeks at the time. She also suggested we give her cow ear but not pig ear. (I did not ask why one and not the other). Maybe it's because the cow ears are crunchy but seem like they might be thinner and once chewed, softer than a pigs ear? 

I also give my girl spiral bully sticks or a bully ring now and then. They are expensive but last longer than a cows ear and from what I understand they are easily digestible.

I've read that antlers and frozen beef bones might be too hard and lead to broken teeth. Other people swear by them but I plan to avoid both until I get more information. I have not yet tried the Himalayan cheese chew.  In the local stores, they are even more costly than bully sticks. But I plan to get one and see how she likes its since they are touted as one of the safer dog chews.

I've not had good luck with frozen Kongs. My girl, who is 24 weeks now, will toss around her Kong to get at the dry kibble. But if I put moistened kibble inside and freeze it, she sniffs at it then gives up. She won't eat it even after the food has thawed or if it contains chunks of chicken. Someone told me that some dogs need to learn to eat frozen meals out of a Kong and that I should try with only a bit of peanut butter around the inside edge and then again with more peanut butter farther down inside. That went well so I'll try a little bit of chicken and cream cheese next. If she gets that, then I'll try sneaking in some kibble. Since my girl is still young and growing, I worry about too many calories, unbalanced nutrition, etc.

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9 hours ago, diane allen said:

...I've been known to resort to bully sticks...

Bully sticks don't last long enough here to justify their expense as a long lasting chew. :unsure:

I hear of some people who can use them this way and I sure wish I could, but I'd go broke quickly if I offered them very often.

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Chicken and other poultry bones are dangerous if they're cooked. Raw they're digestible and are fine to feed.

The way it was explained to me is that cooking changes the molecular structure of the bone so that they can't be digested. So when they splinter the splinter remains very sharp and can perforate the stomach or intestines. Dogs' stomach acids are much stronger than ours and any sharp edges are quickly blunted as they're digested.

Even knowing that they'll quickly be blunted in the stomach, I still don't like the looks of the sharp edges of turkey leg bones and so rarely feed them. But I know a lot of people do and their dogs have suffered no ill effects.

But I feed raw chicken legs all the time, and the smaller spinal bones of turkeys don't splinter in the same way so I feed turkey necks at least as frequently as chicken legs. I've never fed turkey backs simply because I've never thought to see if I can source them. I should check and compare their cost against necks.

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On 3/28/2019 at 10:01 PM, diane allen said:

What D'Elle said:  Kongs.  Kongs.  and more Kongs!!

They can be filled with any number of items:  peanut butter (be sure it has no xylitol in it!), cream cheese, ground meat, ground kibble, whole kibble (with something like PB to hold it in), chunks of cheese, etc.  and frozen.  They last quite awhile, and Kong makes a variety of sizes and hardnesses (e.g., softer ones for puppy teeth or older dogs).  It's handy to have at least several (don't ask how many I have!), so a few can be frozen, one being worked on and one drying after washing.

I've been known to resort to bully sticks, but actually prefer Kongs (for my dogs!).

diane

Is there a time when the pups become more interested in stuffed Kongs? We tried peanut butter and a treat stuffed in one for my 9 week old, and he did not seem to care. Perhaps he is just too young for it to keep his attention?

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