Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:59 am Post subject: Advice on puppy chews
Hi folks,
Our Olive is coming up for 3 months now and I was wondering if anybody has advice on chews?
I've scoured pet shops and srutinized many brands of chew but all seem to say 'not suitable for puppies under 4 months'. Inevitably Olive loves to chew everything so to help with her training, and to stop me saying 'off' alot!, I thought some chews would be useful.
Does it really matter what the packaging says? I can't imagine her little (getting bigger) mouth could make much of a dent in chews so I wouldn't think her ingesting them would be a problem.
I can't say I've ever taken much notice of what packets say, although I don't tend to give mine rawhide, pigs ears, or anything like that at a young age, as they can harbour some nasty bacteria.
I know you can get puppy Nylabones and Nylabone Keys which should be suitable. But I tend to stick to toilet roll inners, bits of cardboard and the occasional raw bone to keep their jaws busy.
Like Jules I tend to avoid things like pigs ears like the plague, they are also incredibly fatty and can make them sick. I have also avoided anything raw hide since one of my best friends lost their 4 month old puppy to choking, on a piece that they had managed to chew off. Raw hide gets all soggy and slimy and it got stuck to the back of his throat
I would definately recommend nylabones and kongs to chew on, I have a lounge littered with the things (sometimes it looks like Ive been having an archeological dig with the amount of bone shapes in here lol) I would avoid the really soft bendy nylabones with a lab as they seem to be able to bite chunks off really quickly.
Kongs are also good as you can wedge a dog biscuit in the bottom and it takes them ages to get that out
I cant have raw bones here as that tends to end up in fistycuffs!
them antos vegetable chews are fantastic, they`re all natural so got for dogs with icky tums and i don`t think they`re very fattening either. frozen kongs will keep them occupied for hours at that age, i filled mine with meat paste or squashed banana and froze it and jake would do flips for it, i had one too where i`d block up the bottom hole with peanut butter, stand the kong in a mug then put in a couple of biscuits and fill with water and freeze - the biscuits kept his interest and the water also helped his little gums!
i`m not too keen on raw bones as jake can be possessive over them (not that hes aggressive but he gives out really loud growls and anyone who doesn`t know him freaks but in fact he`s just being a big dope) and especially with pork it gives him the runs for absolutely ages. i`m not sure if venison ears would be a better choice rather than pigs? i know they`re a lot lower in fat and seem to agree with my boy much more
Can i do a small hijack and as why kind of bones can they have? Daisy makes short shift of frozen kong treats and i thought a bone would be good but dont know what is safe for her
Can i do a small hijack and as why kind of bones can they have? Daisy makes short shift of frozen <a href=http://www.furbabies.co.uk/index.php/cPath/30_7>Kong</a> treats and i thought a bone would be good but dont know what is safe for her
Our baby pups usually hijack one of Megan's hollow bones (originally "roast" but well scoured by now) and pretend to chew it. Other than that we stick to the Kong, puppy nylabone (but have to keep Megan away as she can get chunks off ) and rope toys - they seems to let them sink their teeth in quite nicely. Empty plastic milk cartons are great fun BUT they can get bits off so have to be watched closely and taken away. 10 mins max in our house... cardboard even less
I'm imagining the *4 months* is till their big teeth are coming through? ie around 17 weeks? After that we give occasional hide chews (but not pig's ears) and roast hollow bones. Knuckle bones can be ground down too easily and make Megan VERY sick (even raw ). Raw chicken wings are a favourite with older dogs though and don't tend to upset tums.
Like Dot cardboard tubes and plastic bottles are popular but don't last long at all so I watch Sam very carefully with them.
Dot - do you find the rope twist toys any good when they're older - they do say they're good for flossing teeth but I had this paranoia that they might get bits of rope/string off and they'd get all wrapped up inside their tums having read someone's post - may have been Norma's Oscar where the pup ate some cotton thread and had to have an op to get it out - do the rope toys disintegrate or are small enough not to be a problem or am I just being my usual self and worrying too much?
Emma, the bigger dogs do get the frilly bits off the ends but they're not long enough to cause a problem and pass right through. If it unravels it goes in the bin! Having said that we up the size of the rope tugger to match the dog and don't use it as a "chew" if they can get bits off, just as a tug toy then taken away. By that time they're big enough for bones anyway.
I'm talking about a small pup 12 wks
I've always wondered how some folks with Labs can have a "toy box". Most of ours are ruined after a few plays.
Only things that have lasted are Kong Wobbler and Kong Extreme (black) plus large nylabones which do look a bit the worse for wear...
Its funny but Olive also loves plastic bottles and cardboard! When we have no customers we let her into our restaurant which has a wooden floor and she can happily chase an empty coke bottle around for ages. She also chews the chairs, tables, sofas, fire guard, shelves, fridges, door matt, tea towels and me! She loves the space in there though.
I'll have a look at nylabones which sound like a good option. We have a Kong but havn't tried filling it with anything other than a few treats. I'm interested in trying something like peanut butter but am concerned (probably overly so) that it might upset her stomach.
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) and rope toys - they seems to let them sink their teeth in quite nicely. Empty plastic milk cartons are great fun BUT they can get bits off so have to be watched closely and taken away. 10 mins max in our house... cardboard even less 
where the pup ate some cotton thread and had to have an op to get it out 
