[Knightknight]

Hi. I’m at my wits end. My Doberman is chewing through every bone , including bully sticks, and he hates nylabones. What bones can I give him that will hold his interest and last long???

 

[dobebug]

So what kind of bones have you tried? I never give bully sticks to my dogs because I can't stand the smell when they chew on them. So they don't know what they are missing. They get a variety of fake bones including NylaBones (which they like and chew on a lot), Have you tried Benebones? Any of those labeled tough chew and large work--Chewy carries a good variety. My dogs like the bacon flavored ones but they come in chicken and peanut butter as well.

I don't give the antlers and horns to my dogs--they universilly seem to have a problem with being too hard and likely to break teeth. Nor do I give rawhide chews nor hooves (diarrhea and danger of cutting mouth from sharp edges respectively.)

For soft (but not very) I like the JW balls, cuz and any large things but I've got a very agressive chewer and I have to keep an eye on all of his toys because he's chewed some that I wouldn't have thought he could destroy down to nubs small enough to be swallowed (SCAREY). Some of the other peeps on DT have lists of stuff that work (that's who first told me about Benebones.

Good luck

dobebug

 

[alan j.]

I have only given these cow femur bone that I get from chewy’s. They can be messy at first and I keep a watchful eye since pieces can break off in the beginning ...it’s his go to when he is frustrated. My boy is not a aggressive chewer but he will usually get his bone and chew for a bit before for turning in for the night.

 

[4x4bike ped]

Hi knight. I've had bad luck in the past with a lot of different chews that other people swear by. Basically the same issues that bug mentioned and then some.

Today, I give my boy hollow (Kong type) chew toys filled with high quality treats that I buy by the pound. I use treats varied in size and shape, so some are easy to get out (instant reward) and some require serious persistence (kind of a solitaire version of NILF. LOL) This will keep him occupied for quite a while. You also may find that as your pup finishes teething, He may relax on the relentless desire to chew things.

John Lichtwardt
Portland OR

 

[spocksdad]

Up until a few years ago we did give our pack Merrick beef kneecap bones. They kept them occupied, weren't greasy, didn't smell much, but left some crumb residue on carpets where the Dobes like to chew them.
We monitored and removed bone when they got down smaller than a golf ball size. Some bulk kneecap bones sold on Amazon were greasy and not individually wrapped.
Don't see Merrick caps in stock anymore, but here's alternative:

https://smile.amazon.com/Pawstruck-American-Ingredient-Artificial-Supports/dp/B00KCY8TAM/

We also had some elk antlers which Eva loved to chew, but she also liked Nylabones a lot. The Elk antlers lasted almost 6-9 months with them.
---------------------
AJ, you forgot to put a caption on your red boy's picture above:

Still shot from the Wes Craven's screenplay adaptation of "Toy Story 5- Doberman Attack!"

Crikey! Poor, poor stuffies... headless squirrel, rabbit missing a leg...and even his @$$!

 

[melbrod]

I'm impressed that you can still tell what they used to be. Though I must admit, I am kinda curious about that green thing on the left.

 

[princess bella]

We have had good luck with antlers, no chipping and long lasting. I think they did dull Bella's teeth a bit. She pretty much destroys any soft toys very fast, except the rubbery ones shaped like a piggy or an s, those do last forever almost. We also have given "astro bones" they are softer rubber, get the biggest size, she could never break that one down and its fun for tug.

 

[dobegal]

I have had luck with Water Buffalo Horns. Both my dogs are aggressive chewers and they chew on these all day long. I use to buy antlers however water buffalo horns are less expensive. Never had a problem with antlers or horns.

 

[eegreen]

I would wait until he is at least 18 mos old when his teeth are strong enough for real bones. Be careful with elk/deer antlers. My last boy cracked a molar on an elk antler (he was an adult at the time) and had to have it pulled.

 

[PM2244]

and he hates nylabones.

I had a dog (pit bull) that wasn’t crazy about the nylabone. I put it in a ziplock bag with some of her favorite treats for about a week to get the smell of the treats. She went crazy for it then.

 

[Jazi]

Personally I don't do a lot with nylabones or benebones because I have seen dogs break off large pieces and swallow them. In my opinion if a dog is going to do that I'd rather it be something at least somewhat digestible rather than hard plastic.

I did hooves for a long time but when Creed was about 3 he learned how to crunch a hoof in half and then swallow both pieces. A lot of whimpering and straining later and both pieces ahem... exited the other end. But that was a big scare for me because I didn't even know he'd done that until two 3 inch long pieces of hoof came out of him He's not really into antlers and doesn't seem to care for horns either.

Nowadays I get him those redbarn white knucklebones and he goes through about one a week or so. Not super greasy, easy on his stomach, and he doesn't go too crazy so he hasn't broken a tooth on them yet at almost 7. He's pretty content just to munch on them when winding down at night.

 

[Meridian Dobermans]

Hi. I’m at my wits end. My Doberman is chewing through every bone , including bully sticks, and he hates nylabones. What bones can I give him that will hold his interest and last long???

We have a mix of real bones and nylabones. She switches off and seems like the Y bones a lot.

 

[Fitzmar Dobermans]

My 3 love Himalayan chews - which are all natural and made from yak milk/cheese. I will say that they tend to leave chips all over the place, but it's a small price to pay. When it gets down to a small piece, I put it in the microwave for 1 minute and it expands to a crunchy leftover that they also love. I get mine in an XL size from Kajo's pets in Maryland.

 

[melbrod]

I used to always recommend those too-the dogs loved them and they would last a decent length of time. But it seems like the last few times I've gotten them, they've just crunched right through them--they've been gone in no time. Maybe the manufacturer changed the recipe, or the place I was getting them from (not Kajo's Pets) changed their supplier?? I always got the same brand though, so I dunno.

 

[dobebug]

We have a mix of real bones and nylabones. She switches off and seems like the Y bones a lot. View attachment 137107
View attachment 137106

LOL! The bone and toy collection at my house is in a plastic milk bottle crate in the bedroom. From time to time I go around and pick up all of the toys in the kitchen except for a ball that makes noises and one thing (bone shaped but it's either a a Kong or another similar manufacturer's. Take everything except a very worn out Cuz and a red barn bone out out of the computer room and pick up everything off the floor of my bedroom and stick them all back in the crate,

Then Joey, the loaner pouts and pretends that he has no toys. Eventually he goes and rummages through the crate and finds one of the wish bone shaped toys to chew on.

The plain old chunks of femur from red barn (with no dog shows I'm now getting the plain unstruffed red barn bones (femurs and knuckle) from Chewey . But I was ordering this morning and they were out of both. But they had wishbone shaped chew toys by Kong, Benebone and Nylabone and for my dogs they are another favorite shape so they'll be happy. And a Seretsto flea collar for one of the cats. The allergy cat get to wear Advantage II which is what he'd used all his life.

Interesting Jazi that your Creed has been able to chew off chunks of the Nylabones and Benebones--I've had two in a row very, very aggressive chewers who can scratch up all of the stuff like that but no one has ever manage to remove a chunk from any of them that was bigger than a very small button.

And I stopped giving hooves when first the breeder of one of my dogs (who is also a vet tech--surgical tech mostly) first told me about how hooves can end up with razor sharp edges when chewed and then about three weeks later one of our clients brought in her lab who had lacerations in his mouth and throat from a hoof--he was bleeding like a stuck pig and the clinic owner and another vet managed to knock him out with injections (and I remember when they used to do all surgeries with injectables--before the day and age of inhalent anesthesia--scary stuff) they managed to get the mouth bleeding stopped and sweated bullets over the laceration in his throat--it was in a very hard place to work and they didn't want to open up his whole throat because they were really worried about how much blood he'd already lost.

I went home and picked up all the hooves and remnants of hooves that were around and threw them out.

Did the same thing when a friend nearly lost one of her bitches who had chewed a rope toy into strings and ended up with an obstruction--the small end of a string toy that made it into the gut and not out, She had one surgery to remove the the actual blockage and seemed to be recovering slowly but surely and then toward the evening of the second day she wasn't doing well and my friend ran her down to a big Specialty/Emergency facility--they opened her back up when the x-rays showed a lot of fluid in her abdomen. What a mess! They (her regular vet who did the first surgery) hadn't checked the back side of the gut (mesentarie side) and the strings had knitted themselves together to form strands which then sawed holes through the wall of both the small and large intestine--allowing fluid to leak into the abdomen.

That place had a great reputation for doing very difficult procedures well--they lived up to it with that bitch. She was very sick--septic by that time on top of everything else. I went to visit her once while she was there (her owner had to go to a staff meeting and couldn't go and asked me if I'd go visit) they had her set up in the middle of a huge back area (surrounded by surgical suites) in a three panel x-pen--there must have been 10 fluid pumps set up pumping a variety of things into her. I'd seen a few jugular pumps used in our clinic but she had three of those alone--but she was alive and getting better. The surgeon who was checking on her when I was there said that she must have closed at least 20 pin holes in the gut--all leaking.

I'd seen a couple of surgeries on cats like that--cats are kind of notorious for playing with threads and strings and getting one end caught on the barbs on their tongues--and swallowing a long thread--this pins it at one end and the peristalsis of the gut allows the thread to saw through the gut--make pin holes and I've know a couple of cats to survive the surgery a lot of them don't. The surgeon said she'd never seen it happen to a dog like that.

It was a very expensive lesson--I went home from there and gathered up and threw out all of the various rope toys in their varied state of disrepair and don't buy them any more. Too bad but I could take a hint.

dobebug/ABTLH

 

[MeadowCat]

I think it's really about knowing your dog, and how they chew different things. My dogs chomp through Himalayan chews pretty fast (I also buy from Kajos, Mary Jo - they carry good ones, there, but they seem to just simply be very hard on those chews!). I only let them chew them for about 20 minutes at a time, and they might last maybe 2 or 3 sessions.

Mine don't chomp pieces off of Benebones, but I do eventually have to toss them when they've chewed them up too much.

I think chewing is all about knowing your dog.

 

[Jazi]

Interesting Jazi that your Creed has been able to chew off chunks of the Nylabones and Benebones--I've had two in a row very, very aggressive chewers who can scratch up all of the stuff like that but no one has ever manage to remove a chunk from any of them that was bigger than a very small button.

And I stopped giving hooves when first the breeder of one of my dogs (who is also a vet tech--surgical tech mostly) first told me about how hooves can end up with razor sharp edges when chewed and then about three weeks later one of our clients brought in her lab who had lacerations in his mouth and throat from a hoof--he was bleeding like a stuck pig and the clinic owner and another vet managed to knock him out with injections (and I remember when they used to do all surgeries with injectables--before the day and age of inhalent anesthesia--scary stuff) they managed to get the mouth bleeding stopped and sweated bullets over the laceration in his throat--it was in a very hard place to work and they didn't want to open up his whole throat because they were really worried about how much blood he'd already lost.

I went home and picked up all the hooves and remnants of hooves that were around and threw them out.

Did the same thing when a friend nearly lost one of her bitches who had chewed a rope toy into strings and ended up with an obstruction--the small end of a string toy that made it into the gut and not out, She had one surgery to remove the the actual blockage and seemed to be recovering slowly but surely and then toward the evening of the second day she wasn't doing well and my friend ran her down to a big Specialty/Emergency facility--they opened her back up when the x-rays showed a lot of fluid in her abdomen. What a mess! They (her regular vet who did the first surgery) hadn't checked the back side of the gut (mesentarie side) and the strings had knitted themselves together to form strands which then sawed holes through the wall of both the small and large intestine--allowing fluid to leak into the abdomen.

Oh yes, Creed took an entire "knob" off the wishbone benebone and I think his full brother (who I don't own) did the same with a nylabone, both situations made me rethink giving me dog a hard plastic chew. We were able to get both potential obstructions out with some perioxide but it was a scary thought that it could have been worse. Creed has also ripped the entire top "lump" off a large kong- that one I caught him in the act so it didn't go down the chute! And of course he no longer gets hooves after the incident I posted about either! But he doesn't seem to care for antlers, and doesn't go too hard on bones, so at this point whatever he can have some cleaned white bones if that keeps him from trying to kill himself.

My swissy puppy also just learned the hoof thing so at this point only the chihuahuas get hooves... and only because they're too small to do that! But Sushi will at least chew antlers and bones without trying to kill herself so we play it by ear in the mean time.

And I don't "do" rope toys either, not after a client dog almost died doing exactly what you describe. English Bulldog, they left him in the crate with a rope bone and came back to an unresponsive dog who was not only choking on the strings he had swallowed but had also managed to tie his intestines up in knots with what had made it into his stomach. Very scary! So I don't buy them at all and I don't let any of my dogs have them if the roommates grab a rope toy for their dogs.

 

[dobebug]

The rope toy incident scared the hell out of me--it was sad for my dogs because some of them really liked the rope toys and didn't just chew long strings off.

And one of my dog (my only blockage) chewed into three parts a big Kong that I'd had around since my Aussie dug it out of a snow bank in Vermont in the winter of 1993--it had survived several puppies and older Dobes chewing on it until my very aggressive chewer disassembled it in 2005--he was two--and it broke the heart of the youngest dog who was only a puppy and it had been his favorite toy. I didn't buy kongs any more until Joey the loaner came along--he's a really aggressive chewer but (knock on wood) doesn't seem interested in chewing pieces off of any of them so I recently ordered him a big black (the toughest of the Kongs)--he's very happy with it and plays with it along with chewing on it--which is wonderful since it means it's more likely to survive.)

dobebug

 

[Fairy72010]

Hi. I’m at my wits end. My Doberman is chewing through every bone , including bully sticks, and he hates nylabones. What bones can I give him that will hold his interest and last long???

Pork Chomps are awesome. They're not raw hide and come in different sizes. You can find them at any pet store but cheapest at chew.com and believe it or not Big Lots!

 

[Fairy72010]

Pork Chomps. My Dobie loves the medium size