Sheep and dogs! Help please

[Girlies' Mum]

Along these lines (of chewing, that is!) I bought Poppy a puppy Nylabone. Then afterwards I had a vague feeling I had heard something not so good about Nylabones deep in my memory. So have just been Googling Nylabone reviews and of course the web tells me Nylabones are essentially implements to potentially slowly murder your pup. I know it is always the dramatic disasters people tend to write in on the internet, and if it were that bad I am sure Nylabones would not be on sale, so I just wondered if anyone out there had any views - good or bad - on Nylabones? I gave Poppy the puppy one in the end (under strict supervision) but the reviews talk about tiny shards breaking off etc. Trouble it that she really adored it, but I don't want to take any risks. Any views or experiences?

 

[BoboFarm]

Nylabones are not intended to be ingested but we all know that puppies and dogs will end up ingesting some of it. I am not a fan of them because of the shards that can be chewed off. All of my litters have been raised on a raw diet so they get bones to chew on that helps satisfy the need to chew and gnaw. I do like Kongs because you can buy them based on chewing strength and size of the puppy/dog and I have never seen one destroyed like I've seen with Nylabones. You can also stuff them with goodies to give the pup some mental stimulation. I've even stuffed them with green beans and frozen chicken broth on a hot day. My adult rotties love them!

 

[Latestarter]

I used to do the nylabones for my dogs but stopped because they did indeed eat them. Since you have a lab, they are supposed to have "soft" mouths. They sill need to teeth of course, but I used to get "rubberized" toys for my Golden's that they could bite "into" (kinda squishy but not destroyable), without tearing them apart. Kongs are VERY hard but do make great toys as they're damned near indestructible.

 

[Girlies' Mum]

Thanks both - I think I will avoid Nylabones and stick to Kongs or similar, maybe a bit more squishy toys too. I like the idea of freezing things in Kongs.

 

[Southern by choice]

Deer legs. The marrow is great for them.

 

[Girlies' Mum]

Might have trouble sourcing them, though I will look into it. I guess other species sturdy leg bones would also be OK? Thank you.

 

[Baymule]

Might have trouble sourcing them, though I will look into it. I guess other species sturdy leg bones would also be OK? Thank you.

If there is a slaughter house near you, you can get leg bones. We got beef bones for our dogs and they love them!

 

[Bruce]

May not be many deer slaughterhouses in Scotland

 

[Beekissed]

I'd go with natural bones too...just basted pig bones you can get at the feed store will serve well. They can get the gristle on the ends chewed off but they really can't do much to the bones but gnaw on them and this also keeps their teeth cleaner.

 

[Girlies' Mum]

I'd go with natural bones too...just basted pig bones you can get at the feed store will serve well. They can get the gristle on the ends chewed off but they really can't do much to the bones but gnaw on them and this also keeps their teeth cleaner.

Think I might find that easier. I believe our nearest slaughter house is about 2 and a half hours away - and that is for farm animals. Will ask the butcher for some big bones. Have just looked up about venison production in Scotland out of curiosity and found the following on the web:-
"though a small proportion of Scottish farmed deer do go through a specially designated abattoir, most farmed venison sold in Scotland has been field-shot." so @Bruce is right. There's only one. Learn something new every day - that is one of the joys of this community!