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Originally Posted by gracielove  When Gracie was younger she was wild about chewing. I would try to keep things out of her reach but when no one was watching she would knock over trash baskets and get into closets to find things to chew on. Every store that sells pet products has tons of rawhide but few healthy chewables.
We don't have a butcher near by to get the right kind of real bones for her to chew so we went with bully sticks from Best Bully Sticks . com. I buy a half dozen of them whenever they have a sale. We get the 12" long sticks. The first time she got one she went nuts chewing on it I finally took it away after a few hours because I figured she needed to rest her jaws  ! Having the bully sticks around solved some issues we had been having.
She used to get kind of hyper when we would have guests. Once she had her sticks she would get her one and sit there and chew rather than bother people. She stopped stealing things and only chewed on her stick. What a relief!  We take them away from here when they are about 3" to 4" long so there is no choking hazard.
We tried other brands of bully sticks but found some of them to be too soft. They are gone way too fast when they are soft and can cause stomach upset. It takes her a couple of weeks to chew a regular width 12" bully stick down. Now that she is almost 7 she doesn't have as strong of a desire to chew but she still needs it when she is stressed about something. It seems to be soothing for her. She has very clean teeth. Has never had a problem with them. I am so glad we found them.
Dogs have a natural instinct to chew. If the owner doesn't satisfy that desire with something healthy they will find something to chew that is bad for them and the owner.
Sounds like your dog found something it enjoys. My only advise is to try to be nearby whenever your dog is chewing. Choking is is a slight possibility whenever they chew on a bone or stick of any kind. |
I originally thought about bully sticks-- but the idea that it's a bull penis I will not buy it even if she begged for it-- even if I was told it was the greatest thing out there. It's just gross, she's a licker I don't want to be licked with a penis tongue.... I almost threw up when I found out, because I've seen dogs chewing on that thing.... It's just soo nasty.... I will give her anything -- but those. Just can't.
I am still looking for other chews, I am going to try the nylabones edible and non-edibles. As always, I keep her near me no more than 3-4 feet from me and I am always watching when she chews. If she goes too strong on it I remove it from her and give it back 5 minutes later.
I feel like I need to excersice her a bit more as well, but walking I can only do for 30minutes now because of a personal bladder issue, so I'd have to be back within 30minutes and then I could take it back out for another 30, and so on.
Too bad I can't hold it longer. I mean I can sometimes... just the movement is what makes me go more often as well.