Nylabone - Any dogs like

[AlicetheYorkie]

My Akita loves nylabones. I get her the extra tough largest ones that have "flavoring". She chews on it a little everyday but only when she has to be in her kennel and I guess gets a little bored. I have to replace it every few months because she puts big teeth mark dents in it then I worry about slivers of it breaking off. My Beagle won't chew on anything at all unless it's food lol and haven't tried a small one with my Yorkie yet.

[AlicetheYorkie]

Originally Posted by shawnzeppi

I just read though the entire string and no one really tried to answer this other than Jane:



If you take that advise literally (and admittedly that is paraphrasing from the instructions on the packaging) nylabones in my house would last about 10 minutes. The manufacturers obviously have to be very careful about what they state on their packaging, because of the potential for disastrous press and of course litigation in even extremely rare instances. I think a better amount of damage indicating that replacement is necessary, is when the bone gets to be about 2/3rds of its original size, i.e., the ends are eaten away.

Although there could be some enhanced risk of choking vs. removal at the first sign of damage, I believe the risk is extremely minimal. This is after using the nylabone produces for many years.

Everyone knows their pets better than anyone else, and this is a risk based decision. As long as you keep an eye on your guys I personally don’t believe the bones need to be removed at the first sign of damage. My little girl is also an aggressive chewer at times, and it would make no sense for me to replace these expensive chew toys that are important for keeping their teeth clean and avoiding damage to furniture etc., at the first sign of missing material. Any eaten away bits are supposed to pass harmlessly through them, of course individual dogs could have medical conditions that could make that an unacceptable hazard.

My guys are not interested in the super hard plastic product, only the transparent type of nylabone that has a much higher strain rate.

Ya, I wait until the rounded ends are pretty much chewed off. I've watched my Akita (who is a very strong chewer) chewing hers and noticed that she is only able to get the teenie tiniest slivers off even if it is getting ragged looking and I've been giving her them for 3 yrs. and never had a problem at all. I'd say on average I replace it every 4 months, and that's for a dog with huge strong teeth who chews on it everyday. I use the strongest ones they make.

[blueseastar422]

Oh yes! My Moochie loves her Nylabones!! I just recently had to replace one!

[maybeiloveyou]

My dog loooves her Nylabone. I just have the small "original" flavor (? is it a flavor?) dura one. I did buy some flavored flexible ones. I also bought her a princess pink wishbone nylabone but she doesn't seem too into that one!

[maybeiloveyou]

Originally Posted by maybeiloveyou

My dog loooves her Nylabone. I just have the small "original" flavor (? is it a flavor?) dura one. I did buy some flavored flexible ones. I also bought her a princess pink wishbone nylabone but she doesn't seem too into that one!

Oh let me clarify this a little.

I usually replace mine after 4-5 months (almost daily chewing), but that's because my dog only chews one end! One end she will ignore, and the other end will be chewed down.

I give her two kinds: the original dura one and the original flexi one. I tried the flavored ones (chicken) and she didn't like them. I have not tried the healthy edible line.

[Chas W]

Our Graysee loves her nylabones! She has two flavored bones, and one blue, nubby unflavored bone. She also has a bigger, ridged yellow bone. I don't think any one in particular is her favorite; sometimes, she'll get out ALL of them, each one in succession, and chew on each for 5-10 minutes. She also likes to toss them around! When they start to get really chewed up on the ends, I'll take my Dremel tool and grind down the prickly, rough edges, and they're ready to go again! In three years, she has yet to completely chew up more than ONE!

[Marlee12107]

Mine love them...sure helps with tarter on their teeth. Last time at the vet he couldn't get over how clean their teeth were. The only thing is they hoard them & try to keep the others from getting them. I woke up with 5 in my bed one morn. I keep several around.

[Ellie May]

Both of my pups love Nylabone Flexis. They are the only type of bone allowed in the house. Flexibone and Gumabone seem pretty safe with supervision. The Gumabones are the only ones my vet's dogs get if anything. I think they carry minimal risk compared to other bones or even other types of Nylabone products. I wouldn't let them have anything at all except my hound will chew the carpet if he gets bored.

I don't feel like there is a huge risk of teeth breakage, esophageal or intestinal obstruction, or bacterial infection with them.

[ladyjane]

My pups love Nylabones. I use the hard ones because of my fear of intestinal obstructions. I have too many to watch them closely enough at all times.

[Britster]

I've been sort of unhappy with Nylabone. The only one Jackson likes from them is the FlexiChew and I bought him the wolf size, or maybe super. It was pretty big and he's not what I'd call an aggressive chewer (it could take him 5 days to chew a 6" bully stick) but he chews the ends off really fast, and two times his gums or mouth must have started bleeding (there was some blood on the chew afterwards two times). The plastic like sticks up to where it cuts his mouth. So I'm no longer getting them. Big chunks of plastic coming off just don't see safe to me. He will chew the DuraChew for all of 30 seconds. I've even tried making it seem REALLY exciting and fun -- he wants nothing to do with it.

[Ellie May]

I'd definltely stop using them if that was happening with my kids. Thankfully I've seen no signs of blood or mouth irritation (but could see how that would be possible because of the texture after it has been chewed for awhile - but I'd also assess gum health if that was going on). No big chunks of plastic coming off here. Ellie doesn't get much of anything off and Rylee gets tiny pieces. We changed from the wishbone style to the whatever it is bigger bone style and the ends don't seem to wear down as easily (he is an aggressive chewer).

Just too nervous to use anything with a higher likelihood of breaking teeth because it can be $400+++ to fix it. And the thought of an obstruction isn't appealing (so if they were getting big pieces off, they wouldn't get them). And I won't have anything bacteria laden around Ellie and she can't touch animal products anyway.

I wish there was a perfect dog chew. Don't think it exists.

[Ellie May]

ETA: The little plastic pieces from the Flexis have got to be horrible for the intestines. Will have to show my vet so she can approve or disapprove this exact type. But the Durable ones I'd think would be very hard (can't really tell through the packaging). If they have no give, I won't use them. So I guess we take the small risk of intestinal issues with the Flexis.

[ladyjane]

Well, all I can say is that I have used the hard ones for years and have had no issues. Yes, you probably can have one but I think the chance is more remote than likely. I also use the Hartz chew bones...they are a hard plastic, too. Guess I need to bite one to see how much give there is..haha! Seriously, I do know it is not recommended to use hard chews because of the teeth, but I am totally against anything they can ingest. As you said, nothing seems to be perfect in terms of chew things.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Well, all I can say is that I have used the hard ones for years and have had no issues. Yes, you probably can have one but I think the chance is more remote than likely. I also use the Hartz chew bones...they are a hard plastic, too. Guess I need to bite one to see how much give there is..haha! Seriously, I do know it is not recommended to use hard chews because of the teeth, but I am totally against anything they can ingest. As you said, nothing seems to be perfect in terms of chew things.

I'm going to try the Hartz ones next! My grandma had one for her dog that he just LOVED when we visited her house.

It looked kind of like this:

Amazon.com: Hartz Chew N' Clean Dental Bone,...
But yeah, I probably won't be wasting my $$$ on Nylabone anymore.

[ladyjane]

Yep, that's it. My pups love them.