Thanks Kathy! I buy the small hollow tube looking ones. I tried the rib bones once but noticed that my older dog was able to wear them down and get slivers off :eek: , so those went in the trash. The tube shaped ones they have never been able to wear down to points, so you might want to try them. :D

Anyone give their babies cow ears? Nikko loves them and they are so huge they last forever!! I still give him greenies but only for a few minutes at a time. They are a great distraction when I am trying to brush him (he is a brush biter). After he is nicely combed the greenie gets taken away.

I just gave my pups pigs ears and the twists this week and they absolutely love them....I also bought them some other animal related part..(can't think of what they are now....but something on the lines of the pigs ears) and they like those too...

I read somewhere that raw hide chews can carry saliminella. Petie will have his for at least a couple weeks before I throw it out. It gets slimmey. I once found one in my yard, how it got there I have't a clue but it stunk soooo bad. It took my breath away and almost my lunch!!!

bad, bad
 

when my now 15 mo havanese was 4 months old/6#, we were allowing Bailey to chew on large rawhide and feeding him jerkytreats--small tiny pieces--as treats. the 5th day in our home, he stopped pooping, and was screaming in pain. ER visit to vet, xrays showed blockage from pieces of rawhide & jerkytrreats...2 days of ivs, enemas, medicine etc. Bailey has never had any chews except nylabones and greenies, which recently have been removed from the house.

New puppy Dayzee (the yorkie) is only getting nylabone products. Vet says a few greenie flakes a day will pass through.

My vet advised that no pigs ears, rawhide, etc. should ever be given to puppys or dogs under 10#.

I am interested in other options too as Dayzee is seriously teething and Bailey likes to chew....he misses his greenies.

I don't know if this is a smart choice on my part but I give Petie a used toothbrush. He loves it and it seems to me by chewing on it would help clean his teeth and gums as well...I watch him with it of course but he's never managed to get the bristles loose yet (Knock on wood) :animal36 It usually keeps him occupied for a while too.

I give my little ones pig ears... they are currently fighting over them now... they all seem to want the same one (the chewed up one). I take them away from them when I leave the house.

We found some "tendons" at a small pet store/feed store. I ended up throwing those out also. The only thing that I keep now are the nylabones and kong toys.

Anyone else give their dogs bones from the super market? Any special kind?

Bones From The Butcher
 

We went to the grocery store this morning and went straight back to the meat department. I told the butcher that we have 2 little Yorkies and I needed some bones for them to chew on THAT WILL NOT SPLINTER. So, they will have to be uncooked ones.

I'm not sure but I think they were some kind of leg bone or knuckle bone and he sliced through only 1 and made SIX of them about 1/2" thick! Charged us a whole $.54!!!

I haven't given either of them one yet as they both just got a bath this morning. hehe

I'll let you know if they like them.

Uncooked bones? Is that safe? I would think bacteria would grow rather quickly....

We wash them under hot, hot water.

I've heard the cooked bones splinter easily.

Any breeder or anyone with more experience than I care to elaborate?

Not trying to Hijack the thread but....
 

Uncooked bones are actually safer than cooked in a sense.
Some bones will splinter and then can get lodged in the throat/stomach/intestine and cause MAJOR problems (I've heard of splinters working themselves all the way through a dog's trachea!) This doesn't happen when they're raw. In my experience, they just crumble up while the pup happily gnaws away. (The bones you find in pet stores probably were not cooked, most likely they're just dried or smoked in some manner).

Dogs aren't like humans. Their digestive system is incredibly different from ours and is equipped to handle bacteria more effeciently. It's my understanding that they will digest the meat/bones much faster, which doesn't give bacteria much of a chance to mulitply. Granted, I probably wouldn't leave a raw bone sitting in my living room carpet for a few days... If it's appropriately sized, the dog will probably eat the whole thing within an hour anyway.
My dog gets not but raw meat & bones (beef, lamb, venison, chicken, turkey, etc) and I've yet to have any problems at all with worms, bacteria or upset stomaches. In fact, she's even HEALTHIER than when she was eating kibble. As long as proper meat handling techniques are used and your dog is relatively healthy to begin with, bacteria growth over an hour or two isn't going to make a difference.

If you take your 1st finger and connect it to your thumb, that's how big around they are. They are about 1/2" thick. They are small bones. I told the butcher they were for small dogs.

I'm glad to hear that they are safe.

Thank you.

real beef soup bones
 

Hi, I Give My Yorkie Real Beef Soup Bones She Just Loves Them & Carrots Very Good For There Teeth It's Cleans . She Will Chew And Chew My Vet Said's There Good For Them. You Can Get Them At Any Grocery Stores At The Meat Dept, I Boil Them First. I Never Give My Dogs Pig Ears Way To Greasy, Not Good For There Little Tummies.

i agree with raw meat
 

hi yes i agree with you with raw meat so wear do you live in wisconsin i live in fond du lac,?