Best Durable Dog Toys?

[ponyxjd]

I’ve decided that my dog needs a more diverse set of durable chew toys. (Durable as in toys he can’t immediately destroy in under an hour!) I already have a few kongs, rubber sticks, ropes, and those hard hard bones with the meat in the center. Any other suggestions?

**I keep seeing antlers at the hardware store, but they’re so expensive that I’m afraid to splurge until I know for sure that a $20 chew toy will entertain my dog for longer than a few days. Does anyone have any experience with these?

[bdj]

I’m having good luck with Nylabones (especially the “Souper” size/shaped ones) and antlers with my incredibly busy, but terribly bored because he’s on crate rest for heartworm treatment, foster failure Border Collie/Cattle Dog?Hound? at the moment.

In the 7 1/2 weeks of crate rest so far, he’s put some serious work into a rotating cast of Nylabones, Kongs (which are only entertaining if they have food in them) and 2 antlers. I got my antlers from a vendor-friend at an agility trial - she advised me to make certain that I got ones with the button still attached (that’s the part that was attached to the deer). They cost a little more, but have held up pretty well - the elk antler (which was bigger at the beginning) lasted for 3 weeks, I think, but the deer one is still big enough for safe chewing after about a month. If you go the antler route, white ones are harder than brown ones and the cut/split ones don’t last as long.

It’s not a big selection, but I just keep switching them out, and so far, he’s been pretty happy with it.

I don’t give my dogs real bones - the raw ones are OK, but messy, and the sterilized ones (like these: http://www.whitedogbone.com/Sterilized-Bones-Dog-Chews) are too hard and (in my experience) will break teeth.

New Guy isn’t allowed anything soft yet, because he’s a shredder - but I do have a “Tuffy” dog toy waiting for him when he’s released from crate rest, so hopefully I’ll get to see how well it holds up to him soon.

[ChocoMare]

Lacrosse Ball. Large and so tough, they can barely leave a tooth print.

[wendy]

my dogs won’t touch the antlers.

Nylabones aren’t safe- they consume the plastic and can and do get intestinal tears and blockages. Plus a lot of dogs won’t touch them.

The hard cow leg bones will break your dog’s teeth.

The ropes aren’t safe- the dogs consume the strings and get their guts tied up in knots.

In my opinion, toys are for playing with, not offered as a “food item”. Toys are brought out for play sessions and then go bye-bye.

For chewing, don’t use toys, use edible, fully digestible items like bully sticks, pressed tripe bones, duck feet, raw knuckle bones.

You can also entertain your dog by feeding out of one of the many toys designed for that purpose- Kongs, puzzle toys.

If your dog is on crate rest, there are lots of inactive tricks you teach- clicker-training sessions are very mentally tiring.

[vtdobes]

My dogs litter mate had an intestinal blockage from a Kong. Unfortunately I don’t think there is anything 100% safe out there…

[Coltinator]

The Elk, Deer & Moose antlers last a very long time with my 100 lb. young Shepherd… I do throw them away when they get choking hazard sized, but have only had to throw one or two out in the couple years I have been buying them for him. He is very good at destroying toys and bones, but the antlers seem to last… and when they get bored of them, you just have to wash the goobers off and let them dry to get them interested again! If you can find a place that sells them bulk (by weight) they are much cheaper.

The best toy I have found is the Starmark Fantastic DuraFoam Ball (http://starmarkacademy.com/products/fantastic-durafoam-ball/), the large size is good for unsupervised play as it is too big to be swallowed by accident. I have never had Colt destroy a ball, they all get lost (they float very well and Colt does not understand currents, LOL!). Also, I doubt any dog could destroy the ball as my husband purposely ran the ball over once with the riding lawn mower and did not even put a mark in it!! Do not get the Frisbee though, Colt destroys them with ease (but they fly & float very well)!

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=wendy;7073354]
For chewing, don’t use toys, use edible, fully digestible items like bully sticks, pressed tripe bones, duck feet, raw knuckle bones. [/QUOTE]

Hey wendy where do you get your pressed tripe bones, duck feet, or raw knuckle bones? You can PM so as to not OT this thread.

To the OP, there is a growing market of tough dog toys. The brand Mega designs more durable squeaky toys. This site looks promising.

I align with wendy somewhat. My pups have bones, antlers, and two low value toys laying around at any given time. No more treasure chest of toys. I rotate the low value toys. The really fun toys are taken out for play then put away.

Occasionally, I purchase a couple $1 cheap stuffies and let the dog enjoy a couple minutes of shredding. That would not be possible if my pooch consumed stuffing but he doesn’t: just shreds and sucks.

[ponyxjd]

Thanks everyone! I’ll definitely give the antlers a shot, and I really like the lacrosse ball idea. The other toys look promising too.

[Plainandtall]

What kind of dog?

http://hyperflite.com/jawzdiscs.html

My vote is the JAWZ disc… it’s the frisbee shaped toy that pro disc doggers use for training- it is VERY tough and your dog won’t bite through it (that is- if you dog plays catch) The two downsides are that it is very expensive compared to a petsmart $1 cheepie- but if your dog is like mine- the pet’s mart disc will last for two fetches before it has been transformed into a flying cheese grater… it’s worth the money. #2 sadly they sink. fast. So keep them away from bodies of water.

[vixen]

Yes, the antlers are awesome, and last a while. My dog, though small (~25 lb) and missing several teeth, is a fearsome chewer, and his antler has lasted a month already.

You can get raw knucklebones, or any other bones, from a butcher (I go to an independent butcher, but you could also ask at a meat market, an Amish market, or a grocery store). Just ask nicely!

[Lazy_Palomino_Hunter]

My dog loves marrow bones from the grocery store. I freeze them before giving them to him. They’re SUPER cheap, too (~$1/bone).

My guy isn’t a big chewer and didn’t care for the antler I bought him, but I gave it to friends for their Boston (who CHEWS). The Boston loved it, and I think it took him a few weeks to get through it.

Another good toy that isn’t for chewing per se is the Kong Wobbler. Unless your dog is enormous, you can get a size big enough that he can’t fit it in his mouth to chew on it. My dog adores his, and I’ve given/recommended them to several friends. It’s been a huge hit with all of them. I taped up the hole a bit on mine and put in several tennis balls to make it more challenging.

[bdj]

@Bicoastal;7074266

Hey wendy where do you get your pressed tripe bones, duck feet, or raw knuckle bones? You can PM so as to not OT this thread.

So, I’m not wendy, but my crew are big fans of duck feet, so I usually keep a stash of them around and try to remember who carries them when I need to stock up.

I will say that I don’t consider duck feet to be “chews” at all - to me, they’re treats - they don’t last more than a few minutes (tops) for my dogs. I’m not a big fan of edible things that are supposed to be worked on for a long time as I don’t want things that are so desirable that they’re worth fighting over (I’ve got multiple dogs). Nylabones are fun, and all of my dogs like them, but we’ve got enough that there doesn’t need to be competition for them. Things like antlers and duck feet are pretty much reserved for solitary/crate time.

Anyways, back to the sources:

White Dog Bone (who often vend at some of the bigger breed shows in the area) sells the Bravo brand ones individually:
http://www.whitedogbone.com/bravo-all-natural-dry-roasted-duck-feet

Ronni Yaskin always has them - hers are from from Aunt Jeni’s: http://www.peopleandpetmassage.com/C-MiscTreats.html
(You can often find Ronni as a vendor at shows and some agility trials as well)

Bravo sells them bagged, so any pet food store that carries Bravo should be able to get them for you as well. (The same goes for Aunt Jeni’s, too.)

I haven’t bought from either of these places yet, but they do sell in bulk, so I’m keeping them bookmarked:
http://www.activedogsupplies.com/duckfeet50.html
http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/bbs/page_12264/best_bullys_duck_feet.html

[Minxitbabe]

There are quite a few dogs breaking teeth on the antlers since they became popular. I won’t get them just because of that.

[chaserider]

Kongs and Nylabones. They are the only things that hold up with my heavy chewer.

[GoodTimes]

My dogs all time favourite toy is her large Kong squeaky tennis balls. Regular tennis balls get destroyed in a day or two. These ones last at least a couple months, even with her going “squeak squeak squeak” for hours on end. Any other squeaky toy gets shredded within a few minutes.

[PintoPony]

Try searching for toys for monkeys.

I work with monkeys and they are destructive! There are toys out there that can stand up to them and their destructive ways so they should be able to take your dogs abuse too.

[freshman]

Frozen stuffed songs are the only “durable” toy for my very aggressive chewer. I have a three dozen kongs, at least, in all shapes and sizes that I stuff with a mix of wet dog food, greek yogurt, baby carrots, random dog treats and treat crumbs. Smaller shapes get stuffed with peanut butter, treats, veggies, and generic squeezy cheese. I make them in large batches, due the mess and production, and then freeze them on baking sheets. Dispense to dog as needed over the week and then rinse and repeat. And I feed her less normal ration to compensate for the calories, which does vary, so I keep a close critical eye on her weight and adjust accordingly. A lot of it is just wet dog food vs dry, anyway.

Currently loving Pork Chomps brand rawhide-free roasted pressed pork skin treats to supplement. A bag of 10 Ribz is $12 or so at one of my local pet stores and they are great for my super chewer. Usually get 20-30 solid minutes out of each chew and she is very satisfied at the end. Sometimes more or less. Either way, a solid value. Never had the scary bloat or choke associated with similar rawhide chews, which is why I had to cut her off those a long, long time ago. The Pork Chomps brand pressed bones are good, too. All shapes are totally overpriced at the bigger chains, but I still have a cheap local source and Rural King near me also carries them, sporadically. Can’t count on their stock of anything, ever.

[clanter]

post #18 reported as possible spam

our dogs like real wood sticks, the things that fall from the sky from a tree… one has a favorite that sort of curved that she has had for five years