Toys for a destructive Puppy

[Pigleychez]

Our Black Lab is 6mths old and going through toys like crazy.

Teddies dont last 5 minutes. Bites his way through most rubber toys and rope toys get shredded!
Thankfully he seems to do most of his chewing on his toys rather than anything else!

Can anyone recommend some stronger toys?

His Kongs have held up reasonably well but then he doesnt properly chew on them as hes much too busy getting the treats out the middle.
Are the Kong extreme toys any good? Strong?

[dottygamekeeper]

The antler chews? They are holding up well to chewing by our 5 month old Springer (and our 10 year old Springer, who keeps nicking them off her!).

The only disadvantage we have found is that they make a very loud noise when thrown around the kitchen (tiled floor) as an attention seeking gambit.

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

Antler?

[2legit2knit]

I have a very strong chewer. Kong extreme is great, antlers are fab and pressed rawhide bones are good too although she can now get through a huge one in a day. I've recently tried ddog with a chicken flavoured nylabone type thing and she seems to like it.

[DorynownotFloundering]

Yes kongs - mix a little of his kibble into some yoghurt or cream cheese & pack it into a feeding kong & leave it for him to explore.

[LumelaMme]

Kongs are fab. I have DestructoDog and when I was out working he could be left for hours with a kong.

Some rope toys have been fairly enduring as well, so might give those a try.

[FreeWorker1]

Get him a good marrow bone from the butcher - a good beef knuckle leg bone should do it. It will give him weeks of chewing fun licking out the marrow and clean his teeth into the bargain.

His jaws are much more powerful now and no wonder toys are not up to it.

[Oxfordblue]

Don't get him a marrow bone ! It's like eating pure fat & he's probably likely to be unwell for a couple of days ! They are incredibly rich. This is what happened to my dog & it was only about 5inch long.

Also antlers are very hard & can & go break dogs teeth - another expensive vet visit.

My dog, although not a puppy, has a frozen chicken wing every morning for her breakfast. Frozen to reduce bacteria, she absolutely loves it & bones easy to chomp on. She had a special bed to eat it on

[DramaAlpaca]

Marking place as I have a very chewy six month old springer. He loves his Kong but I'm liking the sound of antler chews.

[FreeWorker1]

Oxford - I really strongly disagree with your advice. Chicken bones are brittle and not suitable for a large dog. They will chew through in seconds and be swallowing shards of bone.

A big beef marrow bone is difficult for a dog to eat. Its a challenge licking out the marrow over weeks. It will be chewed clean on the outside in a day but its the tough bone and marrow inside that provides the distraction.

[Pigleychez]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Might try some of Kong extreme toys and see how he fares with them.

Ive have just bought him a big knuckle joint thinking it will keep him busy during xmas dinner!

[Oxfordblue]

That's fine - my dog was really sick from eating the narrow - kept her quiet for a couple hrs. Spoke to the vet who said it's much to rich.

Everyone has options about raw vibes - chicken wings are a perfect first try, my dog - a cavalier crunches it up no problem, don't forget it's frozen, so quite a challenge.

[Oxfordblue]

NO to antler chews !! Google them & you'll see the damage to teeth, they are too hard.

There is also ethics to consider, they don't just get gathered off the ground

[LimeJellyHead]

You can't beat Chuckit Ultra Ball if your dog likes fetch/balls but can destroy other normal ones. My terrier used to love his Chuckit Ultra Ball and never managed to destroy one

[Catzpyjamas]

Kong extreme are excellent toys for dogs but can I please ask that you don't ever give him ANY bones? There's a good argument against bones here

[TPel]

My Labrador can chew through most things but I agree that the Kong toys are brilliant.

Another toy that lasted well was a doggy space hopper. It lasted about a year. The squeaking was annoying, but she loved it! You can get them on Amazon.

[frenchiepup]

Any plastic bottles. We give our puppy plastoc bottles to play/chew. Can put some treats in it to make it a bit different. When the dog is done they go in the recycling bin nice and squashed down. Also our dog loves chewing a nylabone, raw marrow bone and kong teething stick

[Oxfordblue]

This is catzpyjamas link - no mention of chicken wings.

“Some people think it’s OK to give dogs large bones to chew on” says Carmela Stamper, a veterinarian in the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “But giving your dog a bone might lead to an unexpected trip to your veterinarian, a possible emergency surgery, or even death for your pet.”
FDA has received about 35 reports of pet illnesses related to bone treats and seven reports of product problems, such as bones shattering when pulled from their packaging. The reports, sent in by pet owners and veterinarians, involved about 45 dogs.
A variety of commercially-available bone treats for dogs—including treats described as “Ham Bones,” “Pork Femur Bones,” “Rib Bones,” and “Smokey Knuckle Bones”—were listed in the reports. Many of these products differ from uncooked butcher-type bones because they are processed and packaged for sale as dog treats. The products may be dried through a smoking process or by baking, and may contain other ingredients such as preservatives, seasonings, and smoke flavorings.
Pet owners and veterinarians have reported the following illnesses in dogs that have eaten bone treats:
• Gastrointestinal obstruction (blockage in the digestive tract)
• Choking
• Cuts and wounds in the mouth or on the tonsils
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Bleeding from the rectum, and
• Death. Approximately eight dogs reportedly died after eating a bone treat.

[FreeWorker1]

The link covers only cooked bones.

Cooked bones should not be given to a dog. I am talking about raw uncooked bones - as a dog in the wild would eat.

Never give a dog cooked bones. They shatter as the link says.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

There is also ethics to consider, they don't just get gathered off the ground

They are probably cut from the hundreds of deer that get culled annually due to their numbers rising so fast that they are seriously damaging the environment. They breed like rabbits, have no natural predators and can jump several feet over fences.

[Catzpyjamas]

That link does not cover all bones.
However "According to the FDA, which issued and advisory against feeding all bones in 2010, the possible risks outweigh the advantages of feeding bones, and this includes chicken bones.

Among their concerns:

Sharp bones can cause injury to a dog's mouth.
The bones can become stuck as the fragments are swallowed.
They can cause constipation and even obstructions along the digestive tract.
They can cause rectal bleeding.
They can cause punctures that can lead to peritonitis, a bacterial infection that can be deadly and requires emergency treatment."

As well as the risk from bone fragmentation, please consider the threat of Salmonella and Listeria from raw food for pets and the humans handling that food. Advice is here.

[Out2pasture]

www.westpawdesign.com/dogs/dog-toys/zogoflex-dog-toys

I highly recommend the zogoflex dog bone.
the other chew toys offer a bit more variety than the kong line.
I also have turned in one bone and the recycle policy (one per family) was honored.
the zogoflex bone outlived 2 british bulldogs.

[Catzpyjamas]

They look fab, Out2pasture! I'm off to investigate further

[tabulahrasa]

My dog is about lab sized...he can't have chicken wings because they're small enough to swallow whole, lol.

Lamb ribs last about 10 - 15 minutes.

Thick rope toys last a few days, anything softer than that hours at best.

Antlers lasted, but that's because he wasn't hugely keen on them.

The space hopper toy lasted 3 bounces it's his mission in life to pull out the squeaker from any squeaky toys apparently, lol.

Pizzles are not bad as far as chews go, they last up to an hour sometimes.

Toys...I've tried so called tough ones, they weren't worth the extra money, so I just buy really really cheap toys and replace them often.

[JoffreyBaratheon]

The black kongs are stronger than the others, I think? Our 1 year old staffy cross has despatched every toy except her Kongs but the red one is starting to look like I need to banish it, soon.

She isn't interested in hide chews at all. She loves antlers but they are too expensive and she can chew one down to a dangerously small size in about a week. She loved her Kong teddy as a pup, but he eventually died when she got to about 10 months old (beheaded). A staffy has powerful jaws though so maybe they would last longer with most dogs? She adored her teddy.

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

My dog seems to find most dog toys quite boring - she does like her kong wubba (it's like a wierd rabbit/octopus cross) but even that will only play for a short while. Things like nylabones and things not so much. I was looking at some baby toys the other day and thinking they looked more interesting, lots of different shapes/textures, but not sure if they would be dog safe. She does quite like an empty milk bottle. I'd love to find a toy that would keep her interested more than a nanosecond and more importantly self occupied. (The kong is good but there's only so much peanut butter and cream cheese I can let her have in a day....)