Chews

[Antonin]

Had our youngish rescue dog for about 18 months now. Dream of a dog who although fixated on food doesn’t chew our stuff or try to steal food. He can’t be coaxed to play and isn’t interested in the hide chew/toys.
Up to recently we’ve given him a HiLife special care dental chew daily and he loves them BUT they have very rough/sharp edges which have caused him discomfort. As an alternative we’ve given him PlaqueOff chews but he doesn’t find these as satisfying because the instructions allow him only half of the fake bone and he scrunches it up in a fraction of the time it takes him to chew the HiLife chews.
Poor boy wants the chews but whimpers as he chews them — sees the vet regularly and no problem with teeth etc.
Is there a variety of chew that gives a satisfyingly long chew without sharp edges? He’s medium sized — sort of corgi sized with slightly longer legs so doesn’t have average a tiny sized jaw.
We’d need to be able to purchase online.
Thanks

Somebody on this board recommended Fresco for dog chews and they are good if a bit pricey. I've tracked down at least one of their more enduring chews. Sounds gruesome but the dogs all love it and one each keeps them busy for a decent amount of time - I think it was about 20mins last time.

Yakers?

Yakkers? Buffalo ears? Both of which can be bought at Pets at home. Yakkers are a bit too repetitive for our older one and she can’t be bothered to chew it all. The buffalo ears will keep her busy for about 20 minutes and sometimes she has to have a nap halfway through She’s not got bored of the buffalo ears yet and gets so excited every time we give her a new one.

Thanks for the advice. Will need to consult with partner who is a veggie and sensitive about some animal products .
Dear wee boy gets so much pleasure from his chews. He’s a Romanian refugee through a local dog rescue centre and I feel sad when I think about what a hard life he must have led. Was very anxious at first but now seems to know he’s adored. Would be lovely to be able to give him all the treats he desires but we’re quite disciplined and watch his weight.

Mine loves sweet potato chews and papaya chews. They don't last him ages but do allow him a good chew. He's not a big chewer anyway - he's more an eater . We are also veggie and while I feed him his main meals of meat we aren't comfortable with random animal bits being nibbled round the house.

It’s lucky we are not veggie as my house generally looks like a Serengeti graveyard with the various bits of half chewed animal bits hanging about . Our dogs favourite at the moment are the long bully chews , I draw the line at anything with hair on .

What about the softer deer antlers they do for pups? They’re good for vegetarian owners too, as they’re shed, so not ‘meat’ iyswim. My dogs loved the ones that were split so they could scrape out the marrowy bit inside.

Antler Chews

Alternatively there’s salmon skins or chew roots.

They’re available from lots of places online by the way, it was just easier to link to them all in one shop, although I have bought from that one lots of times over the past few years.

Wow, lots of choice here. Thank you to all posters!

Natural chews are the best ones in my opinion. If your partner is squeamish, I would recommend the following:

Yakkers - just hard yak milk. One they get down to he last little bit, take it off him and pop it in the microwave for about 90 seconds and you get a new chew out of it as well.

Whimzees are good - they're natural vegetarian chews that come in various shapes and sizes, but they don't last all that long.

Antlers or buffalo horns - available in loads of different sizes.

Cows feet are an option (as in, the hooves) - they do absolutely stink but they last AGES and you can always stuff and freeze them to make them more interesting.

You could get him a Kong and try It with various fillings maybe? Mine loves peanut butter or mashed banana and yoghurt in his.

Pets at Home sell fake rawhide chews in various flavours - peanut butter and chicken are the main ones I think.

Those stuffed bones maybe? They sell them in most supermarkets as well as in pet shops.

We also use whimzees, which our dog also loves but they aren’t a long lasting chew in our house. Whimzees do some vegetarian ‘pig’ ears though which last a bit longer than their standard chews but still only about 5 minutes. If your partner is sensitive to meat smells, the buffalo ears might not be a good suggestion - they can smell quite meaty 🤢

We also give our dogs carrots to chew. Again, it’s only a short chew for them but they’re cheap, vegetarian and easy to pick up. You just have to supervise (like all chews) to make sure they don’t swallow any bigger bits.

Deer antlers are a big hit here.
My brother gives his cocker poo a carrot or apple core.
My greyhound won't entertain either so we give pigs ears as they're a by product of the meat industry

Pigs ears, Bulls penis ( Pizzles)
Ours also likes antlers, Carrot and the big Nylon bones, she is a small breed but has massive teeth with a strong jaw.
She only has Dog food no tit bits of human food, treats for doing a she is told etc, so the chews are a good treat