Suggestions for longer lasting but softer dog chews

[123dogdog]

I’m looking for a dog chew that is on the softer side but still will last 5 minutes ish.

obviously rawhide is an absolute no for obvious reasons, so I am absolutely no considering it or have considered.

dentastix, I’ve always heard pedigree dog food/treats are not great, like the lower end of the dog food quality scale, but I don’t know whether that has changed in the last 15 years.

i will never give my dogs antlers, yak chews or similar things that are that hard, as I’m concerned they will accidentally break their teeth.

i got some whimzees rice bones to try but listening to the dogs chewing them, i was just thinking oh Jesus 😂 also, the pack were all the same size, they said medium and large on the pack and me being me did not read the page properly and assumed there were medium and large size ones in the bag 😂 they’re all the same size. And as one dog is 11kg and the other about 24kg, doesn’t quite work. Whimzees, I feel, are just not great, they just seem a bit too processed. I’m willing to be corrected on that though.

and there’s all those rabbit ears, pizzle sticks and puffed pig snouts, which seem great but they are not coming in my house as they just give me the ick 😂 I can’t even pick the packet of those up let alone manage to give them to the dog 😂

so anyone have any suggestions for something that is suitable for an 11kg terrier and a 24kg lab, whether that’s the same item or items in different sizes.

also, the wee one is allergic to fish and sensitive to chicken, so anything with them in it are totally out too, which complicates things as chicken seems to be in so much dog treats and if there’s no chicken in it, there’s some type of fish in it 😬🤣

thanks if anyone has any suggestions.

attached picture of the criminals to satisfy dog tax.

This is the weird thing about what's considered safe. Some vets now say Antler chews are dangerous and shouldn't be sold because they break dogs teeth, others say the same about Yak chews. It's a minefield out there.

Even a stick off the floor in the park can kill your dog 😨

What do we do?

(And yes, I do have concerns about giving rawhide but I just haven't found a safer alternative in 45 years of trying).

Not yakkers, they broke my terriers teeth 😔 so I 100% hear you on the not too hard aspect.

I think you're listing pretty impossible criteria 😬 if not overly processed is important to you, then you might have to make peace with handling rabbit or pigs ears. You can get rabbit ears that are just the cartilage, (skin and fur removed) that look a bit more like rawhide and a bit less like a piece of dead animal (but are still all natural and not bleached). I think they stink, though! Yes yes to the suggestion of fish skin, mine loves that and it keeps him going for longer than it looks like it should. It does still look and smell like a bit of dead animal though.

If the purpose is to occupy them for 10 minutes but you can't stand the look or smell of dried bits of dead animal AND you want it to be not full of artificial stuff, then frozen kongs really are the obvious choice, and you're going to have to make enough space in the freezer for a minimum of 2 Kongs - surely you just need to not immediately refill the gap when you take some veg or a meal out of the freezer, they stuff down in tiny corners and crevices.

If, it turns out that you're really not willing to give up freezer space AND you don't want to fill kongs with fresh stuff when you want to use them, AND you can't stomach things that look like bits of dead animal, then you might decide that it's less important to you that it's all natural and not full of additives because actually it's a small proportion of their overall diet.

Or you might decide that actually, giving them chews just isn't as necessary as you thought it was.

But I do think you need to compromise on at least one of your criteria!

There's nothing softer that's on the market that'll do a labrador for 25 minutes, sorry.

Your best bet as PP suggested would be filled frozen kong.

Just realised you said no fish or chicken so fish skin is out.

I'm coming back to the idea that the thing you need to compromise on is in just making the freezer space, and resigning yourself to wash, refill, and refreeze the kongs daily or however often your want to give them. There is an endless variety of things you can fill a kong with, at least some of which you can store dried or is human food that you'd have in the fridge or freezer anyway.

I will have a look at buffalo ears but I need to be very careful because her jaws are so strong that things can splinter. I also want something that lasts her more than a couple of minutes. The problem with giant dogs is they don't just nibble at stuff, they really lay into a chew.

Agreed. Not sure if you'll have seen my previous post, but one of our dogs is a (50kg) Rottweiler and he does well with the buffalo ears. I'd say the large ones last him anywhere between 30-45 minutes and don't splinter like harder yak chews/cooked bones etc do.

Pork rolls
Anything from JR range
Kongs
Licky Mats
Smart Bones Range

Avoid anything you can’t dig your fingernail into if your dogs are aggressive chewers and you don’t want fractured teeth

@WYorkshireRose Ah, okay, no I didn't see that one of yours is a big powerful breed so that's helpful. I'll add large sized buffalo ears to the weekend shopping list.

@PyreneanAubrie the thing with rawhide is it's not even edible let alone digestible - have you ever researched how it's made? They use bleach 😬 the fact that it's still on the market is absolutely baffling imo.

I would personally never give antlers or wood chews either, only natural stuff. We've personally never had an issue with Yak chews but I wouldn't give them to a giant dog either it has to be said.

Ostrich bones and things like collagen rolls are probably the best of the natural chews imo, both in terms of safety and the amount of time they last.

My Biscuit loves a Himalayan Yak chew. Keeps him entertained for hours. It’s a good distraction if he’s being chewy and playful bitey with us.

Would an ostrich bone work? They have a hollow honeycomb texture inside so they crumble rather than splinter. My dog is only a spaniel but a serious power chewer and can’t have other bones as he will get big chunks off, but he only gets flakes off an ostrich bone.

My Rottweiler loves buffalo ears. They last a lot longer than other stuff like rabbit ears/pizzles etc

Oh God - i have just realised that I have been giving DDog treats made from 94.5% rawhide. They are fashioned to look like bones. Filled with eg duck and apple or lamb and rosemary. Quite small. She loves them. Now feeling appallingly guilty and won't carry on. But - arrghh - have same dilemma as OP!

She also loves pigs ears but I worry about them being too salty. She is only 15kg so not a humongous power chewer. Will look into some of these other suggestions. Our freezer is tiny!

Don't feel guilty! You didn't know and they're marketed as being perfectly healthy and edible.

If you're worried about pigs ears being too salty you could look at cow or buffalo instead - they tend to be lower in fat and last longer too, or there's calves ears if you're worried about size.

When I used to sell natural treats, the most popular were things like braided ostrich, beef tendon and trachea.

Do you have a raw food shop near you op? They usually have a good selection of treats and chews.

My two spaniels love all types of ears. You can get them without fur if you find it icky. My dh struggled with the ick at first, but he soon got used to it. They are far better for the dog than processed rubbish so its worth it imo.

We have rabbit ears for a quick treat. For a longer session we have buffalo and lamb ears. Pizzle sticks are great but they do stink. Tendons are really popular in our house too, I usually buy the long ones and chop them in half. They take at least half an hour to chew.

*dashes off to dog treat cupboard to throw out rawhide chews...

I had no idea they were bad for dogs. My old doggo lived to 14 with squeaky clean teeth and had rawhide. I've got them for my 8yr old newly homed rescue - in the new lockable bin because she kept diving into the old one bin they go!

@coffeesaveslives

I will have a look at collagen rolls. I'll try to reduce the amount of rawhide items that I give but I'm not totally convinced that the animal body parts don't contain nasties; they must be preserved with something. I imagine they are just as likely to contain e-coli and salmonella as rawhide is. There are certainly a lot of negative reviews online about buffalo ears being mouldy and making dogs sick.

I'm not saying this in defence of rawhide, I don't doubt that it's bad, but I'm just not sure that a lot of the alternatives are any safer. Most reviews indicate that Ostrich bones are not advisable for large powerful breeds. This is the issue when you don't have the average size dog and it's why we still give rawhide despite all the negatives. But I will look around for alternatives.

I wouldn't panic. I've reared 8 giant breed dogs and they've all had rawhide chews; we've had several dogs that were very long lived for their breed and they all had amazing teeth into old age.

I've got a big bag full of rawhide chews and it won't be going anywhere until I can find a suitable alternative.

If you don't mind it being short lasting my schnauzer loves these peanut butter flavour smartbone chews from pets @ home.

Imagine what a money spinner you'd have if you invented something!

I got some of these once

https://www.poochandmutt.co.uk/products/long-lasting-fish-hide-chews?

The reviews looked promising but only took a couple of minutes for my labs to demolish

People all saying their dogs lived to 14 etc healthy while eating rawhide is great but it’s also just confirmation bias. The facts and dangers have been stated and if you choose to continue to give that to your dog after knowing this then that’s on your head. There is no shame in not knowing something but surely when we know better, we do better.

My grandad lived to 85 fit and healthy while being a heavy smoker but I’m not going to tell everyone that cigarettes are not harmful and don’t kill people. It’s the same thing as people saying their dogs are healthy eating rawhide.

Rawhide can and does kill and make dogs extremely sick on a regular basis and that is not a risk I would personally take with my dogs. I personally know of a dog who died choking on a rawhide chew. It only takes one time.

It is incredibly dangerous for all dogs especially dogs that are tough chewers that are at risk of biting off a chunk of rawhide and choking on it or it blocking their intestines.

I’ve attached a picture of the amount of undigested rawhide removed from a dog.

I don’t care if I sound preachy about this if it educates one person then I am good with that.

I have black Kongs for powerful chewers, for my Labrador and spaniel. I stuff them with very cheap mild Cheddar (not crumbly like mature, more rubbery) and that keeps them busy for half an hour.

@Whu

Assuming that this is directed at me, I am not saying it's good and I am not making excuses, I am looking for alternatives. But I am also not about to start giving any old shite that's recommended here when it isn't safe for a 50kg breed with powerful jaws. Or I can stop giving her rawhide and kill her with a splintered ostrich bone if that would make you happy...? At least she would have died from a Mumsnet approved chew then 😁

I'm walking away from the thread now, so no more rawhide lectures needed. I apologise to the OP for derailing.

I gave my two a beef rib each the other day. Nirvana, apparently. Half an hour of bliss.

Free from the local butcher, with lots of meat etc still attached.

Edited for typo.

I find beef ribs are quite variable, sometimes they last ages and sometimes I have to get them back off them quick sharp before they attempt to swallow the 3 inch remainder whole.