Best bones for aggressive chewers...dog content

Need some help with one of my three dogs.  She is a rescue dog, obtained from a local county shelter, so we don't know exactly what she is.  We got her when she was only 8 weeks old, which was a year ago.  She clearly has German Sheppard in her and who knows what else (maybe lab??).  She weighs about 50lbs, so is a solid mid size dog. 

She is a very aggressive chewer and is destroying the house.  She's already chewed up two window sills and the molding at the bottom of the stair banister.  She doesn't much care for rubber chew toys, she'll play for a minute and stop.  She loves the rawhide bones, the stuff you get at Costco, but she will eat an entire one in an hour or two if we let her and they upset her stomach.  I did a Google search and found EcoKind Himalayan Dog Chews as being highly recommended for aggressive chewers.  At first, she was literally scared of them...she arched her back and barked like crazy.  Maybe it was the smell?  But she quickly changed her mind and started eating them.  She now loves them, but they aren't lasting super long either...and they're expensive. 

I know someone out there has to have a very aggressive chewer.  What do you give him/her? 

Obligatory dog picture...she loves her cage. 

We give our pit/lab mix rope. That seems to be the only thing that lasts more than a few minutes. And she plays tug of war with the smaller dog.

A Kong with peanut butter will keep her distracted for a bit, but after about the 12th time we've put peanut butter or cheese in it, she has started to destroy it. Tennis ball? Shards in literally minutes. Pig ears, goose head, etc, all gone almost instantly. 

One of our dogs that was destroying the house like you describe was a chewer for sure, but the chewing was a side-effect of anxiety likely caused by the abuse he got at the hands of the PO.  Apollo was put on a very light regimen of clomipramine for a couple years and that really brought the destructive behaviour to a halt.

We think that the other dog that we have who chews destructively right now is doing so out of excess energy.  Merlin can be in the back yard running around with the other dogs all day, but the only thing that seems to really calm him down is structured exercise like a walk.  There are a number of routines that are followed on the walk and if he gets that every day, he does not destructively chew.

Another dog that we had that had a fairly light jaw but was willing to use it to destructive effect was basically bored.  We would fill paper lunch bags with treats and staple them shut so she'd have something to tear apart while we left the house.  Or we would put a rawhide and some fragrant treats inside a box that was duct taped shut.  Those would seem to occupy Luna and keep her from seeking out unauthorized entertainment.

As far as materials that can take the chewing, Kong has an "extreme" line that has been pretty good for both Merlin and Dozer - Dozer has a huge jaw with lots of power while Merlin has little needle teeth so they both will tear up normal Kong stuff.  We have also bought them several ballistic fabric toys which have held up very well.  The trick is getting them to actually chew on those authorized things, though, as it seems like once they get bored they want to go for something that presents more of a challenge.

Chewing the house is a symptom of other issues, calm her, exercise her, get her comfortable in her surroundings, soothe her when you are away. 

Antlers are the hardest thing I've ever seen given to a dog, maybe they will last longer? 

Mrs. InKansas is a dog person, helps train search dogs for the state and works an explosives dog in her spare time. We have a house full of young, high energy dogs.

Wife echoed a lot of what wae said ^^^^. Black Kong toys are apparently more durable, that may be the "extreme" line he's referring to. The red ones don't last long for us either. We fill with peanut butter and freeze them (turns them into an hour or two of distraction rather than minutes unfrozen). Also recommends beef bones, either cooked or raw (she freezes them too, although that might be more for the sake of keeping them fresh).

And exercise. At a year, that dog needs a E36M3load of energy burned off. If she doesnt want to play with you very long, you need to adjust. Be the most over the top fun thing she's ever encountered. Get down on her level (on all fours) Wrestle. Make funny noises. Be energetic with the toy. Think along the lines of playing with a big toddler, with much less of the fragility of a kid.

This also helps with dogs who want to play keep-away with the toy once they have it. They take the toy? Fun stops. They pretty quickly figure out that the you isn't the fun part, its the person that's fun. 

Shoot me a PM if you want more thoughts, she's a veritable wizard with dogs. Happy to put her in touch directly.

My dog destroyed a regular Kong in about a week, after that I got the black Extreme version and it has lasted over a year with no visible damage. 

The only bones I have found that last any amount of time are the Nylabone power chews.

https://www.chewy.com/nylabone-durachew-bacon-flavor-bone/dp/39407?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Nylabone&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwtTa7-bw4wIVicDACh3F1wknEAQYASABEgLiYvD_BwE

She is definitely a high energy dog, no doubt.  She's our wild child, much more so than our other one year old dog (not related to her) and our 7 year old dog.  We try our best to exercise her, though admittedly it can be a challenge with our crazy schedules.  It could be an anxiety issue, but I don't think so.  She's been with us since she was just a baby and is absolutely comfortable here.  She loves all of us, and the other two dogs.  She is a very happy dog, never seems to exhibit any separation anxiety or things like that (besides her chewing).  If she has something to chew, she won't touch the house, but we have been hesitant to give her continual rawhide because of the stomach issues it causes her.

She seems to only want to continually chew bones, things she can actually eat/destroy.  We have several ropes, she has little interest in them.  She'll play fetch with Kong type things, but isn't one to sit and chew them for a long time.  Or more accurately, she'll only chew them if they're things she can rip up.  If they're too heavy duty, she won't bother.  We have a heavy duty Kong type rubber chicken and pig.  They're her favorite toys to play fetch with or carry around the house looking for loving from one of us, but won't sit and chew them. 

We're trying to find bones that will last much longer than a normal cheap rawhide.  Has anyone tried antlers?  Chewy sells them, but not sure how good they are or aren't.

Sorry, editing the post as new ones come up.  I will add that although we are very busy, she...and all the dogs...get tons of love and attention whenever we are home.  Our kids absolutely LOVE the dogs and are constantly with them when we are home.  The dogs also love my wife and I.  Alex (the dog I'm talking about here) is a daddy's girl.  She loves me to death and will follow me around.  She whines and cries when I come home...and still happy pees when I approach her sometimes....sigh. 

We do everything we can to make it a loving and happy environment for the dogs, and give them excerise.  I'm sure we can do a better job, but we definitely don't just let them lay around and ignore them.  We let them run around our yard as much as possible.

Dogs like to chew on stuff, and our Bailey is no exception.  We've always made a point of giving her a new chew toy every now and then.  She has a bit of a collection, and they all get some action.

Nylabone has worked well for us.  They come in a variety of flavors and sizes, and she seem to like them all.

The Kong rubber things also are good. For some reason she hasn't destroyed them.

Anything else's lifespan can be measured in minutes.  We don't even try stuff like rawhide because the vet discourages their use.

My dog will destroy a Kong as quickly as she can destroy a tennis ball.

Nylabones are good and sturdy.  So are Galileo bones.  They look exactly like something you would buy at an adult toy store (read: buttplug) but they are great.

Kudos for getting a rescue.  She's beautiful.  She'll come around once she gets calm and comfy in her new digs.  Lavender oil on a bandana around her neck helps.  Benadryl is another more drastic option.  Bitter apple sprayed on things she shouldn't chew might help.  Tabasco works great too, but makes your house smell like a Mexican restaurant.

Galileo bones look like this.  I promise, they are dog chew toys, but if you want to get one for the bedroom, I won't judge.

Antlers work well so do nylabones. My dog gets antlers from whatever deer I take or any I find in the woods.

The best one I still have was one of these.

The grooves allow you to fill them with peanut butter or that cheese whiz like stuff for dogs. They can't really get at it so they just chew and lick it.

The other suggestion would be a puzzle ball with treats in it. Some dogs take to them some don't though.

What really helped my rescue was training though. It wasn't cheap since I outsourced it, but it got him over his anxiety and chewing.

I can add a couple of things here.

First, let's cover Dr. Frasier Hale's three-part test for dog chews. Dr. Hale is a board-certified veterinary dentistry specialists in Ontario, the first in the province.

If the chew fails any of these three tests, don't give it to the dog.

1. Would you want to drop it onto the soft wood of a pine tabletop?

2. Would you chew it with your own teeth?

3. Would you let someone club you in the knee with it?

I see broken teeth all day, every day that I'm at work. Human teeth, imo, are a lot tougher than dog teeth. Dog teeth are tall and narrow, while ours are wide and flat. I tell my clients to think of them as hard, but brittle, like China. 

Nylabones break teeth like crazy. tennis balls will wear them down until they look like someone took a belt sander to them. Any animal bone should never be given to a dog.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I really think that you should go back and re-read the post by Wae, above. This isn't a chewing material problem, this is a behavior problem.

Here's a link to my favorite website (veterinarypartner.com) for health information about animals. This is the article on destructive chewing by dogs and puppies. 

Link to the article about bones.

A last word about veterinarypartner.com.

The advice I give my clients is to go there for information before you go to google. Google ain't got no filters.

I had a lab mix that was a power chewer. He ate a picnic table over one summer. Anyway, black kongs and Nylabones were the only thing he couldn't destroy quickly. Even the Nylabones would only last about 3 months before they were a sharp, pointy nub that got thrown away for a new one. God help you when you step on one of those. worse than legos.

Edit: I strongly recommend Kong toys, especially the black ones for the heavy chewers.

One of my clients bought her dog a nylabone. She unwrapped it after getting in the car. The dog broke a tooth before she started the engine.

This isn't a fluke, believe me. one of the dentistry specialists on the veterinary information Network was complaining about them. He said (not seriously) that if everyone bought nylabones for their dogs he could put all three of his kids through college.

As far as antlers, why would you give something to a dog that's tougher than the dog's tooth? 

Seriously, address the behavior as a behavior problem.

In reply to Floating Doc :

Thank you for the info. I was hoping to hear your opinion on this topic. 

The only thing that I will add (based upon nothing but my own opinion) is that I prefer my dog to chew racquetballs rather than tennis balls. No abrasive fuzz for them to pull off and gag on and they tend to flex more and last forever. 

Just to reiterate, I don't think it's an acclimation issue.  We've had her for a year now and she's very well acclimated...she's quite the queen of the household.

Thanks Floating Doc.

We have tried those nylabones and she doesn't really care for them anyway.  Just like anything else, she'll chew it for a minute or bring it as a fetch toy, but not interested in long term chewing.  Even tennis balls are fun to play with her, but she won't chew them very long anyway...or she'll destroy them.  I'll try a black Kong, but our experience with Kong is the same as the other similar "rubber" toys, they're not of huge interest to her.  Her long term chewing is only on rawhide type things.    I read the article you linked and at least it makes me feel good that we're doing most of the right things.  For example, we keep things off the floor that we don't want her to touch, don't give her old shoes/clothes, we have gone out of our way to make sure she doesn't see her crate as punishment (in fact, she LOVES it and is laying in it with the door open as I type this), we correct her when appropriate without going overboard and we have endless dog toys around the house...our floor is littered with them.  The only other thing I can think of to keep trying is more exercise.  We are very busy, but we do what we can to get them exercise.  We'll have to really focus on trying to get her more.  She only chews the house when we are sleeping at night, or if the kids aren't watching her.  We've gone back to crating her at night until we can resolve the issue (which she doesn't complain about, again she is happy to be in there).  It's frustrating.  We love her to death, and I'll admit she's a daddy's girl.  She and I have really bonded.

Even with working on the behavior, I suspect she will always be a chewer.  She just likes it.  I wish the rawhide didn't upset her stomach.  She loves the things and will chew endlessly, but what comes out the other side isn't pleasant....

Our 80lb lab/heeler mix has a black Kong that she prefers to play fetch with over chew by herself along with the rawhides she inhales we have found beef leg bones too last the longest. She has one chewed down to about a 4 inch section and it's her favorite. Our only issue is she won't chew a new one just the old one. But it's lasted over a year now. 

Our new rescue puppy seems to anxiety chew, she was likely abused by a male because she is very handshy around any males and also pees if she's around a loud noise. We have more issues getting her to not chew things up when she's home alone. She has access to the same toys and a smaller beef bone of her own but it doesn't hold her attention like it does storms.

We had good luck with the Yak chews, but even those went fast.  Someone recommended a Qwizl about 2 months ago, and that has worked well.  We put a bully stick in it and it takes hours to get out.

+1 for Galileo.