I have a 12-week-old lab puppy who it would be nice to distract once in a
while with a chew toy that she won't tire of in 5 minutes.

So I bought a bone yesterday at a pet store. (Not sure what kind of bone it
was, but it was quite substantial. I don't think it was a knuckle bone, but
a very short piece of something else, maybe a femur. I don't have much fear
of it splintering.) My pup loved it. But after watching her go at it for a
few minutes, I started to become concerned for her teeth. Her permanent
teeth are not in yet.

Is a big bone like this safe for a puppy's teeth?

Also, I do know about the existence of rawhide and nylabone products. My
puppy is only mildly interested in them and usually gets bored after a few
minutes. It appeared that the real bone was going to keep her busy for a
LONG time.

thanks

"mike" said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

So I bought a bone yesterday at a pet store. (Not sure
what kind of bone it was, but it was quite substantial. I
don't think it was a knuckle bone, but a very short piece
of something else, maybe a femur.

This is probably a smoked bone. I'd have two concerns with
such a bone. Being a femur, the marrow is accessible and very
rich so your lab may get some diarrhea (I haven't bought one
of these in a long time, though, so maybe the cooking process
removes the fat). The only issue I've had with smoked bones
was when one of my dogs managed to get one from my more
methodical chewer - he chowed down the entire thing fairly
quickly, resulting in a chalk-like impaction. Luckily, it was
easily fixable with the vet's lubed and gloved finger.

These pet store bones are OK when supervised, but so are fresh
raw knuckle bones, and the latter are a lot less expensive.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

I have a 12-week-old lab puppy who it would be nice to distract once in a
while with a chew toy that she won't tire of in 5 minutes.

A great chew toy would be those hemp ropes knotted at both ends. They won't
chew pieces off and have internal problems. In fact, the strings at the ends
act kind of like dental floss. As the puppy starts losing baby teeth,
however, don't panic when you see a little bit of blood on the rope. That's
normal.

Sharon Too wrote:

A great chew toy would be those hemp ropes knotted at both ends. They won't
chew pieces off and have internal problems.

Having picked the strings from such toys out of the ass-end of my
dog, I have to disagree. Rope toys are great for tug, but they're
dangerous chewies.

--
Shelly (Warning: see label for details)
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

I used to smear a bit of peanut butter into the knots of rawhide bones. That may hold some interest a little longer! Chester STILL loves it when I do that once in a while even though he's no longer a puppy.

The only concern about rawhide with puppies is if they swallow a chunk of it, so the same advice about supervision with real bones applies.

As far as teeth are concerned, the "baby teeth" will fall out when they're ready! Usually that means the adult teeth aren't far behind. Chewing is the way pups relieve some soreness and hurry along the process. Unfortunately that's why some people get rid of older puppies prematurely. They haven't given their young friends appropriate chew toys and they end up damaging shoes, furniture, etc. to satisfy their natural urge to chew.

Good luck!

__________________
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."

Will Rogers, 1897-1935

Okay, thanks for the info. I'm mostly worried about the teeth. I really
don't think she'll be able to break this bone up. I'll let her chew the
bone only under careful supervision though. I'm also thinking it will make
a great training treat, except the bone is such a big chunk she can't really
hold it in her mouth for things like "hold it" or "drop it." It would
probably be good for some "leave it" training though.

"shelly" wrote in message
...
Sharon Too wrote:

A great chew toy would be those hemp ropes knotted at both ends. They
won't chew pieces off and have internal problems.

Having picked the strings from such toys out of the ass-end of my dog, I
have to disagree. Rope toys are great for tug, but they're dangerous
chewies.

I guess I didn't clarify - they are less dangerous than bones. In all the
years we've had our practice, and among the experience of our 3 doctors, we
have never had to treat a dog for issues dealing with a rope toy. They may
ingest small sections and they pass, but they have never caused a
perforation, blockage or mouth injury like bones and bone type toys have.
Unfortunately with those items we not only treat for injury but every year a
client loses a pet from them. So a rope isn't perfect, but among the choices
for toys, it is no where near the worst. Now string items with cats.... BAD!
'tis the season!

I've given lab pups chunks of 4x4 and never had a problem, even though they
shred them to bits.


"mike" wrote in message
...
I have a 12-week-old lab puppy who it would be nice to distract once in a
while with a chew toy that she won't tire of in 5 minutes.

So I bought a bone yesterday at a pet store. (Not sure what kind of bone
it was, but it was quite substantial. I don't think it was a knuckle
bone, but a very short piece of something else, maybe a femur. I don't
have much fear of it splintering.) My pup loved it. But after watching
her go at it for a few minutes, I started to become concerned for her
teeth. Her permanent teeth are not in yet.

Is a big bone like this safe for a puppy's teeth?

Also, I do know about the existence of rawhide and nylabone products. My
puppy is only mildly interested in them and usually gets bored after a few
minutes. It appeared that the real bone was going to keep her busy for a
LONG time.

thanks

Sharon Too wrote:

I guess I didn't clarify - they are less dangerous than bones.

The thing is, when they do go wrong, it doesn't really matter
whether it's a bone splinter puncturing the intestines or a string
tying and cutting them. There are far safer chewy toys than ones
made of string. The OP said his dog doesn't like rubber or plastic
chewies. Neither have my dogs, at first. Once the toys were primed
with a little cheese or peanut butter, though, the dogs learned to
enjoy them.

As for cats and string? Had a roommate in college who was a
seamstress, and a cat who could (can!) not resist thread.

--
Shelly (Warning: see label for details)
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

As for cats and string? Had a roommate in college who was a seamstress,
and a cat who could (can!) not resist thread.

Cats and thread, actually cats and Christmas ribbon never go along. Remember
tinsel? (It's made of lead). People with cats still put it on their trees
and when we get cats boarding over the holidays we frequently see very
festive looking litter boxes - lots of silver!