Is your BC a chewer? What toys do you use?

[wdm08002]

Hi everyone!

 

I have a BC over a year old; big chewer! Recently I started giving him nylabones after a friend recommended them. He does get fixated on them although I make sure to supervise him because he has taken a chunk off one of them. Do you recommend natural chewing toys, or are nylabones okay? Do you discourage chewing all together?

 

Also; on a side note -- do you find your BC prone to tartar? My dog has some brown staining on his teeth, although I do brush his teeth every few days. I think the tartar staining occured after I started brushing his teeth. I feed him wet food sometimes and am afraid that this is the cause of the tartar. Is it worth getting the BC a "dental" to have the tartar removed? Or should I leave it alone and just continue brushing?

Thanks for your replies!

[TEC]

I use multiple approaches to keeping teeth and gums healthy:

 

- Canine toothpaste, 2-3 times week. Would do more, but she hates it.

- Biscuits advertised as tartar control, made by Nutro Brand. Same brand as my dog food, so I stick with them.

- Leather bones, by Dentley's. The bones are compressed whole pieces of leather, meaning large chunks do not easily separate to possibly get inhaled. Get twice the size you think appropriate, as that will not likely be swallowed whole. I have heard rolled leather is a safety issue for some dogs.

- Compressed leather particles formed into a stick, Dentley brand. My dog consumes these like candy. They disappear in moments, and I often wonder how much dental benefit they can have when eaten so quickly. Oh well.

- Pedigree Dentastix. Soft and chewy, a little like "Greenies".

- Soft tug toys. My BC loves a good tug. I would think biting the tug has cleaning effect.

- I feed kibble, as to me the crunchy texture must provide some benefit to teeth/gums. OTOH the counter-argument is that most dogs are fed kibble, and yet dental problems are still common. Do the nay-sayers take into account feeding kibble in conjunction with other measures?

 

I do not feel OCD about dental health, but believe chances are improved of one or more of the approaches being successful, if several are used.

 

Ask your vet, but a dog just over a year likely does not need a dental cleaning. It is expensive and usually requires the dog to be unconscious. That makes me uneasy. I may ask my vet about it next time in the office for my ten year old BC. We get in for a visit about 1/yr, and vet has been saying her teeth look OK. IMO at least one nationwide chain of veterinarians in this area pushes dental cleanings unduly hard, so be on the lookout for that.

 

Other members will give you their successes feeding fresh meats and bones.

 

To me Nylabones are excessively hard, not allowing a dog's teeth to sink-in to obtain maximum cleaning effect along nearly their entire length. JMO. "Greenies" and "Dentastix" brands are softer, and seem a better alternative.

 

I do not get overly concerned where a product is sourced and manufactured, as long as it is popular/widely used, and sold by a reputable retailer. Well known brands usually fit that category. I like to think that problems, if any, will quickly percolate to the surface and be corrected, and/or the consumer will become aware. That has worked for me. -- Best wishes, TEC

[chene]

My answer to both inquiries would be raw (meaty) bones. Aed will chew at them for days, and they seem to keep his teeth pretty clean, though maybe that's just his youth. He's also teething, so other things we give him are rawhides (supervised), various kong toys, and whatever we can freeze that will still be chewable. He also has a set of plastic and rubber "keys" that are meant for teething human babies, but they've held up great for him as well.

 

As far as the nylabones, as long as it's supervised I don't see anything wrong with them, although they're not my preference. I have seen them chewed up by strong enough teeth.

My parents have given the two family dogs various "dental treat" things their whole lives, including "greenies", and both dogs' teeth are okay, but not fantastic. That's my limited experience with that kind of product, though.

[CSW]

My vet recommends C.E.T. Dental chews, but make sure you get the XLarge size. The large ones wear down too fast and the dog can swallow the ends. I supervise the use of the XLarge ones and take them away when they become too soft, before the ends could be swallowed. With Nylabones, my 7- 8 month puppy will now use the flexible chews, harder that the softer chews and softer than the hard Nylabones. I am not sure if these would work for an adult dog. The soft Nylabones she can chew and swallow pieces of and the vet reviews of the hard ones say they can cause molar damage. My last BC loved Greenies as a treat and my vet said they were fine, but their were some concerns before they were reformulated. Also I have started using Digest-eeze chews, a rawhide chew developed by University of Illinois vets. I buy the 8-9 inch size and supervise use. The smaller size Star would bite in half and then I would throw away the ends so she would not try to swallow them. The 9 inch seems to be holding up better and I throw them in the freezer when they get too soft. I also have good luck with hard rubber toys made by JW. Star can play with these for hours with no damage to the toy or to her. I do buy these on the large side and there are different degrees of hardness. I get the harder ones. A good rule of thumb I read said you should be able to make a mark on a chew toy by pressing your fingernail firmly into it. No mark, and it is too hard for their teeth. I would be interested in hearing from others on this same subject as it is also a concern of mine.

[GentleLake]

I'm in the raw meaty bone camp. No marrow bones though. I even feed meaty bones frozen for a little extra chewing.

 

- I feed kibble, as to me the crunchy texture must provide some benefit to teeth/gums. OTOH the counter-argument is that most dogs are fed kibble, and yet dental problems are still common.

 

I believe the thought here is that kibble's full of carbs that cause tartar and plaque buildup on teeth.

[Maralynn]

I have used nylabones for several years without issue. My dogs will gradually wear them down but haven't taken chunks off at a time. Their teeth have always looked really good. I've used raw, edible bones as well. As far as kibble goes, a dog has to actually chew it to get any abrasive action that may clean the teeth. Most of mine have eaten much too fast to chew.

[D'Elle]

No raw bones here.....they give two of my dogs horrible diarrhea, so no one can have them.

My dogs chew happily on shed antlers (these are expensive to buy, but fortunately I have a supply that I found myself, and they last a very long time), and cow hooves, which are only $1 each.

 

I check their teeth regularly, brush occasionally, and if necessary I scale them myself to remove tartar, using my thumbnail or a human dental tool.

 

A good product I have used is Oratine Maintenance Oral Gel. I think it is only available through veterinarians. If there is build up on the teeth you can rub this gel on the teeth for a few days and the tartar will become soft enough that you can just scrape it off with your fingernail, which is preferable to using a dental tool unless you know how to use the dental tool. Works on cats, too.

 

People often comment that my dogs' breath is nice, not "doggy". They eat grain-free kibble.

[Gideon's girl]

If you take a piece of typical kibble and apply pressure in the same manner that teeth would, the kibble kind of explodes before whatever you are using makes much of a dent in it at all, so it may scrape the tip of the crown, but it does not get all the way to the base of the tooth, and that's if the dog chews.

 

I use turkey necks or goat, sheep, or pork ribs, occasionally young beef ribs. My dogs also have hooves, but they tend to use them to play a skiing game we call "Slide the Hoof Under the Couch" instead of for chewing. I bet I have 10 hooves under the couch.

[Sue R]

Raw meaty bones are my choice, and the dogs love them. I can get chicken backs at a reasonable price by the case, remove the excess fat, and feed twice a week, partly or completely frozen, for my favorite dental care. Since we have our own beef custom-butchered, we have lots of beef bones - ribs, necks, steak bones being my favorite, but also feeding some knuckle and marrow bones (I scrape out excess marrow and feed separately as part of the fat supplementation I give the dogs). They also like pork or lamb necks. I do feed kibble and not wet food.

 

The two that chew the most keep very clean teeth with the bones alone. Celt is a less avid chewer and gets a bit of buildup which I clean off myself with a scaler.

[simba]

No raw bones here.....they give two of my dogs horrible diarrhea, so no one can have them.

My dogs chew happily on shed antlers (these are expensive to buy, but fortunately I have a supply that I found myself, and they last a very long time), and cow hooves, which are only $1 each.

 

Ooh, that's a good tip. I have the same issue- dog gets diarrhoea after eating bones. Must try the antlers.

 

I got into a good run of brushing teeth... and then lots of emergencies and other life things happened and I just totally forgot. Must go hunt out the toothbrush and paste again.

[moosikins]

The white textured dinosaurs made by NylaBone are awesome. They're almost indestructible, even by the most intense chewers!

[Shetlander]

I used Nylabones with my dogs for years with no problem, but they have made a mess of Quinn's teeth so they have been thrown out. He is a very hard chewer and something about the way he works on them can result in damage. Nowadays his toys are Chuck It rubber balls that hold up to his chomps, a Kong (though when he was younger, he ripped even black Kongs quickly apart) and green Goughnuts toys (because the black one marked up my carpet). Any other toys are only played with under close supervision and generally my active interaction.

[spaceapple]

Neither of my dogs are big chewers, but for dental health I recommend raw meaty bones too. I give them each one for their protein at dinner - completely frozen so they can chew for more than a few minutes. We just took them to the vet for their annual checkup a couple weeks ago and he said their teeth looked perfect!

[Cass C]

I try to stick with animal parts and completely digestable chews. My dogs love tracheas, hooves, pig snouts, bones, pig ears, cow ears, split deer/elk antlers (they don't have a big interest in the non-split antlers), and bully sticks. I also give them a Hymilayan chew every once in a while, which is hard yak cheese.

 

One brand of rubber chew I would reccomend is anything from "West Paw". They have a lifetime guarentee against dogs taking chunks off or breaking them. If the dog breaks it they replace it free of charge. One of their rubber stick toys saved me a bunch of money for chew toys during Lyka's teething phase. She destroyed at least 2 Nylabones before I found West Paw products.

[simba]

What about those rice/vegetable based chews sold in shops, or fish jerky?

[Gideon's girl]

I like fish jerky, but I try not to add carbs to an already carb heavy diet, so I don't like starchy treats.

[CSW]

Have you tried the Jolly Egg? It is not a chew toy, but it is tough. My BC loves it. http://www.jollypets.com/products/jolly-egg/

I found it at a local pet store after it was recommended by her trainer in class.