Both of my boys love chew toys but they only last for a matter of minutes before they're ripped to shreds and I'm tired of wasting money on them for only a few minutes of joy.
However, i want them to have things to play with but i am now thinking that some large bones would be the best route to go. They love raw rib bones from my neighborhood natural pet store but i want to change it up and give them a variety.

What are some large bones that will last my boys a long time (at least a few hours) and won't upset their stomach or be a hazard and where can i purchase them? I already know to stay away from rawhide.

thank you!!

Have you tried antlers?

I agree, antlers all the way!

At the risk of appearing confrontational, there have been a couple of reports here about dogs cracking their teeth on antlers.
My personal preference is one of the non-digestible Nylabones, these are nylon / plastic; come in different types depending on the age, size and chewing power of your dog. I've used them for most of my dogs and they seem to enjoy the "chew". Available on line and from almost any pet store.

Al-I think everyone has different experiences. For example, I would never recommend Nylabones because no matter what kind I get, Bode always ends up with bloody gums from them.

It is true that you have to be careful with antlers. The best way to start with them is to buy the kind that are cut in half lengthwise, exposing the softer inside.

Split antlers, Himalayan chews, and bully sticks have been our chewing go-toys.

I also put a portion of my dog's breakfast in a Kong, run water through it, then put on the freezer at night. In the morning, she gets her frozen Kong, which she loves.

Split antlers are a good start but go fast with heavy cheaters. Make sure you're getting elk and not whitetail antlers.

Same here Sara, Okami always gets bloody gums from nylabones no matter which kind I get. Yes, there is the risk of cracked teeth from antlers, but I would think by watching your dog, you should be able to tell if antlers aren't a good fit semi-immediately. There would be some evidence of aggressive chewing in this case, so just be present in anything you give your dog to chew, never leave them alone with stuff like that, that is why there is so many bad cases from antlers and the like because people will just give them unsupervised.

I get a full beef neck, cut into 4 or 5 pieces (depending on how big the cow was) from the butcher, a lot of the meat has been trimmed off but there is still enough meat and gristle to keep my boy happy for a couple of hours. This type of bone is edible but takes much more effort than lamb flaps etc, and in much safer for the teeth than weight bearing bones.

I have a bunch of old towels, so I just throw one on the floor, get him to drop and give him the bone. It is blissfully quiet in the house then... errrm, well, except for the crunching LOL

Everything else gets chomped way too quickly and he sticks his nose up at any of the flavoured nylon bones - can't say I blame him though LOL

Beef marrow bones are great as well. I give them raw and use the old towel trick to keep blood off my carpet. He's even learned that if it rolls off the towel that I will come take it and put it back on the towel for him, so he actually moves it himself now. Diz likes antlers and nylabones, but if I need to keep him occupied and out of the way while I'm doing something, then a marrow bone is the key. He likes bully sticks, rawhides, and himalayan chews, but none last, or hold his interest long enough if I'm trying to get something done. Last time I got him a himalayan, it was gone within 20 min, and those dang things are expensive, so that was enough of that. Some of those pieces are really sharp too, so that made me nervous.

I also recently bought a chuckit ball that has a small hole on each side. I fill it with kibble and then use peanut butter to goop up the holes and that keeps him busy for a while. Once he gets the peanut butter ungummed, he rolls it around and gets the kibble out. It's better than my treat ball because it's soft rubber and it doesn't sound like world war iii broke out when I give it too him. It's nice and quiet.

OOOHHHHH?! I love the Chuck-it brand, I haven't seen a treat dispense one? I will be on the look out for that! I only have the normal chuck-its in a few different sizes.. I swear those things were made with huskies in mind- they seem indestructible to me... I still have all of them I ever got her, and I think the first one is finally, after almost 2 years, starting to show signs of a death to the ball, but not much.

We swear by beef bones - our butcher bags up the scrap from cutting beef (independent Mennonite butcher, gets the animal on the hoof so the whole cow is available). The bag usually contains a kneecap or 2, bunch of rib and neck bones. No marrow bones, though (he has a customer who wants only the marrow bones and he gets them all.) They have quite a bit of stray meat, a lot of cartilage still attached. Sometimes I get the marrow bones from the grocery store - Ami loves them but too much marrow gives him the squirts and the bone is too hard for him to eat like the scrap. The scrap bones he can actually chew up a lot of the stuff - makes poop nice ans solid,cleanup really easy And if I miss one, it turns to white powder withing a few days.

We give him an occasional rawhide, but too much of that really gives him the squirts, so, despite the fact that he loves them, I ration them to less than 1 per week. He really likes the ones that have chicken wrapped up in them - I forget the brand, they are not from China, something "Fit".

lillith87 wrote:

OOOHHHHH?! I love the Chuck-it brand, I haven't seen a treat dispense one? I will be on the look out for that! I only have the normal chuck-its in a few different sizes.. I swear those things were made with huskies in mind- they seem indestructible to me... I still have all of them I ever got her, and I think the first one is finally, after almost 2 years, starting to show signs of a death to the ball, but not much.

Well it's not an actual treat dispenser, it's just one of the largish solid orange colored balls with a hole on each side. A whistler maybe? I'm not totally sure...

Looks like this, but its bigger than a tennis ball