Hey all, I have been trying to find something to satisfy my little chewer. He will chew anything and everything he can get his little teeth on. He's only six months old so I know he's going to be chewing like crazy for a while. He does great with Nylabone, but Nylabone doesn't do great with my budget. I decided to try some all natural rawhide to see how he would like it. That was the only change I made to his diet. He is eating whole earth farms puppy food and is doing great on it. His weight is great, his coat is shiny (we add omega 3's to it), and his skin is not dry anywhere. He also gets a multivitamin chew every other day just because I'm a helicopter mom and worry a lot. About 2 days later, he had very very loose stool. This lasted about 2 days. I tried healthy edibles, but he ate that in 2 seconds and it didn't provide him any chewing relief. His stools were fine after those. We tried a couple other longer lasting chews, each with the same result. I am trying to help my little man out, but I am wary of antlers or true bones because I don't want him to break his teeth. I have read alot about bully sticks, but didn't know what anyone else thought about them. Does anyone have any ideas for chews? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome to the forum, many of us stay away from rawhide for one reason or another. Have you ever tried Cow ears (or pig but they are smaller)? Miya has always loved them, don't cost a ton, and last for awhile, they are similar to rawhide, but no tummy upset with my girl. With any treats look for made in USA, Canada, and with the cow ears most are made in Brazil or another South American country, which is fine.

Btw, I have read about bully sticks too, but I can not find locally that is not made in India, China, or Taiwan, so have stayed away from them.

I definitely side towards chews from the US. I am curious about the pigs ears. Are they fully digestible? This is my main issue with rawhide. I am worried about intestinal blockages.

My two LOVE pig ears. For a younger dog they should last for a little while. Not weeks, but maybe a couple hours.

We get bully sticks from time to time and have good luck with them. The petco where I live have bully sticks from Brazil. With antlers you mainly want to make sure you get horns of certain kinds as they have different hardness levels. A thicker beam of an elk is pretty soft, something with a heavy center, but thinner beams are harder. They come in grades. Grade A being the best, Grade B being what is normally sold as "premium" and lesser grades you don't want. Whitetail horns are like chewing on rocks.

Packing a Kong with yogurt and freezing it I have found to occupy my two for quite a while and the rubber of the Kong has good give for young teeth to bite into and throw around.

Like Jenn's 2, Miya loves pig and cow ears and never had a problem digesting, I stay away from flavored kinds. Miya is a big chewer, pig ears are like the movie gone in 60 seconds, lol, cow ears will take a few hours (what I find cow ears are significantly bigger), I find pig to be crunchier and cow to be chewier. So I do switch between the 2, and they are her primary treats. I did get an elk antler that was split, and she will scrape the marrow vs trying to eat it. Jenn's suggestion on the kong is a great idea for younger pups teething, and being that they are mouthier.

At that age, I really liked bully sticks and himalayan chews. The latter now, don't last long at all, but for that matter neither do the former. I actually do give Diz rawhide, but not frequently, and I keep an eye on him while he has it. He doesn't tend to eat huge chunks of it, or swallow big pieces, so he seems okay. I get the flavored retriever rolls and use them if I actually need to get something done around the apartment. I discovered a new one at a neighborhood pet shop last night, it was a bunch of small pig pizzle sticks all knotted up into a looked similar to a rawhide. That kept Diz busy for almost 2 hours and I had to take it away so we could go out and get to bed. I will definitely be stocking up on those. Also, smart bones are a good alternative to rawhide and are similar in appearance, I can't say for sure on stomach upset, honestly, that's a very individual thing. My last suggestion is Sam's Yam's sweet potato leather. I like to keep those around because they tend to help with loose stools.