My vet recommended the Nylabone for my husky to chew. Today i heard a story from someone that said her husky got one of these lodged in her throat and had to have surgery. What type are the best to use?

Any bone is okay, but bones (like most toys) are best used under supervision. I've never heard of a dog getting a Nylabone stuck in its throat, but stranger things have happened.

We use marrow bones that you get from the grocery store or a butcher. They' re obviously 100% all natural since it's literally a cow's leg. The bones are good for them and they LOVE the marrow. Once they get all the marrow out, you can fill them with peanut butter too

we use rolled raw-hides and some times we go and get real bones but not often. i found the compressed raw-hides do not last as long. they also sometimes get the flavored ones as well

I never give my dogs bones. :-( I'm so afraid of them choking. I guess I should get over that fear.

Shiloh wrote:

My vet recommended the Nylabone for my husky to chew. Today i heard a story from someone that said her husky got one of these lodged in her throat and had to have surgery.

There is a choking and/or blockage hazard with almost anything so always give chews under supervision. Dogs have had intestinal blockage from tennis balls that require surgery, but you wouldn't never allow your dog to play with a tennis ball again, would you?

Shiloh wrote:

What type are the best to use?

There is no one best chew but there are a number of good choices that are pretty safe. Supervision with any chew is important.

My first choice would be a raw marrow bone, they are pretty heavy so you'll probably want to get rid of them once they are stripped of the meat and marrow.

My second choice would be bully sticks, they're not bones but are great chews that most dogs love and are fully digestible. Only drawback with bully sticks is they do smell.

My third choice would be deer antlers. They're a great, hard, natural, safe chew.

I mostly use bully sticks and rawhides at my house since they are cheaper. Rawhides are a popular chew however they are not digestible so there is a risk for intestinal blockage so supervision is important. Removing small pieces that they might swallow whole will help lower the risk for blockage. I've been giving rawhides for years and have never had a problem but I do supervise my dogs closely when they have them.

Nylabones are fine to give, I personally will not give them to my dogs because I prefer something edible for chews. Nylabone makes an edible chew called Healthy Edibles. I've tried several of the Nylabone Healthy Edible bones in different flavors but stopped giving them since they always make my sibe have very soft stool. Plus the Healthy Edibles never really last very long for my sibe, he generally takes 30 minutes to 4 hours on a Healthy Edible bone.

Mya loves RAWHIDES! But a few days ago I gave her one (the flat type...not twisted) and after she was done with it she was acting a bit weird...licking her mouth and swallowing a lot. Something told me to open her mouth and yep, she had a piece or rawhide stuck all the way in the back.Like at the end of her tongue almost going down into her throat. I had to stick my hand down in there and pull it out. That totally freaked me out! I normally giver the twisted rawhides so no more flat ones for her!

I agree on the rawhides, I won't do them...ever. My vet put the fear of GAWD in me when she started talking about the THOUSANDS of dollars in surgery she's seen people pay to get fixed after rawhide blockages and what-not. I bet the percentages are not THAT high but I'm not taking any risk as I tend to be one of those absurdly paranoid puppy mommies =/

I love the antler tip but I can't seem to get my husky to eat hers. Boo to their finicky natures!!

Talking of which.... I have trouble finding stuff to stuff into the [empty] marrow bones and kongs and, today, at the dog park a girl said something about putting low fat flavored yogurt with cheerios in hers and freezing them. I like the idea of extra enzymes for digestion in the yogurt but... does anyone know if this is a good idea? I would, of course, use non sugared, organic yogurt...

I was told some Nylabones are too hard and can crack their teeth especially if they still puppies. My girl doesn't care for raw hides, and has a bit of a sensitive tummy. And since her main protein is fish, she can get fish breath (*yuck*) so her bones are Zuke's Carrot Dental bones which cleans her teeth and freshens her breath, and Fido's Yogurt Belly bones, which also cleans her teeth but helps her digestion with the probiotics in them.

Nush wrote:

I like the idea of extra enzymes for digestion in the yogurt but... does anyone know if this is a good idea? I would, of course, use non sugared, organic yogurt...

Yes, it would be fine if you dog is not sensitive to dairy. Yogurt gives my sibe awful AWFUL gas so I don't ever give him any. I've also tried yogurt on one of my chihuahuas and she did not tolerate it at all, gave her terrible diarrhea. If your dog can stomach it then the sugar free yogurt would be fine to give.