Bully sticks, chatter boxes and thumpers are the ONLY edible chewies my dogs get - except for the rare marrow bone. And even the others are given rarely, too.

My beagle chews and chews all day long - if everything she chewed was edible, she'd be a major porkchop.

We've had the most success with bully sticks - what are chatter boxes and thumpers?

How long does a bully stick last (with a large breed dog)?

I'm not sure... i know that raw meaty bones are really good.

I dont recommend too much of the sweet potatoes peanut butter or cheese all are high in fat and sugar. Go get yourself a KONG and some other puzzle toys that make your dog work for the food. Use veggies and cottage cheese etc.

I have recently discovered

The first ones I bought were stuffed with "something", and it gave her the runs. She's just as happy with the empty ones. When she starts to lose interest in one, which takes at least a week, I pick that one up and give her a fresh one. I can put the old one down a few days later and it's "new" again to her. I'm thinking about soaking some of the old ones in chicken stock to get her even more excited.

I don't give edible chews as too many of the foster dogs come to me with resource guarding issues and things like bully sticks, bones, greenies and rawhides are just too high-value in their eyes. With my personal dogs, the Dane will INHALE a rawhide roll in about 3 minutes, the GSP gets diarrhea from pig ears and the BC hordes little pieces in her crate and gets defensive around the LGD's, who couldn't care less about bones, etc., but won't let a challenge go unanswered. I've had to clean up or pull out too many to give my dogs anything edible.

And be careful with antlers. A friend's BC found a shed and broke a tooth.

All the dogs will sneak trimmings when the farrier comes. Horse is the favorite, but pig and sheep trimmings are popular too. I don't buy the commercial hooves though - too $$. And again, the BC will get snarky if she gets a chance.

I wrote some time ago about my suggestions for aggressive chewers:
The Extreme Kong is great - I've NEVER seem a dog destroy one. The Classic Kong is pretty good - I have one that is 15 years old and it was still fine until the GSP started on it. He may have been OK with a newer one. They are pretty boring on their own, but I've never had a dog ignore a stuffed one. Working to remove the food, especially when it's the only food she is going to receive, should work. Plus, they'll be learning that toys aren't for tearing up. The dental stick and dental jack are worthless - both broke into large pieces within minutes and they are only available in red. Kong treat balls (stuff-a-ball) were also quickly destroyed. The biscuit ball lasts longer, but still wasn't suitable. Air Kongs are glorified, expensive tennis balls and met the same fate as their cheaper brethren. Kong balls are nice and the dogs seem to especially enjoy the bounzer ball. Kongs supposedly have a replacement guarantee, but I wasn't particularly impressed with Kong's customer service after contacting them about the dental stix.

Nylabones are more of a crap shoot. I haven't had success with the original flavor, but these (in souper size bacon flavor)

http://www.petedge.com/Flavored-Nylabones-TF178.pro

seem to be a hit with the Dane and GSP. Nylabone gumabones, dental chews and healthy edibles are worthless for an aggressive chewer, but an easy chewer would be satisfied with them.

Puptreads are made from recycled tires and have the advantage of being available at Walmart, Tractor Supply etc. Vigorous chewing did rough them up, but only small rice-sized pieces are missing. I have this particular one

http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-category-Ethical___Spot_Pup_Treads_Rubber_Bone_Dog_Toy_(6_Inch_H)_Dog_Supplies_Toys_Rubber___Vinyl_Toys-vendor-Ethical-SearchStr-treads-action-view-idProduct-EU04963-idCategory-DGTOVI.html

but they come in a variety of shapes and were pretty cheap.

As far as balls, tennis balls don't last. There's something about that covering that is just irresistible to the aggressive chewer. And the "tough" tennis balls especially for dogs aren't any better. Chuck-It Ultra balls

http://www.petedge.com/ChuckIt--Ultra-Rubber-Balls-ZX482.pro

last much longer than any other ball except Kong balls. The advantage of the Ultra balls is that they bounce better and are great for indoors as they are light. I've heard that raquetballs are similiar, but don't have personal experience.

Also, goughnuts!

http://www.goughnuts.com/

They're a little heavy for indoor play, but the dogs enjoy carrying them and chewing. So far I'm impressed. They do come with a replacement guarantee and, should the need arise, I hope I'll have a better experience with them than i did with Kong.

For the dog who likes to chase a larger ball (like a basketball, volleyball or soccer ball) you can look into something like this

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751746

I haven't tried it because I have a connection with a soccer coach who gives me his dead balls. I can't leave the GSP alone with them but the free balls are adequate for chasing around for a day or two until they are truly "dead"

Like you, carmen, I also use lids from 5 gallon buckets for Frisbees. They do tend to disappear in the snow, but the GSP will use his nose to find them. Sending your Lab on a hunt for them will burn off some of that puppy energy in a productive way.

I ABSOLUTELY do NOT leave them unsupervised and the noise drives me nuts, but all my chewers LOVE empty plastic soda bottles.

Yes, to the Extreme Kong. If you're going to fill them, it's a good idea to freeze the Kong with the contents. Lasts quite a bit longer. My favortie filling is yogurt. Plain of course. Good for the dog and no fat. If you want to put the peanut butter in a marrow bone, then you can also freeze that. Putting wet kibble in also works well and does even better frozen.

We also really like the Nylabones. The souper ones are great and our current dog likes the chicken flavor ones. He has quite a collection of them.

Balls don't generally work for us at all, but... Nylabone has a ball and it's gotten handed down to our current dog after about 10 years with our previous also aggressive chewer. Now, warning, they are quite hard as you'd expect so beware in the house if your dog likes to throw them around. Not fun to catch one on the shin. Smiles. It's also rather prickly to pick up like Nylabones tend to get, but it's one ball he can't destroy.

I give carrots as treats but don't really think of them much as something to give for chewing since they get chewed up pretty quick.

So, between Nylabones, the Extreme Kong and good marrow bones they keep our dog pretty happy and busy.

I won't let dogs chew on plastic bottles because even with close supervision it seems they just chew until they get hunks loose so what's the point. If you watch like a hawk you can let them chew for a couple minutes but it's not worth it to me. The edges of those pieces get too sharp. I know lots swear by them, just not me. Smiles.

For outside I've known some people to give dogs bowling balls to push around. Not chewing, but thought I'd throw that one in for the dog that needs occupied times.

Again, antlers must be aged! Newly shed ones are not strong. The idea of freezing the bones after stuffing with peanut butter is great and I will try it. With my dog, I don't worry at all about high fat treats --- she is extremely lean and active.

As far as plastic bottles go, I don't use them for chewing - just interactive playing. The green plastic 7Up individual bottles with lids screwed on tightly are just great. They makes lots of noise, which she expecially loves and are almost indestructive. Since they are so easily replaced, I throw them away as soon as they get a hole in them. I think because they are made to hold soda under pressure, the lids don't come off.

I have never had a dog that was at all interested in the nylabones and I wonder why - that is what I'm looking for since they last forever.

I cook turkey sausage in patties and use a piece to stuff the king. It's nice and rubbbery and sometimes they can't get it out - which is good- until I clean it out.

Weed - have your tried the large nylabones, or the gallileo style nylabones? They're the only thing our beagle can't destroy - she does wear them down over a few months, but no big chunks come off. Unlike everything else that is done and destroyed before she even gets her teeth on it, it seems.

Hooves were okay, but out big dog could splinter them.

Thumpers are dried hearts - and chatter boxes are the voiceboxes/trachea (ok, gross, I know!). They're beef. All natrual, dried, etc, no bone. They don't last long, but as far an a good, edible treat, they're up there with bully sticks, which in our house also don't last long.

Word of caution on the hooves. Our Vet warned us about tooth breakage with them. Her little mini doxie loved them until the day she broke a tooth while chewing on one. Around here it is the braided bully sticks. The braided ones last longer.

Our Ethel has destroyed two of the black Extreme Kongs. It doesn't matter what is in them, she would rather chew on the Kong. Eight pounds and she can destroy them rather quickly. Linda

Braided bully stick question:

I 'think' I got braided bully sticks for our mini doxies before. They did enjoy them, but I did not, LOL. For some reason, I intrupted them and looked at their mouths. They had long fiberous 'strings' stuck between their teeth, and lots of it, not just one/two pieces. It was very hard to remove all the strings (and I couldn't just leave them there...)

Were those bully sticks or something else? Anyone else also have that type of issue? Was I suppose to leave the strings and the dogs would have gotten them out naturally?