Suggestions for good chewy treats

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:16 pm

Does anyone have a good suggestions for chewy treats...something that takes a little longer than a few seconds to eat. The girls love, love, love pig ears, but only get half of one every once in a great while because I had heard they are really not very good for them. I was going to get them each bully stick for something new until I found out what part of the animal they come from...now I just can't bring myself to buy them...they just seem wrong on so many levels. Raw hide kinds of scares me (heard of it getting lodged in their throats) and Tess and Tacia really have no interest in them. So, besides the pig ears, is their anything else good for them to chew on...keep them busy for a little while. Fiona just seems to get bored.

Dogdad · Post by **Dogdad** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:27 am

hmmm more than a few seconds, that is hard. The boys like lamb jerky and rawhides, I always take them away if I am not around but with Yoshi they last around 5 minutes and those are the 6 inch long fat ones

david

TJordan · Post by **TJordan** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:22 am

Butters can't have rawhides or real bones because he is a screwball. But we use Nylabone. They are suppose to be 100% digestable (unlike rawhide) and completly safe. They have many flavors, but Butters only likes the breath bone, go figure.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:00 am

Pure beef bully sticks last longest around here. I also give them dried salmon skin bones (they STINK!) but they only last puppy boy a long time. I also give them dried trachea (yuk yuk yuk) as they are a good source od natural glucosamine (sp) They last a while as well.

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:17 am

I have always been on that never ending search for something that will last but I can't find anything either, I tried the nyla Bone's in differant flavors but Pekoe won't touch them. I even bought that huge bone they have in a gift box at Xmas time she wouldn't touch that either. The only two things I have found that last more then a few minutes is a frosty Paw or a beef rib bone they may last about 5 minutes.

Post by **Zhuyos mom** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:16 pm

There is a treat review on the top of this section. The chows wrote up the reviews themselves.

ciaobella · Post by **ciaobella** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:51 pm

Amanda, dog chewies are just gross. Never in my life did I think I would sink to waiting in a long line with an armload of toothpicks (beef tails), pig shnozzles (puffy pig noses cooked like pork rinds), and bully sticks (no comment), but I just suck it up and do what I gotta do too keep Miss Picky happy.

There is a small store nearby that has the most impressive display of dessicated, dismembered barnyard body parts that I have ever seen, or wish to. It makes me queasy just thinking about it, but Sophie acts like it's Willy Wonka's factory every time we go in there.

It is vile, I know, but I try not to think about it too much. It makes her happy and I am a pushover.

ciaobella · Post by **ciaobella** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:57 pm

... oh, and lamb lungs. Bleeuuurrgh.

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:41 pm

Well, I found something that they do all like...it's still only a few minute kind of chew treat, but it is all natural, and healthy. They are dried turkey and chicken steak patty things, no other ingredients other than chicken or turkey steak. They are about the size of the palm of my hand and hard, so do take a few minutes to eat. Fiona has a Kong that she seemed to figure how to work today

. I have put some pieces of unsalted, unseasoned boiled chicken breast (our training treat of choice

) in it...then later a small smear of peanut butter (just to see if she would actually eat it...she's very, very picky). It kept her busy for a little while. She just seems bored during the day (even with two walks a day, an entire basket of toys, and free access to a huge backyard

) When she gets bored, she chases the cats, so the Kong did help fill some of her time. Maybe I'll take her to a new pet store tomorrow and see what they have.

Terrina Harris · Post by **Terrina Harris** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:10 pm

Amanda,

After filling the kong withtreats and covering the opening with the peanut butter, try freezing it. It takes them longer to get to the treats inside.
Did the copy of the adoption papers and the right pet watch paper work get there OK? I will need Brandon's pet watch papers back.
I love the new pictures of Fiona that you have posted in the other section. Her hair seems to really have grown since she left here. Give her a hug and kiss from me. I am really looking forward to seeing her again at Chowfest. It will also be good to see her and Ai Shu playing again.

Terrina

Post by **Auddymay** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:45 pm

Let's face it, anything other than those natural, disgusting-to-you treats will be over-processed and the 'hotdog' of dog treats. I suggest you suck it up and just turn a blind eye to those carnivore treats. They probably will be best, albeit disgusting.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:58 am

Fresh cooked chunks of tripe are like chewing gum for dogs. Turkey necks or chicken necks can be ordered from the butcher, and lightly cooked. Veal leg slabs are mostly calcium matrix marrow, and are easy to cut into smaller portions with gardening branch-cutters, if you prefer. The veal leg slabs usually result in a crumbly stool, because they are not as fatty, and are a softer bone. I cook all bones for a couple of minutes to sanitize them.

We've had threads discussing the above ingredients, and also mentioning hiding some treats in cardboard tubes, then folding the ends. Chewing cardboard tubes or boxes, or shredding newsprint paper, etc., are also good recreational stress-dischargers.

Somewhere with those archived threads, are treat 'puzzles' which the dog has to work on to get a treat out. You might be able to find the threads using some of the keywords 'chewing gum' "cardboard roll' etc.

ciaobella · Post by **ciaobella** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:06 am

Sophie had a funfest with a lamb leg bone that I saved for her. Had it in the freezer, and she had the best time gnawing on it and gnawing the marrow out of it. Nature's Kong. Really an outdoor treat, though, not really suitable for the living room floor.

I'm working up the courage to go to the International Market, they have a wider selection of bones and such. And rabbit quarters. Give me strength.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:21 am

Re: "Really an outdoor treat, though, not really suitable for the living room floor."

Plastic table cloth makes a nice indoor picnic area

ciaobella · Post by **ciaobella** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:30 am

Thanks, K. I'll try tying one around her neck like a big bib. Miss Thing does not deign to sit upon plastic.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:48 am

Re: "Miss Thing does not deign to sit upon plastic."

That's what happens when you allow them to poison their minds with Martha Stewart

An old cashmere blanket or silk sheet then, with coordinating velvet bib...

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:02 pm

Kiwani - How did you kwow that Millie lies on a silk sheet to eat her treat? Alf will be taking the cashmere I fear

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:44 pm

A belated warm welcome to cherished Alf of the cashmeres, from aunt kiwani! I looked under the cabbages, and this is all I found so far...

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:40 pm

Alf thanks you & is wanting to chew on it...

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:43 pm

Are the chicken or turkey necks something I need to keep a close eye on them with (choking?)? Also, do most butchers have tripe? I've heard of it (had to look up what it was) but have no idea where to get any.

The cabbage puppy is just adorable.

Layla · Post by **Layla** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:00 pm

I watch the guys with all their bones for my sanitys sake. They're never had any issues at all but, I like them to be in view....

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:52 pm

I'm going to have to try a kong with Pekoe, I pick one up and look at them everytime I go to pet-smart but then I think another never used toy to go with the rest of never used toys in her never used toy basket. Homeless people with dogs owe alot to Pekoe.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:54 am

Are the chicken or turkey necks something I need to keep a close eye on them with (choking?)?"

The neck bones are like a stack of finger knuckle bones, easily separated. You can feel them through the meat, and use kitchen scissors or small gardening shears to break the neck segments into smaller sections, if you're unsure about how fast your Chows chew/gulp bones.

You can do the same with the veal knee bone slabs. The center portion of the veal knee bone slab is like a fine meshwork of cartilage, a 'crunchy-type' chew. You can cut those crunchy sections into smaller servings easily, using gardening branch-cutters.

The tripe is also sold in large supermarket chains, and the availability might be seasonal. It resembles white honeycomb sections of rubbery meat. It does have a somewhat pungent odor, but it has been sanitized, and is not as pungent as canned green tripe for dogs. Cut into smaller chunks and cook for a few minutes. It's like a rubbery chewing gum, and some dogs enjoy it a lot.

WildThings · Post by **WildThings** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 9:01 am

I was grocery shopping yesterday and found a package of 3 all natural turkey necks so got them for the girls. I cut them into about 4 inch pieces, boiled them for a about a minute and gave them to the girls outside. Tess and Fiona both grab a little tiny piece of meat to carry them around the yard, eventually both leaving them for me to go fetch

. Tacia on the other hand had her gone in less than five minutes, then went searching for more. I ended up cutting up the rest, and freezing most of them. At least Tacia has a new treat...and the bones in them at least give her something hard to gnaw on...maybe help clean her teeth a bit. I will have to go this weekend and see if I can find something new for the other girls.

Grab · Post by **Grab** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 2:20 pm

My three dogs love beef marrow bones. Legend isn't a rough chewer, so he can happily gnaw on one for ages without me worrying about him getting pieces off. In fact, there's a rather haggard one out in the yard that he totes to and fro every now and then. They are great for my two small dogs too, they equally enjoy them.