Spoiling our Dogs and Puppies

[Linus]

Hey everyone,

For many of us, our dogs/puppies are our babies. As some of you know we have two pugs (Lily and Lafawnda). We do spoil them but it's all good. One of the things I've been trying to find is something that will keep them busy during the day. We have given them filled hooves in the past but that's more hit and miss as to success. Lily is finicky about the kind and filling; Fawnda, however, doesn't care.

We've given them rib bones before but they tend to crack and eat them. I'm hoping to find a bone type that will keep them busy (thinking soup bone perhaps?). So I was curious as to what things you give your little ones to keep them busy as well as help their teeth and chewing habits.

This also can be a thread for ideas on food types (we've become partial to Blue Buffalo) and other discussions.

[Talon]

I have a 160Lb. bulldog and he chews A LOT of bones. It costs me $100 a month just to keep him in bones. He really loves those huge mammoth bones (cow femur), as well as, the extra large knuckle bones. His teeth are pearly- white from all that chewing he does, and he also doesn't end up chewing on things that he shouldn't. These two types are the only ones that I've found, that he can't completely destroy within the hour...they actually last several days.

[Linus]

Originally Posted by Talon

I have a 160Lb. bulldog and he chews A LOT of bones. It costs me $100 a month just to keep him in bones. He really loves those huge mammoth bones (cow femur), as well as, the extra large knuckle bones. His teeth are pearly- white from all that chewing he does, and he also doesn't end up chewing on things that he shouldn't. These two types are the only ones that I've found, that he can't completely destroy within the hour...they actually last several days.

Oh.. next doggie is gonna be a bully.

And good to know. I'll look into those knuckle bones (the femur bones might be a bit big)

[starryeyes]

There is a prescription dog food you can buy at a vet called "Prescription Diet t/d Canine Dental Health" that helps clean dogs teeth, if that is your concern. You can also buy it and use it as treats. They are big nuggets and your dog has to chew each one up and it scrapes the plaque off! My vet gives us a big bag full of it everytime we come in for free, so we have been using it at treats. I don't know if I would switch over to it full-time.... Justin and I are discussing it. My Aussie has gastrointestinal issues, so changing his dog food completely is a nightmare! But, if it saves a trip to the vet for a teeth cleaning, it might be with it. Hmmm.

[Linus]

Originally Posted by starryeyes

There is a prescription dog food you can buy at a vet called "Prescription Diet t/d Canine Dental Health" that helps clean dogs teeth, if that is your concern. You can also buy it and use it as treats. They are big nuggets and your dog has to chew each one up and it scrapes the plaque off! My vet gives us a big bag full of it everytime we come in for free, so we have been using it at treats. I don't know if I would switch over to it full-time.... Justin and I are discussing it. My Aussie has gastrointestinal issues, so changing his dog food completely is a nightmare! But, if it saves a trip to the vet for a teeth cleaning, it might be with it. Hmmm.

Teeth cleaning isn't the main reason. It's more of a "keeping busy and chewing on something" kind of thing.

[Sachita]

I take care of dogs for a living. Most of my dogs are long term board from military families, special services and families in transition. We are able to offer a discount and many times it based on the circumstances.

I have my own dogs and most of the time I have 4-6. Always adopted and somehow they find me. My dogs are my children and I am Auntie Tam to all the rest. They equally get spoiled. I can't stand it when an animal is suffering at any capacity. This includes sad and lonely. I have dogs everywhere! My house and out buildings set up with dog doors, decks, special ramps, each area has hammocks, AC/heat and I'm great at matching them up into mini packs.

I am a huge advocate of food because I take care of so many dogs I see a lot. You can pretty much look at a dog and tell if that dog has been fed a good food. Most dog foods are harmful in my opinion. Most made with rendered meats from overseas, fillers and chemicals. I've seen serious illnesses healed just from changing a dogs diet. I personally like a grain free food and use Taste of The Wild here. I've seen great results in the overall health of a dog. But there are so instances where I feel some grain is good for a certain age or breed. Some dogs just need those extra carbs. I don't give my dogs or any dogs treats with artificial ingredients. They get plain biscuit or treats I make myself from sweet potatoes, jerky, etc. I give dogs carrots, bananas, romaine lettuce (which they love and it's excellent for them) kale chips, peanut butter crackers or I even make little whole wheat toasted peanut butter sammie's with honey and banana. I have a rule of thumb- if it will harm me to eat it then my dog isn't eating it. This isn't to say I'd eat the kibble I feed them but if I wanted to I could without it harming me. So many dog foods and treats clearly say NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. Do you really want to feed this to your beloved pet?

We don't normally take puppies under 6 months because of how we are set up, however I am potty training a little pit mix now. The girl adopted her from SPCA only to find out that her lease states no dogs under 6 months. rather then her returning the dog, which she didn;t want, I agreed to take her for a few months and help potty train. I had forgotten how much work puppies are. I won;t do it again unless I HAVE to. lol But I'm impressed that the girls committed to pay for boarding and is seeking a dog friendly house. I think people like this are angels because too many people discard dogs and pets because their life plans change.

Getting rid of my dogs is not an option for me. I'd literally live in a tent then not be able to give them the life I promised them.

[stepfordfemme]

Kongs are a lifesaver and keep the dogs mind active.

Please all who read this thread be very careful about the type of bones you feed your dogs!!!! I prefer ones that are baked and I think as previously mentioned from the leg or massive knuckle bones.

Certain types of rawhide are also indigestible to dogs!

I highly recommend finding a specialty pet store (not a chain) for natural pet treats. My local store is amazing and they care about what your animals are eating. So I try and support their efforts. Their shirts say "my dogs eat better than I do" which is funny and somewhat true.

My dogs have a lot of special treats like tendons/ bullies (these are yucky but healthier than rawhide), and certain bones.

Love this thread!

[Sachita]

OHHHHH chewing is sometimes a HUGE problem here!

I would not feed a dog Science Diet. btw

Old cotton socks are great. You can take long tube socks and tie a knot. You can even stuff something in it like a banana or peanut butter. They will chew on it for hours. We also use pressed rawhide bones. The pressed last longer. If you can get real bones these are great just be care they are hard and raw bones are best. But honestly the best for a chewy crazy dog is a squeaky ball inside of a tube sock with peanut butter on it or I buy Wild Alaskan salmon oil and squirt it on.

This is a helpful site for dog food.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

Shepard girl shreds, yes shreds rope toys purchased for her from pet stores. Kong brand? shreds. Finally after hundreds of dollars lost in "shreds" I bought some boat rope from a hardware store, 3/8", made a braid and burned the edges. Voila! a ropey even SHE can no longer destroy.

I also recommend raw knee bones from your local butcher shop for your larger fur friends.

[sharkchomp]

I have two uncooked femur bones for my dogs. They were cheap and the cool thing is they have real marrow (or whatever it is?) inside of it and my dogs will try to get that marrow out for hours. I am watchful that they don't try to take them outside with them to bury them though!!!

For years I bought purina lamb and rice and my dogs were happy and healthy on it. Unfortunately I can't afford that right now so I buy regular purina. Anything cheaper and my older dog - 13 - can't handle it and has bad bathroom problems. I also noticed my dogs poops were much smaller (probably more digestible) on the lamb and rice.

They're probably not good for my dogs but they are ga-ga crazy about beggin strips!!!!! Like, omg, just like the commercial CRAZY for them!!!!!! They also love love love pigs ears!!!!!!! Scooby will eat anything, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. Vegas is not a vegetarian!!!! And neither dog likes carrots at all. Scooby just lets them fall out of his mouth. Vegas will spit them at me with distain and flip me the paw.

~~~shark~~~~~~~~

[Linus]

Originally Posted by sharkchomp

I have two uncooked femur bones for my dogs. They were cheap and the cool thing is they have real marrow (or whatever it is?) inside of it and my dogs will try to get that marrow out for hours. I am watchful that they don't try to take them outside with them to bury them though!!!

For years I bought purina lamb and rice and my dogs were happy and healthy on it. Unfortunately I can't afford that right now so I buy regular purina. Anything cheaper and my older dog - 13 - can't handle it and has bad bathroom problems. I also noticed my dogs poops were much smaller (probably more digestible) on the lamb and rice.

They're probably not good for my dogs but they are ga-ga crazy about beggin strips!!!!! Like, omg, just like the commercial CRAZY for them!!!!!! They also love love love pigs ears!!!!!!! Scooby will eat anything, lettuce, cucumbers, etc. Vegas is not a vegetarian!!!! And neither dog likes carrots at all. Scooby just lets them fall out of his mouth. Vegas will spit them at me with distain and flip me the paw.

~~~shark~~~~~~~~

LOL.. they do have personalities, eh? Ours love little carrots. They go apeshit over them when ever we bring him a bag of those tiny carrots. They will try every trick we've taught them (Fawnda in particular) to get one. What I mean is if I have a carrot or two in my hand Fawnda will sit, shake paw, spin, lie down, roll over and play dead (especially the hammy dead of all four paws stuck up awkwardly in the air) to convince me that they should have the carrot(s).

[Parker]

When I got my latest FMD puppy, Sally, she needed things to chew on because whether I was home or not, that girl was going to find SOMETHING to chew on!

The pet store I go to keeps recommending rib bones, but like you said, they splinter and I dont feel great giving them to my dogs, even though in the wild, that is what their cousins would eat - I like to give them things that they can gnaw on without splintering and without being made of rawhide.

So originally, I got her beef tendons, but they were too expensive to do everyday (like $3 ea) so I switched to rolled up pig skins. I could get 25 of those for $11 - or if I wanted to spend a little more, I could get the ones with peanut butter rolled up in them.

The rolled up pig skins dont keep her occupied all day - maybe an hour and my Boxer/Pit chews one up in like 10 minutes! So if I had to keep her occupied for hours, I would probably go back to the beef tendons, but the really large size, which is more than $3 at my local pet store, but they would keep her chewing longer.

I also feel you on the hooves - those are hit or miss here as well. I have had better luck with antlers than I have with hooves - maybe because of the shape? Not sure, but my Boxer/Pit will lay on the floor gnawing on an antler for hours and hours. Again, they arent cheap, but they do better for me and my pack than hooves.

[RockOn]

Extreme Kong for power chewers ... Here is a link with a decent sale:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/h...r-chewers.html

Make sure you get the black Kong. My mixed bullies can tear up a red one quickly.

Like others, my two have gone through hundreds of dollars in other chewies but they are not able to wreck the xxl black kong.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

[DapperButch]

Sachita -

I am with you on the healthy food.

I only feed my dog Newman Organics, the regular adult dry formula.

http://www.newmansownorganics.com/pet/home/

I did MEGA research before I settled on this brand. It is on the costly side, but I can afford it because I have one small dog. If I had more than 2, I am sure I could not keep them in this food.

My dog used to scratch a lot (allergies), and his scratching pretty much went away after I started feeding him this brand. Oatmeal baths take care of the rest.

For treats my dog gets veggies, fruits, or natural, non preservative treats. Those baby carrots that come in the bag are great. I really see no need to get all those "chews" with all those preservatives in them.

In terms of bones, the contradictory information out there makes me hesitate to give him anything, so he doesn't get them often. Right now, however, I have been giving him Elk Antlers, as they are not too hard (Linus, my vet said the one thing to never give a dog is soup bones because it can break their teeth).

I haven't purchased from this company, but just wanted to toss up a link so people know what I am talking about:

http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/...k_antlers.html


I think I am going to order him some (don't know which site yet...need to research it), as I have been just buying them in the pet store and I see they are much cheaper online.

In terms of chewing bones in order to keep your dog's teeth clean, you always have the option to just brush them.

Good topic, Linus.

[Okiebug61]

We can't give our doxies any squeaky toys, they go nuts. I buy them the dollar stuffed toys and they love them.

Our aussie loves ropes, sticks, balls just about anything she can carry in her mouth. I got her a huge rawhide bone for christmas and she drags it everywhere.

[ButchEire]

We have a 13 year old pug and a younger (maybe 7?) jackahuahua and they get what I call a "modified" raw diet. A true raw diet is prohibitive at this time, mainly due to the time needed for preparation. Instead, the dogs get Nature's Instinct grain-free kibble with raw pieces. Pugs are notoriously allergic dogs and pug Winston's allergy is to grains, so he can't have any. On top of the kibble, they also get cooked chicken breast and a frozen vegetable (broccoli, peas, cauliflower, etc.). For chewing, they get the very occasional raw meaty bone from the butcher. Raw bones don't splinter, only cooked ones do and pugs also cannot have rawhide because their digestive systems don't handle it well. Winston's treats typically consist of raw baby tomatoes and he rarely gets any biscuits. The dogs also get digestive enzymes, flaxseed oil and Winston gets milk thistle and a holistic remedy for Cushing's disease. Spoiled? Sure, but my belief is that it saves on vet bills and it seems to work. At 13, Winston still runs around the yard!

[Parker]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

In terms of bones, the contradictory information out there makes me hesitate to give him anything, so he doesn't get them often. Right now, however, I have been giving him Elk Antlers, as they are not too hard (Linus, my vet said the one thing to never give a dog is soup bones because it can break their teeth).

I haven't purchased from this company, but just wanted to toss up a link so people know what I am talking about:

http://www.bestbullysticks.com/home/...k_antlers.html

Yes - these are exactly what I was talking about - my local pet store carries them so I cant give advice on an online supplier as I havent tried any - but they keep my Boxer/Pit occupied for hours at a time without splintering apart like bones.

Both my FMDs, who are smaller dogs (20-35 lbs) like them as well, but not as much as something softer, like a chew - but even if my big boy stops gnawing on one for a while, he will come back to it again and again and it will take him a few days to gnaw down to a little nub - which is when I toss it and get another.

[girl_dee]

Spoil the pups? i never do this so have no input.

Ahem

[Bleu]

My Mini Tonka, all 3.8 lbs. of her is under a blanket all winter. She has two beds and a special blanket that tucks into my covers so there is no question she remains toasty.

She gets a quarter of a large multi vitamin everyday and my mom, her Grammy, squirts a half teaspoon of salmon oil on her food.

Buddy the German Shepherd gets a full size multi and about two tablespoons of the salmon oil and he is just so spoiled too. In fact, my mom keeps a sheet on the other side of her bed so that when he comes in to greet her and snuggle he can get on it. Oh he's topped out at an even 100 lbs.

Everything is washed weekly and oh my gosh yes, they are our babies and are as spoiled as we are.

*sigh* J'adore my dogs! They are the most loyal and devoted of friends.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Parker

Yes - these are exactly what I was talking about - my local pet store carries them so I cant give advice on an online supplier as I havent tried any - but they keep my Boxer/Pit occupied for hours at a time without splintering apart like bones.

Both my FMDs, who are smaller dogs (20-35 lbs) like them as well, but not as much as something softer, like a chew - but even if my big boy stops gnawing on one for a while, he will come back to it again and again and it will take him a few days to gnaw down to a little nub - which is when I toss it and get another.

Yes, I noticed after I wrote that you mentioned the Elk Antlers, as well. It is nice to get a bit of time out of a bone!