Making chews

oliviarose · 4 May 2016 at 6:50AM

Is there a way to make hard chews for a dog.

Mine chew them for hours, as they are little dogs, and keeps them busy when I need to get something done.

But, I don't think they are very good for goods and they certainly are cheap. Is there a cheap way to make something like them that is also better for the dog?

krlyr · 4 May 2016 at 8:21AM

You might want to look at a dehydrator. You can buy them quite reasonable - I have an Andrew James one with a timer that was around £40, but there are smaller/cheaper (I have two big dogs so wanted to be able to make quite a few treats at one time)

I mostly just dry out different meats and break it up to make small titbits for training. However, I know some people will replicate the shop chews - so getting fishskins from the fishcounter at supermarkets or their local fishmonger, and plaiting these before dehydrating. You can get hold of raw pizzle to dehydrate, you can dry out strips of meat (might not be the toughest chew but might do for smaller dogs), you can even dry out fruit and veg, e.g. sweet potato chews.

GBNI · 4 May 2016 at 10:15AM

As long as you're keeping an eye on your dogs you can get bones for free from most butchers. Ask for small ones. Mine get a bone each every Saturday

they get big bones though as they're bigger dogs

teddysmum · 4 May 2016 at 2:21PM

I have neither given bones nor meat hide chews (solid pieces and not munchies) to my cavaliers for years. They have fish skin,instead.

First, one boy broke of a sharp triangle of bone from a raw marrowbone and got it jammed in his soft palate,then my (very)big boy, twice, nearly choked when a soggy piece of hide stuck part way down his gullet. (Once was bad luck,but twice made me worry about safety).

krlyr · 4 May 2016 at 6:16PM

The riskiest bones to feed are cooked bones, or weight-bearing bones (like marrowbones or the large leg bones from butchers). Cooking changes the structure of bones from flexible (that's why we can take big knocks etc. - it takes a lot of force to break bones unless they're brittle for medical reasons) to brittle, and that's when they can splinter and break into shards. Weight-bearing bones, even without being cooked, are also a risk, because they are so much more dense (think of how much weight a cow's legs must support) and this can also cause shards and splitering.

Softer bones, like chicken carcasses, pork ribs, etc. pose much less risk and can be given as a chew, but the bone will get ingested so best not given in too large a quantity otherwise they can cause constipation.

Beckyy · 4 May 2016 at 8:20PM

I would recommend raw bones also, as a raw feeder who has never experienced any problems with them.

Have you ever thought about a chew toy like a nylabone that you could put some peanut butter or similar on to make more appealing? They last for along time.

sheramber · 5 May 2016 at 3:08PM

A stuffed kong can keep a dog busy for a while and you can regulate what is in it.

Deer Antlers may be suitable. None of mine have ever been interested in them.

If you want something to clean their teeth then dried fish skins can be had from these firms

Fish4dogs

Skipperspetproducts

Seatreats

chris_n_tj · 5 May 2016 at 8:46PM

My dog is a little un and he loves to chew on a pizzle stick. They really do last ages and my Vet said they quite healthy and harmless.
I get mine from Amazon x

Timpu · 6 May 2016 at 1:34PM

sheramber wrote: »

Deer Antlers may be suitable. None of mine have ever been interested in them.

We read up on this same problem and soaked the antler piece for 24 hours in a bowl of water. Worked a treat, our dog now seeks out her Antler several times a day for a chew.

PettyDanvers · 9 May 2016 at 12:09PM

I use a kong and put pate inside, works well for mine

Making chews

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