# Deer antler good ?



## GizmoGSD (Jul 18, 2011)

i have been told that Deer antler was good for dog , and was a good replacement of the Raw bone and was more safe also !!!

any1 giving those to their dog ???

here a link : Elk and Deer Antler Dog Chews | Ruff Toy Reviews -


----------



## Paper Bat (Oct 22, 2011)

I see no problem with them. Titan has a deer antler he chews on, it lasts a long time and doesn't get all gooey and collect hair and other debris like rawhides do.


----------



## Yellowjacket (Sep 5, 2011)

I like them. And so do the dogs. You can find them on ebay.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh likes them too. He scrapes and chews and doesn't get big hunks off of it that can get lodged somewhere. He likes Himalayan Chews too


----------



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

I have seen these out in stores for awhile now. They are costly & imo, have worried about their teeth with these, they are hard!!! I stopped giving them the nylabone chews due to plastic & hard.


----------



## Discoetheque (Nov 2, 2011)

They're not as hard as one might be tempted to think, Jen. After they've been chewing them for a while, they seem to "smash" or conform with the direction they're being chewed while still retaining their hardness and without crumbling or splintering. I would remember seeing the ends flattened on them after one or both of the dogs had been chewing on it for a while. I gave these to Discoe when she was a puppy (back when my shop carried them and they were still relatively cheap to get...they've since quadrupled from the price I paid for them) and she loved them. I only stopped buying them around the time she 'lost' the fourth or fifth one. I guess they have a smell that most dogs love but is undetectable to humans. If you get a decent sized one, it may be costly, but I assume it may last you a little while. 
Nylabones don't hold up well in my house. Discoe is a moderate chewer when it comes to that kind of thing, but my other GSD, Reba, will have a Super Nylabone chewed down to the knuckle in a matter of a month.


----------



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Wow, ever notice if your dogs wear their teeth down ? I fear this with new pup as my 7 yr old has always been a chewer, don't want pups teeth to look like hers, wore down! I feared the nylabones doing this or anything hard or plastic. How about if you find these in the wild? Should you disinfect or anything?


Discoetheque said:


> They're not as hard as one might be tempted to think, Jen. After they've been chewing them for a while, they seem to "smash" or conform with the direction they're being chewed while still retaining their hardness and without crumbling or splintering. I would remember seeing the ends flattened on them after one or both of the dogs had been chewing on it for a while. I gave these to Discoe when she was a puppy (back when my shop carried them and they were still relatively cheap to get...they've since quadrupled from the price I paid for them) and she loved them. I only stopped buying them around the time she 'lost' the fourth or fifth one. I guess they have a smell that most dogs love but is undetectable to humans. If you get a decent sized one, it may be costly, but I assume it may last you a little while.
> Nylabones don't hold up well in my house. Discoe is a moderate chewer when it comes to that kind of thing, but my other GSD, Reba, will have a Super Nylabone chewed down to the knuckle in a matter of a month.


----------



## Discoetheque (Nov 2, 2011)

My 6 year old dog, Reba's teeth are a bit worn down, but she rarely got antlers. I do believe that's more than likely from the other things she's chewed, like bones, Nylabones and tennis balls. She's a hardcore chewer and would gladly spend all day biting something if you let her.
Discoe is two and a half and her teeth are in impeccable condition: pearly and pointed. She loved her antlers, and will chew on bones and Nylabones, but isn't as voracious about it as Reba, and I've substituted tennis balls for pure rubber ones with no coating.
Not too sure about wild antlers, though I would think they might need some form of sterilization to kill any bacteria that might have settled on them while they were sitting. Particularly if it's an area where problems (illness, etc) with the deer might be prevalent. Not sure if antlers can harbor diseases the same way the muscle does.


----------



## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

Our dogs love the deer antlers. They are costly but last longer than anything else we have given them. I don't ever give rawhide and none of them like nylabones.


----------



## LuvourGSDs (Jan 14, 2007)

Good to know, best way to disinfect? Hate to use bleach or heat in oven...... We have some we have found around here.  My female is also a agressive chewer. They love nylabones, but have worried about them wearing the teeth??


----------



## GizmoGSD (Jul 18, 2011)

well !!! thx a lot for all those answer / comment !!! .. i finaly bought one and my boy love it .. but i only giving it to him like 30 min a day for now since hes 3 1/2 month and still wearing baby teeth !


----------



## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

My dogs have been raised with antlers, deer, moose and elk. We have them stockpiled from hunting, I usually let them sit out in the cold/below zero temps for a day or so, then let the dogs have at them.
Can't imagine having to buy them from a store, I saw some at a dog show and I almost choked on the price. 
I won't use Nylabones at all. Had a 4 month old Sheltie puppy chewing on one and it broke apart and he swallowed jagged pieces. He had to have xrays, vet care and surgery to get the broken splinters out before they perferated his stomach. When I wrote to Nylabone to tell them what happened and sent them a bill for the vet fees, they wrote back and said" we are not responsible for this, maybe you did something wrong with the bone" However, they also enclosed a check for full vet bill as a public service to a customer.


----------



## coulter (Oct 13, 2012)

Is it okay for dogs to eat the marrow inside the antlers?


----------



## Thesilentone (Jan 5, 2013)

I might be getting ahold of some soon- I hope. I was always giving my dogs rawhide bones but they tear through them like nothing and rawhide can actually expand in their stomach which could cause them to feel bloated and/or cause digestive problems.


----------



## readaboutdogs (Jul 8, 2001)

I wondered about the antlers, clipper is 12, his teeth are worn down, I wonder if the antler would be ok for him, I never have liked to give raw hide cause they would always chew off a big piece and try to swallow it. The bully sticks look like they'd end up like raw hide. I Know he'd like something to chew on. Have a large bone, one of the sterilized ones but he's not too interested in it.


----------



## kagarcia (Feb 18, 2013)

*Deer Antler Sanitization*

I know this thread is about 3 months old but I wanted to try and get an answer about one thing: Sanitizing the antlers. I think in store prices are atrocious and I was wondering what need to be done about the cleanliness of the antlers prior to giving them to the dogs.

Thanks!


----------



## Sprout (Apr 23, 2013)

Bought a bunch of Elk ones on EBay and my dogs love them!
The great thing I've found is that they are not messy!!!!


----------

