# Nylabones



## justde (Oct 4, 2000)

Yay or Nay? Bones are too hard for my chewers. The past few years I've fed more kibble and less raw, so they can use some help. The kongs don't cut it LOL

Sue


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

A couple of years ago I took Rorie to the vet and her teeth were worn-they are really worn-and a couple had to be pulled -My vet and also the dental specialist said nylabones -which she used-were the culprit-so yesterday I go into the vet -and the receptionist was telling a woman what foods were best -toys etc -and she says nylabones are great- So afterwards I said not so much-she said she uses them to help with the chewing-but I still think if they damaged Rorie's teeth this much I would not have used them-and I don't have them now


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

We've used nylabones for years. Dogs love them so we keep buying them as they wear out. We buy the largest available as everyone is a pretty serious chewer on the nylabones. Never had a cracked tooth or any of those sorts of problems. 

As far as tooth wear, I think this is more genetics than anything else. Some dogs have genetically softer teeth that will wear down quicker than others. We've had a couple dogs with teeth were worn down to nubbins by the time they were seniors, or even by later middle age. And several senior dogs who have teeth that are barely worn at all. Neither group tended to chew on nylabones more or less than the others, in fact one with the softest teeth which were down to the gumline by the time he was 12 was less inclined to chew on nylabones than most of our other dogs. This dog was linebred on Umsa Bungalow and one of the few downsides of Umsa's genetics was softer teeth. So my experience is that if a dog has softer teeth in general, then certainly chewing on something hard like a nylabone will make them wear down faster. But if the dog has stronger teeth then chewing on nylabones doesn't seem to have any effect on the teeth.


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## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

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Cruz went through them so fast, I was worried about how much he was ingesting. I went to deer antlers until I learned about some dogs breaking thier teeth on them. So I went with regular bone marrow. Us use the old bones to stuff with alittle peanut butter. Still use bone marrow only now. I keep the bonea frozen between chewings.


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## alexg (Mar 22, 2013)

Chris Wild said:


> ...
> So my experience is that if a dog has softer teeth in general, then certainly chewing on something hard like a nylabone will make them wear down faster. But if the dog has *stronger teeth* then chewing on nylabones doesn't seem to have any effect on the teeth.


How can we determine that before waiting till the late part of the dog's life?


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

I just bought a pair of soft puppy nylabone chews for my pup, and I like them. I haven't had any issues with them yet, nor have I heard any common problems. I do worry about the little plastic pieces that come off it, so I don't usually keep them around for adults. Depends... these softer puppy ones are working out well, not shedding a lot of pieces at all.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

alexg said:


> How can we determine that before waiting till the late part of the dog's life?


Knowing what runs in the pedigree and family helps to know whether it's likely going to be a concern or not. But the most simple and easy way is to just look at the dog and watch the teeth. It takes years for the teeth to wear down significantly. It doesn't happen overnight so there is plenty of time to just keep an eye on the teeth and change chewing habits if they seem to be wearing prematurely.


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

my oldest dog wore his canines down with tennis balls. We stopped using tennis balls and now have antlers, nylabones and kong balls. There has not been any further wear on his teeth.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Wild Wolf said:


> I do worry about the little plastic pieces that come off it.


The little shavings are so tiny that IMO there's no real concern with the dogs ingesting them. They'll come right back out the other end. Though of course the bones should be replaced before they're worn enough that a dog could possibly break off a larger chunk.

Now those little slivers of plastic on the carpet is another matter. Those drive me nuts and the vaccuum cleaner often doesn't pick them up since the sharp little edges make them stick to the rug!


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Chris Wild said:


> The little shavings are so tiny that IMO there's no real concern with the dogs ingesting them. They'll come right back out the other end. Though of course the bones should be replaced before they're worn enough that a dog could possibly break off a larger chunk.
> 
> Now those little slivers of plastic on the carpet is another matter. Those drive me nuts and the vaccuum cleaner often doesn't pick them up since the sharp little edges make them stick to the rug!


True, true!


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## CelticGlory (Jan 19, 2006)

I gave a nylabone to my sister's dog and my sister's friends yorkie. As long as they are not power chewers I would give them, but if the dog chews a lot I would be cautious. I just don't like rawhide bones and she needed something to chew since my sister is against anything raw related.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I don't like the idea of giving my dogs plastic but....nylabones are really the only left I can use. Rawhide they try to swallow whole and get the runs, bully sticks last about 5 minutes (and again they swallow big chunks, just last week my 13 week old barfed up a 3" piece so no more for him!), marrow bones are good but given daily that's too much fat/marrow and expensive and after a while the bones dry out and crack, I tried this chewy "stick" toy that they love but it makes all their gums bleed, Kongs they literally rip apart and eat the Kong. Nylabones are the one thing it seems they can all chew for hours without broken teeth, bleeding gums, or breaking off chunks of dangerous material.


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## B&Cgetapup (Nov 7, 2013)

Chris Wild said:


> The little shavings are so tiny that IMO there's no real concern with the dogs ingesting them. They'll come right back out the other end. Though of course the bones should be replaced before they're worn enough that a dog could possibly break off a larger chunk.
> 
> Now those little slivers of plastic on the carpet is another matter. Those drive me nuts and the vaccuum cleaner often doesn't pick them up since the sharp little edges make them stick to the rug!


^^^^^^All of this!

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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

We also have a couple of these and so far I give them :thumbup:. 

http://www.dogsgonuts.com/

Of course they only work for dogs who like to chew on softer things as they have more of a kong consistency, but they seem to be VERY durable. Our kong destroyer, Colt, hasn't even put a dent in one yet. And the neat thing about them is that if a dog does wear them down to where the red "safety indicator" shows you can send it to the company and they'll send a new replacement for free.


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

Nylabones are a good alternative if raw meaty bones are out of the question as they allow the dog to satisfy their chewing needs, however they won't experience the joys of ripping and pulling meat off the bone. Make sure you choose the right size, bigger is better than one that is too small. In terms of teeth wearing down, the dogs I have had that their canines wore down and even lost their tips were dogs that loved tennis balls, I don't allow mine now to have tennis balls because there is something in the glue or fabric (can't remember which) that will wear down teeth.


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