# Bones and teeth



## NewbieShepherdGirl (Jan 7, 2011)

I had always given Sasha rawhide bones in the past, but have recently switched to antlers. I made the switch for a few reasons: 

1) She's a really intense chewer and seems to always cut her gums on the rawhide bones. 

2)I don't know how, but when she chews them she manages to make this huge mess, and I end up having to clean the carpet every time she does it, as pieces of bone are cemented to the carpet. 

3) At the rate she can go through them it ends up being quite pricey. I had originally thought that the antlers were more expensive (because up front they are) but since it takes her longer to go through them, they end up being cheaper.

4) I'd been reading that rawhides weren't that good for dogs.

Sasha really seems to like the antlers, but they seem so hard to me. I understand dogs were meant to eat bones and what not, I guess I'm just making sure that it's not too hard on her teeth to give her antlers. 

I also bought her, a while back, a bone that had marrow, or fake marrow, or something and it seems even harder than the antlers. Has anyone ever used them? I'm tempted to pitch it. It's so hard that she's had it for about a year and has yet to really make much of an impact on it. That seems excessive to me. Thoughts?


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

My family hunts, so I get antlers for free. None of mine are big chewers, but when they do they typically pick the antlers.

I'm not anti-bone for the most part, if you know your dog and know they aren't going to go nuts and bust a tooth, then I don't see the harm. That said, I do consider the antlers safer for dogs who are bit too intense with their chewing. They aren't as hard as you might think- once they get going on them for a while, they actually soften up pretty nicely, then harden again once they dry.


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## LissG (Jun 18, 2011)

my dog LOVES bully sticks and they last for 30+ minutes with him. they're the ONLY things that last that long with him. you can get them from www.bestbullysticks.com they have really good pricing (at petsmart they're like $20 for 3!!). i usually buy about a pound at a time and they last for about a month. i had to stop with the antlers for wolf because he wore his canines down pretty hard. same with those bones with the stuff in the middle. he LOVED them but his teeth are wearing. i had to get him kongs, nylabones, etc. but his bully sticks are always his favorite.


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