# Antler chews safe?



## Isabella

After researching antler chews & reading all the positive comments I ordered some for my boys. I handed it over to them & they were so happy! They started chewing right away, no hesitation. The problem is my older boy was chewing quite vigorously. Within a couple of minutes he chewed off a few pieces to get to the marrow & I noticed blood on the antler. I took it away & picked up a bunch of little sharp pieces before he ate them. 
The whole reason I bought these is because they are supposed to be long lasting & no splintering. 
Does anyone have any experience with antler chews? Is this normal?


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## ShenzisMom

Shenzi has an antler chew and she loves it, well, as much as she can love a bone. 

She'll carry it around, drop it a couple times, bring it to her bed, chew it a minute or two, then go to sleep. So, because she isn't a chewer I can't really say anything about the splintering. I have noticed it being in different places in her crate while I go to work, so I guess she just likes it to make noise. O well...


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## Franksmom

I saw these at a local Dog show and wondered about them, but my boy is a very aggressive chewer, I was afraid he would do like your boy did, so I didnt' buy any I"m glad I didn't now.
Thanks for sharing your story.


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## chicagojosh

my dogs have had a couple sets of antlers. i lost the 1st set camping. no splintering problems with the one's i got. Cody is a pretty heavy chewer and Mandi has her moments.


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## Whitedog404

Dexter loves to chew, but gets bored right away with the antlers. Luke, not much of a chewer unless it's meaty, totally ignores them. I'm still looking for the ideal and long-lasting chewy. So far, it's a knuckle bone. Oh, I did try those cow hooves, the whole thing with what looked like part of an ankle attached. Jeez. They're pretty gross and the actual hooves have fairly small bones in them that the dogs got to. I didn't like that, nor did I like the fact that they started cracking the hooves. Small sharp pieces, and I kept thinking they were going to break a tooth. Plus they were sort of messy. I still love bully sticks.


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## Caledon

I was lucky enough to have my dad give be a pair of deer antlers.

We sawed off an fair size piece and Dakota took to it immediately. Not her favourite though, she prefers Nylon bones. She is not an agressive chewer.


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## Pattycakes

I give my dog an antler chew. She loves it and so far I haven't had any issues with her chewing it.


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## Courtney

Mine has been chewing the same one since he was 3 months, now 12 months. His is actually an elk antler. No issues at all w/ them.


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## mvshepherd

Hello, I just got some elk antlers and my dog loves them. But my vet said an aggressive chewer (like mine) can scrape the enamel off her teeth with a hard chew. Has anyone actually had that happen? I got her big enough ones that she gnaws rather than bites down on them. Thanks.


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## Cheerful1

I ordered elk antler chews online from Yellowstone (should come today). It's Joey's Christmas present. He loves marrow bones but they're messy, so we're hoping this will be a good substitute.


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## onyx'girl

The blood was from your dogs gums, after chewing regularly they will toughen up. 
I've given my dogs elk and reindeer antlers, the reindeer are too small for GSD's. A friend raises reindeer and I get them cheap, but I don't feel comfortable giving them(they'd be great for smaller breeds). 
There is a local elk farm that I can go to and get any size. We got this one and then chunked it up for the dogs:
















They had fun dragging it around before we cut it up.


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## SamanthaBrynn

Callie and Casper both chew on antlers...Casper who is 7 actually broke a tooth on one. Ugh. Callie still hasn't had a problem and she loves them. Sometimes in her crate we smear peanut butter on them.


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## kiya

onyx'girl said:


> The blood was from your dogs gums, after chewing regularly they will toughen up.
> I've given my dogs elk and reindeer antlers, the reindeer are too small for GSD's. A friend raises reindeer and I get them cheap, but I don't feel comfortable giving them(they'd be great for smaller breeds).
> There is a local elk farm that I can go to and get any size. We got this one and then chunked it up for the dogs:
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> They had fun dragging it around before we cut it up.


Those look awesome! 
I got 3 antlers to try about 2 months ago, they were small about 4" each and I paid $40 for the 3 of them. My friend just gave me some fresh full size antlers but I need to file or cut the points down. My dogs liked the small ones, they were fatter and they enjoyed the marrow. 
My husband hates when I give marrow bones in the house so this is a "cleaner" alternative, haven't had a problem.
My friend gave them some store bought pork femur bones for Christmas. I gave them and in minutes they were starting to splinter, in the garbage they went.


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## 1sttimeforgsd

I use the large elk antlers for aggressive chewers for my two, they love them. As for the wearing down of the teeth, I don't know if that is occuring.


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## mtmarabianz

Guess I worry about teeth; don't feed femur, marrow bones, ect to dogs after loss of puppy teeth.
Broken teeth aren't in my budget, & defeats purpose of raw feeding = No Vet Bills.


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## Cheerful1

Got the elk antler yesterday. It's a nice size, but really hard.

We're now debating whether to give it to Joey. He's an agressive chewer, and we wanted something to occupy his time, but are now afraid of him breaking a tooth.

Are these as hard as a Nylabone? He has no trouble with that.


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## IllinoisGSD

Cheerful1 said:


> Got the elk antler yesterday. It's a nice size, but really hard.
> 
> We're now debating whether to give it to Joey. He's an agressive chewer, and we wanted something to occupy his time, but are now afraid of him breaking a tooth.
> 
> Are these as hard as a Nylabone? He has no trouble with that.




They are harder than a Nylabone.


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## Cheerful1

Are there any antlers not as hard as elk?


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## onyx'girl

Is the antler split so the marrow is exposed? The dogs want the marrow part of it which is softer. We cut ours into 4" pieces then split them down the middle to expose the marrow. My dogs are aggressive chewers, They handle the antlers just fine. They are use to eating raw bones however.


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## Cheerful1

No, it's not split.

Is there a way to split it myself?


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## IllinoisGSD

You can split it on a table saw or other like saw. Just be careful and use proper PPE


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## MaggieRoseLee

They have moose antler too!





 
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## 4TheDawgies

onyx'girl said:


> The blood was from your dogs gums, after chewing regularly they will toughen up.
> I've given my dogs elk and reindeer antlers, the reindeer are too small for GSD's. A friend raises reindeer and I get them cheap, but I don't feel comfortable giving them(they'd be great for smaller breeds).
> There is a local elk farm that I can go to and get any size. We got this one and then chunked it up for the dogs:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They had fun dragging it around before we cut it up.



Hey you should hook it up!!! I want some Elk Antlers!!


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## Cheerful1

We decided to let Joey try the elk antler we bought from Yellowstone Antlers. He loves it!

We only let him have it when we're home, and only give it to him for a half hour at a time.

Our friend saw Joey with it, and asked where we bought it. She has an 11-year-old yellow lab that loves to chew. She'd love to have something her dog won't destroy right away.


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