Morning everyone! Ziggy likes to have a chew - I know he's not on his own there! There are loads of nice bones, chews and things that a dog can sit down and have a good long chew on but most of these aren't suitable for puppies! Small treats just don't seem to cut it when it comes to needing a good chew! Jumbones are for over 9 months, raw bones apparently aren't great if given as a recreational treat, the hard biscuity bones seem to be for 6 months and over. Stuffed Kongs are great but don't really satisfy the chewing urge for Ziggy! Does anyone have any hints or tips of things that Ziggy can sit down and have a good old chew on, for example in the car, that are suitable for 9 / 10 week olds?
I'd argue that Jumbones are no good whatever the age - they are incredibly high in calories for very little nutritional value. Kongs are great, obviously - have you started freezing them yet? I also had a kong bone that could be stuffed, which Squidge really liked. She could get her mouth around the ends, where I'd poked kibble in, and give it a good chew to crunch them up. Otherwise, a raw chicken wing or drumstick will keep him occupied for a little while - at least at first!
My pups love the Kong Teething Stick available through Amazon. Found it really good due to the ribbed rubber so little teeth and sore gums can have pressure applied. It's also really good for puppy retrieve games with unexpected bounces
I give Stanley rawhides - I know they're not the best but he likes them and they keep him occupied for aaaaages! He only gets them as a very rare treat now and always supervised! I used to buy the sterilised bones from Wilkos too. Scrape the manky stuff out in the middle and soak his food and pop it in and freeze it as I left his Kongs for when I wasn't in as they were the only things I felt safe leaving him with
Ricebones are great for very young puppies (look like a bone but made of compressed rice) as they provide a decent length chew but also gradually dissolve. Once the pup has adult teeth they're useless as they just crunch them up.
We gave Merlin whole dried rabbit's ears for the first couple of weeks, which were brilliant for a small puppy, and didn't seem to upset his stomach at all. I have never seen them in the UK though, but I bet you can order them online. As he got older and started wolfing the rabbit ears down in under a minute, we moved to tougher stuff - currently he is outside chewing on a piece of dried tripe, which has kept him busy so far for at least five minutes. Yum yum.
Apologies to the OP for briefly derailing the thread but the gundog trainer in me needs to make this point. I never mix chew toys that my dogs are allowed to take off somewhere and, well, chew, with retrieving articles that I like brought back to me. I think mixing them up could cause serious problems later on down the road when training for a nice retrieve.
Rice bones kept my Bailey quiet for ages when he was that age....as said earlier useless now as take about 3 seconds. Also frozen chicken wings when he was teething were great, sore gums soothed and something for him to bite down on too (that wasn't me!).
Himalayan chews maybe? I give them to my pups to chew and keeps them busy awhile. Supervised of course when the chews start to wear down to small pieces, then just toss away. They last for a week or so.
