Chewing is an integral part of a dogs life.
Many people give dogs chews when they are puppies to help soothe their gums when they are teething, but the reality is that dogs would naturally chew through their whole life.
When a dog is chewing it releases endorphins , these are feel good hormones which will help calm a dog.
I’ve watched my dogs chewing and you can literally watch them go into a Zen like state! They will then normally fall asleep after a good chewing session.
So chewing is great for any new dog brought into the home who might be a bit stressed, brought on by change, or just any stressful situation will be helped by chewing.
It is a good idea to have a selection of different chews, so your dog doesn’t get bored or become possessive of his chews… 2 or 3 options for your dog to pick and choose at will.
Chewing is great for cleaning the teeth too, a natural chew is much healthier and nicer for your dog than some of the products you can buy for chewing which are full of chemicals, my Mantra is always read the labels, we are very careful with any of the products we sell , they are not treated with chemicals and air dried, raw bones are also great…. My dogs current favorite are raw marrow bones…yumm, yumm!
Problems with guarding: dogs who rarely get chew are far more likely to guard, as its occasional chew becomes a very precious thing! So a selection of chews added to regularly will make for a happier dog.
Something I’ve never understood is the business of getting a dog used to taking its chew or food away?!? I wouldn’t be too impressed if someone took my food away mid eating and I’ve never understood why anyone would think dogs should be expected to deal with that!
So now what to give your dog to chew! Big chewers for instance doesn’t mean it has to be a big dog! Miniature Daschund’s for instance come to mind as a breed that will need something pretty long lasting to chew.
We also have many ‘gulpers’ that come into our shop, who will swallow the end of a chew and this can be dangerous, so bigger chews tend to be better for them.
Some dogs need a chew that will last them a while as they just love a chew to get their teeth into!
So here are some of the longer lasting dog chews we sell:
Ostrich bones (last forever even with giant breeds, but we sell these to many smaller breeds as they cant swallow then end of the bone)
Ham bones
Medium and whole luxury pizzles, these are super long lasting
Moon bones (very popular with most dogs!)
Cow hooves
Yakers dog chews…dogs love them and they last a fair while
Antlers, be it whole, or easy antlers, sliced in half, which allows a dog to get straight to the marrow, some dogs cant be bothered to work their way through!
These are dogs that I would say maybe don’t have the patience of getting through some of the above, for instance my German pointer has always had the attention span of a nat! He will very rarely chew for 30 minutes +.
Iberian pigs ears (as fast as they come in they are sold)
Chewy tendons
Pizzle sticks
Sweet potato chews
Wild Scottish Paddywack
Wild Boar ears
Turkey Feet
Lamb ears
Deer ears
Cow ears
These dogs might be less greedy, or older dogs that don’t have the best teeth!
Duck wings
Beef liver
Braided beef gullet
Lamb Spaghetti
Braided Lamb lung
Trachea
Duck feet
Duck necks
Turkey necks
Chicken feet
Chicken wings