At what age can edible chewers be given?

[cefire]

My pup is about to turn15 weeks old and I am excited about sometime soon being able to give him an edible chewer as he seems to love to chew on everything. When would this be safe/appropriate?

[imogene]

Your dog is about to start teething like crazy so you probably want to keep lots of things he can chew safely on hand. I give my puppy chew toys, and raw bones and bully sticks even Ice cubes. Edible chews that are wheat/starch gluten based - like greenies and even the edible Nylabones pose too many hazards for my taste and are not allowed, even though my dogs go crazy for them.

[yomshanti]

The last person posted some edible toys and included Greenies among them.

Please, please do not give your dogs Greenies!!! These are deadly...my beloved Frenchie, Walter, died December 7, 2005 in front of me while choking on a Greenie! It got stuck in his esophagus and he died at my feet. It was the worst day of my life. If I can have anything good come out of my precious boy's passing, it is to stop people from feeding their pets this horrible product.

Sincerely,

Diane (Winston's mom)

[imogene]

The last person posted some edible toys and included Greenies among them.

Please, please do not give your dogs Greenies!!! These are deadly...my beloved Frenchie, Walter, died December 7, 2005 in front of me while choking on a Greenie! It got stuck in his esophagus and he died at my feet. It was the worst day of my life. If I can have anything good come out of my precious boy's passing, it is to stop people from feeding their pets this horrible product.

Sincerely,

Diane (Winston's mom)

Diane,

If your read what I wrote I said:

Edible chews that are wheat/starch gluten based - like greenies and even the edible Nylabones pose too many hazards for my taste and are not allowed

I understand your loss, but you really should have read my post as a warning against, not as a recommendation to a very dangerous product. I won't give my pets anything that even has similar ingredients to greenies and would never recommend a dangerous product to anyone. :)

Oh on a side note if you can safely utilize the benefits of chlorophyll (the active ingredient in Greenies) by adding a drop of liquid chlorophyll to their water dish. It will freshen breath, and help reduce tartar - it actually prevents tartar causing proteins from attaching to tooth enamel. I have a cat with very bad teeth and have notice a marked improvment in his teeth and breath since I started adding it to his water. (I use 1 drop for ever 8 oz of water)

[cefire]

So it sounds like he is old enough to safely give him chews then? I will monitor him when I give them but I heard somewhere that he might still be too young for these.

:confused:

[Roland]

If you want to be "safe" SUPERVISE HIM while he chews, and give him a LARGER size chew than what is even recommended. For instance, if your pup weighs 10 pounds, give him the durable-type nylabone sized for dogs over 20 or 30 pounds (etc.). I say this because Frenchies have large mouths and the things they choke on tend to be small things that splinter or which they try to gulp.

[gmacleod]

So it sounds like he is old enough to safely give him chews then?

Well, it depends on what you're going to give. There is no age limit for when it's safe to give raw meaty bones to chew on (and actually, that is just about the only edible chew item I'd ever give). Non-edible nylabones are also OK - but choose something too large to be swallowed.

As for the likes of greenies, raw hides, pigs ears, hooves etc - I would not give those to a dog, of any age, under any circumstances. That's just a good way for the dog to end choking, obstructed or with bacterial poisoning (not to mention the noxious chemicals). Some people find bully sticks OK - personally, I would not feed those either. Stick with natural food and recreational chew items - it's much safer ;)

[Chris&Eti]

Another reason to avoid edible chews apart from the choking and obstruction hazards mentioned above is the junk ingredients-wheat/corn/potato starch. Some of them are made with reconstituted rawhide so the're not even digestible as the label claims.

Some other alternatives are Booda rope toys and Kongs that you can fill with banana or peanut butter.

[Boykins]

One other thought...if you're really concerned, perhaps try to stick with items that are tough but still water-soluble. There are some really tough naturally made cookies out there (I found one brand that was so hard I had to hit it with a rolling pin to break it), so your pup still gets to gnaw away, but if he/she wolfs down a piece that might be a little too big, it's likely that his/her GI tract will do the rest of the work.

I think one of the big issues with things like Greenies and chewies is that they don't necessarily break down once they get into a dog's system.

Just a thought. I know lots of people have been giving dogs lots of crazy things to chew on for ages, and I think it really all comes down to monitoring your dog while it's got the chew. Even with something that the body can break down, it's important to be careful.

-sarah and boykins