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Dear Kevin,
Ramsey is an 11-month old, 80 lb. mix, Boxer and Great Dane. He is very good about knowing what are his toys and what isn’t. The problem is I can’t find a toy he doesn’t destroy. He tears apart everything, he even destroyed 2 Kong toys and a Firehose. I am not sure what else to try to keep him entertained. Any suggestions?
-Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
Having a destructive chewer can definitely be tough. The good news is he has found a way to get rid of excess energy, and he is doing so appropriately.
If you haven’t tried the black Kong I would recommend that. It is designed to be even tougher than the red ones. If you haven’t tried antlers yet, you could give that a shot. I haven’t seen a dog do any real damage to one in a short period of time.
Regardless of what you buy, it is important that you keep giving him things to chew. He obviously likes it, and if he doesn’t have an appropriate thing, he will probably end up chewing up something that he isn’t supposed to like couches, tables etc.
I would also recommend increasing physical and mental exercise. This could stop him from chewing as much as he has in the past.You could also look into Nylabones. Just make sure he is supervised with those though just in case. I hope this gives you some help and if anyone else that is reading this has any suggestions feel free to post them in the comments below.
Thank you for the question!
Kevin Duggan CPDT-KA
Kevin is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT.org) and is a Canine Good Citizen Evaluator through the American Kennel Club. He currently resides in Ohio with his dog, V, a six-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix, where he operates All Dogs Go To Kevin, LLC, specializing in helping build positive relationships between humans and their canine companions using clear communication, not pain and fear. For more training tips and tricks, and to meet his amazing dog, V, follow him on Facebook by clicking here.
Kl
says:Our dog split vertically 4 molars–one on each side/too/bittom on nylabone. Expensive, 3 hour canine teeth pulling
esa
says:I agree about the nylabone my pup chewed one and I took it away when I saw how much she had ingested for a week she was throwing up nothing. I recently got some real tires… petsmart has them kinda pricy. But its been a few hours and its still intact. I wish I had read this prior to purchasing the nylabone. Horrible product should be taken off the shelves.
Tami
says:Our Doberman is a POWER chewer, black kong killing chewer and we have had great success with the Orbi balls. The continents fell off the earth designed one, but the one that looks like diamond plate has lasted months! They are also big enough that they are not a choking hazard for big dogs like tennis balls. The antlers have been great too, but the best thing so far is a good bike ride to tire him out. All of these discoveries came after a couch, a table and a hard wood floor…
Good Luck!
Mo
says:Have you thought about marrow bones? I buy mine at Publix and keep them in the freezer. My lab/pit mix gets about one per week. After the marrow is gone he keeps them as his toy and continues to chew on them. As a side benefit he has very little tartar buildup on his teeth which results in better breath.
Lori
says:Beware of Nylabones. My Max is a very powerful chewer, he is a boxer pit mix. I loved and swore by Nylabones for at least a year (and he just turned 3), until I noticed a pattern of chewing and vomiting. I think that the tiny pieces ingested were not passing as they are supposed to. The pattern appeared in both of our dogs. After we removed the Nylabone, there was no more vomiting. Maybe it was just too much too often. They will still get it once every couple of months, but for very short periods of time. We currently use GoughNuts. dogsgonuts.com (be sure to use THIS site, there is a reseller that uses a similar site, but does not guarantee the toys) We get the biggest toughest ones (they are black) and the great thing is they guarantee the toys and will replace them for a small fee that covers shipping. We have already send a few back, and the experience has been a very good one. I also recommend antlers. Max has allergies and this is one of the few animal related products he can have. None of these are cheap, but it is cheaper than replacing a destroyed recliner and repairing the arm of a couch. Both of which I have done thanks to Max! 🙂 I hope this helps!
bionicplay.com
This is our favorite brand. We have had them for 6 months and our guy has barely made a dent.