A couple of weeks ago I decided to pick up a
Nylabone for Athena. I am always on the hunt for dog toys that can stand up to our power chewer. One of Athena's favorite things to chew on is actually cheap tennis balls, but she destroys them within a few minutes. She will also sit quietly for hours if we give her a
cow knee cap to chew on.
When looking for toys to satisfy our pitbull's desire to chew, I found that many people online suggest Nylabones. I even saw that Ms. M and Mr. B from
Two Pitties in the City have a Nylabone. However, for how many people that praise Nylabones, there are just as many people who are against them.
Nylabones are not actually real bones, but are nylon bones that are flavored and shaped like actual animal bones. When dogs chew on them, small pieces of nylon come off from the bone. It is said that the nylon is safe for dogs to ingest because it comes off in such small pieces. However, many people caution the use of Nylabones for dogs who are able to chew off larger chunks that could cause blockages.
When we first introduced Athena to her Nylabone, we supervised her the entire time and continually checked the bone to see if she was able to chew off large pieces from it. We continue to inspect the bone after each time that Athena is allowed to chew on it. So far, Athena has not made any large dents in the bone, but rather has made one side kind of jagged.
Whenever we crate Athena, we always give her something to chew on. Often times we leave her with her Nylabone, however we have found that she is much more content in her crate if left with a cow knee cap (we are currently working on her minor separation anxiety while crated).
Athena is currently chewing on the
BIG Beef Bone.
The next time that we buy her another Nylabone we plan to get the large
DuraChew Galileo Bone because I have read that is the strongest in the Nylabone brand and our trainer also suggested it to us.
The only bad thing that I can say about the Nylabone is that it starts to look really gnarly. It seems to collect all of Athena's fur that she has shed and anything else that is lingering on the carpet. But, she doesn't really seem to mind =)
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| Don't mind the ick! |
Oh I forgot to mention that Athena is only allowed to chew on her bone for small periods of time because if she has it for too long she decides that it's time to play and will whip it around the house almost causing injuries to us and the furniture!
Do you let your pooches chew on Nylabones? Which ones have you found to work best for power chewers?
-A
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