I have a two year old Catahoula/Basset mix. My problem is finding appropriate chew toys that he enjoys. Anytime we give him a chew toy such as a rawhide bone, basted chew, or anything that is made to taste like food, he promptly buries it, never to play with it again. I bought one of those plastic chews that you put treats into and he didn't care for it. The one thing that he WILL chew consistently is plastic water bottles. He LOVES them. I've kind of succumbed to this but I monitor the chewing carefully. As soon as he chews it to the point that he begins breaking off plastic, I take it away. I'm concerned as to the intelligence of letting him chew these and was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem. Help! Oh--we've also tried ropes, big cow-legs bones and the like. He likes to chew on plastic and wood. Any suggestions?

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Answers

I think its a matter of training and being consistent. Give him what you want him to chew on and if he chews on something else, beat him.

If you find cow-leg bones ok, give him some bones that still have meat on it. He will get the idea. Especially if its dinner.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Bones are bad. Cathy? You want to tell people why? Of course, I'm bad and do occasionally let Doc have one of those hollow boiled bones, but only under supervision and only because he's demonstrated that he'd rather lick peanut butter out of the center than crunch the thing into bone shards.

We also couldn't give him rawhides for a long time because he'd just unravel them and then swallow them whole. Again ... Cathy? Want to tell us about intestinal blockage? (Fortunately Doc just threw them up the one or two times it happened.)

I don't think there's anything wrong with sticks, except they make a mess. Doc also likes plastic bottles and we do the same thing you do, once a while -- toss it to him, let him chew, and then take it away before it becomes a problem. The only issue is that you have to be careful not to leave any out when you're not home. Doc once got a full bottle of Pepsi ... big mess but pretty funny, except he then had a plastic bottle without supervision.

My favorite chew toys are still big old ugly carrots, but apparently some dogs don't like them. We also use those Nylabone-brand veggie bones (carrot, spinach, etc.) Doc likes those and they seem to be pretty harmless, although they don't last long. He won't touch a regular nylabone. He also likes those Booda cornstarch bones, which are a little like plastic -- you might try that.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Another one to run by Cathy - what about pig ears? They might satisfy the noisy fun of chewing water bottles, but then again he may just bury those, too.

I never thought about carrots, I'm going to try that one with my dogs. I suppose some nasty tough celery would be a lot like chewing on a stick - with added flossing action.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

He's allowed one water bottle a night (he really seems to love getting in our face and making it pop really fast, he looks deviously happy when he does this during TV programs) and as soon as he starts breaking it up, it is tossed in the recycling bin.

He will bury anything that tastes remotely like food. Period.

My MAIN concern was any possible ill effects from the plastic bottles-- bad for the gums? teeth? wierd plastic chemicals that I am unaware of? This is what I'm particularly worried about.

Let me say that he doesn't chew on things he's not allowed to but since he buries everything he can chew on, he just sits there and gets bored. I don't live in a very safe neighborhood, so anything outside after dark is out of the question. If I could take him on a walk to alleviate his boredom, I would do so, but seeing as how boredom is much preferable to death, I don't.

I've tried carrots with no success but I am going to search online for a dog store that perhaps sells those veggie chew toys. Thanks for the tip, Beth.

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

One of our dogs doesn't like bones (not quite as extreme as yours, who buries them) - and I used to be at a loss as to what to give her to keep her occupied.

Now we give her paper. She loves cardboard, and loves to chew it up, and spread it around the house, and carry it around. Our Vet laughs, but she says it doesn't hurt the dog - just adds a little fibre to her diet.

The best are tubes that come in the middle of wrapping paper, which you can also buy at craft stores. They are quite heavy, and I cut them down, width wise, so that she isn't carrying around 3 feet of tubing.

I hope you find something that works!

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

The Pupster is in the pre-teething chew-anything stage, and his favourite toy at the moment is an old bright-orange-plastic broom head. He chews the fibres and carries it around, usually when we're on the phone. The other thing is pig's ears as mentioned above, but that might not qualify.

Not that I'm recommending broom-heads, of course; it's just so damn cute. God knows what he'll get into when he starts teething. Me, probably.

cheers

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Plastic and wood, eh? I suppose you could try feeding him on some Sydney Olympic Games organising committee members that would certainly solve the problem of what we'll do to them after the Games are over

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2000