Question about Teeth

[MoonandBean]

Hi everyone. Sunny is quite an avid chewer. She has 2 toys that she hasn't yet destroyed but for the most part, she can destroy any nyla bone or toy. She just loves to chew. We have been buying her beef bones and boiling them. Then, we take the marrow out (sometimes we leave a little in) and give her the bone to lick and play with. She can spend hours chewing on it and while she can't break the bone, it sounds terrible and I worry about her teeth. Can she grind her teeth down? Does this sound like a good thing for us to be giving her? Also, is the marrow healthy and/or fattening? We haven't been giving it to her because she is already becoming quite the pork chop and we don't want her to be an overweight dog. Thanks for any and all thoughts.....:)

[shepgirl]

My dogs have always chewed raw bones and so far none have worn down their teeth to a p0int where I would worry.

[kfitzp1]

Hello. I was told to always give dogs raw bones so they wouldn't splinter. My dog gets 2 or 3 raw steak bones a week and several daily treats of those long basted sticks. His teeth are very healthyl He also chews up nylabones but we have had good luck with Kong products. I would have the vet do a quick peek at Sunny's teeth next time around and see what they reccomend.:D Hope this helps, Kelley.

[boomersooner]

We never gave Cassie bones...just rawhide, but sometime in her life, she either broke off or filed down all four of her pointy fang teeth.....She was quite the chewer, too....rocks, sticks, pecans....anything....I just wish Boomer would quit using us as a chewbone!! He loves rawhide bones, but he still thinks he has to chew on us.....

[Catlady711]

I would avoid steak bones raw or not. We recently lost a dog because of the owners feeding steak bones (yes they were raw). They splintered when the dog chewed them and as it was swallowed large chunks of it whole. Ended up perforating the esophogas/intestines and the dog did not make it. The sad thing is it was a very sweet dog only 3 years old.

A dog chewing on anything hard whether bones/rocks/fences etc can cause teeth to wear down especially in aggressive chewers.

[MoonandBean]

Thanks for all the input!

[mikkehla]

I buy Honeygirl these bones that I get at Petsmart. They are real bones and you can either get them plain or filled with stuff. Honeygirl loves to chew and the first one of these bones I got her lasted months (the stuff on the inside was gone obviously, but the the bone remained). The best thing for me was these bones only cost between $5-10, which may seem like alot, but for the amount of time that they last, a worth while investment.