Best puppy/growing puppy toys/chews?

[CountryWolf07]

So, Ryder is coming home really soon, actually in a MONTH! Time is flying by and we're starting to get excited. We will meet him and get to know him next weekend (17th or 18th). I am wanting to buy some toys that will last a while (I know kongs is one of them, but something else would be great) - I want something that is durable and good for a puppy to have. Once Ryder loses his puppy teeth, I will give him a deer antler or elk antler to chew on, since I hear that is much better than rawhide bones. Maybe affordable toys would be good too! Any suggestions would be wonderful!

[Karen]

The rope-style toys are good, and can be picked up less expensively if you looks for sales - Halloween themed ones will be cheap now, for example, and pup won't care what "season" the toy is meant for!

Kongs are great, you know that. Old dish towels or washcloths soaked in chicken stock, twisted and frozen are good for teething pups - tasty and washable ... and reusable ...

[Taz_Zoee]

The rope-style toys are good, and can be picked up less expensively if you looks for sales - Halloween themed ones will be cheap now, for example, and pup won't care what "season" the toy is meant for!

Kongs are great, you know that. Old dish towels or washcloths soaked in chicken stock, twisted and frozen are good for teething pups - tasty and washable ... and reusable ...

If you do rope toys, get the ones without the stringy things at the end. Puppies tend to eat these off and that's not good for their tummies.

I got a Chilly Bone for Zoee when she was a puppy. It's basically the same thing Karen states above. You get it wet and freeze it. So Karen's way would be cheaper.

Kong also makes other types of toys other than the regular "kong". Unfortunately if you want to get good toys you might have to spend a little more than you want to. But look for sales.

Google Homemade puppy teething toys.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

West Paw's Zogoflex toys are awesome. Well, the Hurley and the Bumi are anyway. I didn't have much success with their other toys, but those two have been really good. They are by far the longest lasting toys in my house. Our oldest Hurley is nearly 4 years old already with hardly a dent, which is great considering how rough my dogs are on toys. Kongs can be good too, but they're not always all they're cracked up to be. We had great success with them for years until Ripley came along, and then destroyed every one we bought (the big black ones even). He likes to pick them apart from the bottoms and eventually that weakens the entire toy.

There are these new toys called 'Bionic' or something like that that are supposed to be very durable also. Haven't tried them yet, but I've heard good things.

Other than that, as far as chewing goes, I always have nylabones and antlers laying around my house. Even my puppies chewed on those. Bully sticks are good too and a much better alternative to rawhide. They don't last forever, but it does take young puppies a little bit to go through them. I also give raw bones to all of my dogs, including puppies, as that's a good way to keep them busy and occupied for a bit too.

Congrats on the new puppy, by the way! That's exciting.

[CountryWolf07]

Thanks guys!
I was just wondering, are antlers really that safe to give to a puppy of 8 weeks or just honestly wait until he's at least over 6 months old? I guess I do need to make sure he won't injure himself. I was just thinking of buying one that's either small-medium sized so that way he'll have something to work at as he gets older? I definitely will focus on looking for a rope toy that doesn't have frays on each end. I'll have to google up homemade puppy toys. I had no idea. Ryder is my FIRST puppy I will be raising & training. Hank is my parents' dog, or family dog. I was in college when they brought him home so they did the raising part. I'm excited, but nervous on what will bring. Mike is really looking forward to it, we're just happy to have a dog in our house and it'll finally feel like HOME! No place is home without a dog.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

Thanks guys!
I was just wondering, are antlers really that safe to give to a puppy of 8 weeks or just honestly wait until he's at least over 6 months old? I guess I do need to make sure he won't injure himself.

I don't see how a puppy could injure themselves on an antler. They're just a chew like any other. Puppies like to chew, and I think things that last are better than things that don't. We used to just give ours nylabones before we knew of other things, which again are a hard chew, and an antler doesn't seem any more unsafe than a nylabone.

The only way a hard chew of any kind as far as I know can be unsafe is that they do pose a risk for dogs as far as breaking teeth go once they have their adult teeth, but I still give them to my dogs anyway as my crew all love to sit down and chew on things for a long time.

At 8 weeks old he might not even be interested, but it's still something you can redirect him to when he decides your furniture looks tasty.

[Sowa]

When Clover was a pup her fav chew was pizzles I think they were called. I think there is another name for them but I'm not sure what it is. I stopped giving them to her as she got older because she started to eat them in about 1 minute. They lasted longer when she was young though.

Clover still doesn't like antler chews or anything hard that she can't break apart. I give her raw hides now, it's pretty much the only thing she'll chew that lasts long enough to make it worth while buying. Sometimes I give her a kong with peanut butter that's frozen.

I've had 2 Lab pup. Keep in mind they can be big chewers. My first Lab only had a couple toys. I was 12 and didn't really know much. She chewed up table legs, xmas tree decorations, etc. So when I got Clover a little over a year ago I made sure she had a lot of chew toys, and other toys (I'd try stuffingless ones) available. She's actually been very good as a pup. She never really chewed up much other then her toys. There was an old wall in my basement she got a hold of though Once she was old enough I felt it was ok for her to roam the house. But it was too soon cause when she got bored once and she ripped up an old chair (thankfully it was garbage anyway). So she stays in the basement until she's more mature. Haven't had a problem with her down here with me. As long as they get a lot of exercise (they get bored and eat stuff) and chews you won't have a problem!

I can't wait for more pictures.

[CountryWolf07]

For now, I bought Ryder two things - a Durable Rope Knot Ball Dog Toy (about 2.5 inches in diameter) since it should be a good size for him as a growing puppy and a Kong Aqua Orange Floating Dog Toy With Rope.

[Taz_Zoee]

I remembered these toys this morning when I saw Taggarts. This vendor was at a local Bark in the Park back in September. They make their toys from recylced climbing ropes. Not your regular type of rope that could fray easier.

Here is the website.

[CountryWolf07]

Awesome, thank you!