I have a 40 lb Samoyed who is a specific type of aggressive chewer. It isn’t so much she destroys any toy I give her because of how hard she chews, but rather she is like a sniper. She finds the weak point in a toy and carefully chews it until the toy is destroyed. I had to stop giving her stuffed toys as she stripes the fur off of them and eats it. While nylon bones work, she will go through them in a few days. And I don’t want to give her toys so hard they will wreck her teeth.
The problem is when I go to pet stores, all the toys labeled for “aggressive chewers”, she finds the weak spot and destroys the toy within one day (sometimes within an hour).
I just recently got a tuffy ring and I was hopeful but she is chewing the ends and eating the fabric off of it.
Does anyone else have a dog like this and if so, what toys have worked for you?
Kongs are basically indestructible from what I’ve seen. We used to have a pittie with separation anxiety and a kong frozen full of peanut butter was good for hours.
Himalayan yak cheese/milk chew things - really durable, moreso than some of the bones we get. Our dog really isn’t into antlers, but my theory is that she likes the yak chews because they have an intrinsic flavor, and do actually wear down and give eventually. The only downside is that she likes to leave them in main walkways on light flooring, so I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die tripping over one, one day.
We also used to get chew rolls made from rawhide-alternative in bulk from Costco. They lasted a while, but we stopped getting them once we found the yak stuff, they get real gross.
We got the kong ball for our toy-destroying dingus. It’s lasted months https://a.co/d/1q55QPw
The dingus:
My dog is the same. We get these fake sticks. They are made out of wood but they don’t splinter and they aren’t as hard as Nylon toys. The pet store sells them in various brands.
I’ve also had good luck with some extra durable fabric toys but I still have to watch him. I don’t mind if he shreds them, as long as he doesn’t eat them. The key with those is the shape of the toy. It can’t have ears or small bits dangling off the side. He chews those right off then pulls the stuffing out.
Pig ears and antlers have always worked well for me. You can buy sizable bags of them for pretty cheap, so it’s not a big deal if they burn through them quickly.
Great suggestion!
Similarly buffalo horn, it’s almost completely solid all the way through, so it’s more solid than other chew toys which can break apart.
Seconding antlers which someone mentioned, great for chewing. Otherwise it’s mostly various plastic toys unfortunately. Rope toys are nice as well, because we got more mileage from them. Once he chewed through them, he ended up with two smaller toys which usually survived a bit longer though.
Stuffed toys are useless, lobotomied in minutes. Which is a shame because second dog would enjoy having them :(
I’ve also got a tough chewer who also happens to be completely disinterested in toys that are hard. Raw bones and nylon bones keep him entertained for a while but he loves playing with/chewing on plush toys. Of course most plush toys couldn’t last 5 min with him, so one day I went to the pet store and grabbed any plush toys that looked fairly durable but still plushie and tried to rip it myself. I could feel/hear whenever a stitch would start to give way.
The toy that withstood my strength and has so far lasted nearly a year of tug of war and chewing was Smart Pet Love Tender Tuffs (specifically, the beaver in their nature line). I definitely recommend giving them a try (as a bonus, you’d be supporting a small business)
My experience is the dog may need more exercise.
This might not be what you’re looking for, but my dogs are super chewers and anything that isn’t Nylabone or similar nylon bone they destroy so quickly.
Have you considered raw bones? I don’t give my Sammy most chews because he just destroys them in seconds. A pork femur will last him 30 minutes.
Beef is harder than pork, but I’d start with pork and see how it goes.
