My 17 week old German shorthaired pointer puppy LOVES to chew...anything. We keep the place pretty well puppy proofed plus he's a master of the "out" and is always willing to bring me what he's got if we miss something on the floor, so I can't complain too much. I keep him well occupied and make sure he has plenty of physical and mental stimulation daily including walks, thrilling and frequent games of "fetch" and tug, and brief marker training sessions. But he likes to have something to chew during his down time between "working" and napping. I had been giving him beef ribs when he was little to play with and gnaw on, but he is too big now at about 25lbs and can chip pieces off of them so they're out. My parents, who have been watching him a couple of days a week as we work on a separation anxiety problem, gave him a smoked beef knuckle bone which he loves, but I just read that all cooked bones are bad bad bad and will splinter and probably kill him. Yep, that's what I read. So now I'm not sure what to give him instead! Raw bones aren't a great option for daily use as the separation anxiety means I can't put him in the crate to chew and I have small children and don't want them getting some illness from the bone being all over the carpet. He has a nylabone and is happy to retrieve it, but he is definitely not interested in chewing it. I was thinking of biting the bullet and shelling out the $$$ for elk antlers at the local feed store, but then I read that those are also murderous and evil and will either splinter and kill my puppy, or crack my senior dog's teeth and give her pancreatitis. And to top it off, my mother-in-law is going to be watching the dogs at our home while we are away for two days and I have to get something for him to chew or they're all going to be miserable! That got me thinking, hmmmm...I hate hooves because they smell soooo terrible, but I won't be home, so hooves it is. Too bad I googled it. Evidently, along with being laced with toxic chemicals the likes of which Monsanto doesn't even dare use, hooves will also crack my dogs' teeth and kill them with splinters. Awesome. Any suggestions about what on earth my puppy CAN chew that won't kill him, me, my kids, or my other dog?!

Any access to fresh hoof trimmings?

A good option is stuffed Kongs. Get a couple Kongs, stuff them with peanut butter mixed with treats and freeze them. Also, get interactive toys that will dispense kibble/small treats as the dog plays with the toy. These will keep him occupied..

You say he does not do well in a crate due to his SA but what about an ex-pen? Would he be ok in an ex-pen while chewing on a raw bone?

Check into food dispensing treats. We have this one: http://leerburg.com/1149.htm

Also, these:
http://leerburg.com/1146.htm
http://leerburg.com/1109.htm

I'm also a raw feeder, so a frozen piece of meat goes over very well. I feed these in an x-pen in the kitchen. With my youngest, she REALLY wants to be with us, but learned to happily munch on a chicken leg quarter in her pen without being up my butt. Large frozen beef ribs were a hit with my male when he was teething. Also, http://www.bestbullysticks.com has many great products that are one ingredient only & made in the USA. I'm a fan of their bully sticks, bison tendons, dehydrated beef trachea and cow ears. We also use elk antlers with puppies without any issue. I don't give them to my adult dogs.

As far as puppy raising, the x-pen was an invaluable tool. Just something to think about!

Hooves don't crack and splinter IME. They're cartilage and they soften slightly as the dog chews them. My local Tractor Supply carries Jones Natural Chews hooves which aren't laced with chemicals.

There is nothing you can give him to chew that doesn't have some amount of risk. I can say from experience, Rottweilers and German Shepherds can easily crack and splinter hooves.

I give them hooves or rawhide or bullysticks when I'm able to watch them. Out of sight, I won't give them anything but Kongs stuffed with something frozen. I always have 6 or 7 of them I've accumulated over the years.

I have always liked long bones, leg bones of cattle, raw. They are clean and in 3" pieces the dog can tongue out the marrow, after that's gone they pretty much loose interest, IME. If you have "feed stores" perhaps you have a local meat locker which could provide you some of these. Not the "knuckles", the joints - I find the soft marrow under the cartilage on those inspires tooth cracking chewing. The long bones.

Also, for a pup, sticks - apple wood sticks, young growth. Not TOO exciting, but pups chew them and seem to enjoy them.

I do love the treat dispensing toys for keeping him busy and use kongs that I've accumulated over the years. You know how that goes, you lose one and buy another and then find the first (or fifth) one under the bed. But he isn't too keen on licking the peanut butter out and they seem a bit too easy for him. I'll definitely have to give freezing a try. I got the treat dispensing chew ball http://leerburg.com/1109.htm which is fantastic. So fantastic that I need another because both dogs want it. The problem is it rolls under everything and I have to fish it out from somewhere every 5 minutes...literally. Guess that's what happens when you have wood floors and high skirtless couches. :-/ He does not however seem to get his chewing fix on the treat dispensing toys that we have, though the firehydrant type one looks promising as long as there aren't any grains in the treat part as my older dog has allergies. I haven't tried and ex-pen and wasn't really sure if there was a need for one as the pup tends to always be where I am even since we stopped tethering. But based on the comments it seems like the perfect fix for my dilemma of wanting to feed raw but also wanting to keep my house clean and safe without being able to use the crate. Until then, I think I'll get some hooves for while I'm away since I don't think his little mouth is strong enough to crack them and my older dog wasn't able or interested enough to even scuff them in her prime. And I'm definitely going to look into the frozen chicken quarters and dried tracheas and tendons as I imagine they must be very tasty for dogs! Thank you so much everyone for your great advice! I knew I could come here and get some down-to-earth, BS free guidance!
On that note, if anyone else reads this and has it in them to reply to yet another novice question (I've had a few adult dogs over the years, but not a puppy for some time) I was wondering if it's normal for his puppy teeth to be broken or worn? Like I said, he chews a lot. His canines are definitely not sharp. They're actually flat at the tips, and his other puppy teeth seem pretty worn as well. I wonder if it's from chewing on the hard, smoked bones example, he chewed and I guess ate the entire right side of a huge beef knuckle bone in just a couple of sessions. Should I cut back on his chewing time and try to satisfy his desire some other way? Or is it no big deal for puppy teeth to be like that? Thanks again!