Quote: Sarah_Morris

Someone I work with gave her Golden a marrow bone 2 weeks ago and she cracked part of her tooth off. It has made me think twice about giving them to my dog even though he really only cleans them and slurps out the marrow.

Yes, I have probably mentioned this too many times, but my granddog fractured a tooth on a raw marrow bone and it cost a zillion dollars at Tufts (great job, though) to give him a crown. (He was young and would have had too many years without it.)

Connie and others: In regards to the dog-friendly jerky... Why not make your own? Talk with your butcher, tell him what you are after. He may either be able to supply it complete, or may be able to give you the beef straps for you to dry on your own.

Making your own jerky is a VERY fun thing. You can get it to taste JUST like you want, as well!

Luck!
-Jim

Recreational bones are BAD for teeth. I don't use them for dogs once they lose their baby teeth. My older dogs swipe them from the puppy's crate when I am not looking sometimes, so I have to be vigilant.

Having a 14 week old Malinois pup has caused me to be quite creative on the entertainment front lately. I take the Everlasting Treat ball we sell http://leerburg.com/797.htm and once the refills are gone, I mix up my pups meals of Honest Kitchen and raw meat chunks and pack the treat ball with the glop. I freeze it overnight and then after he goes out in the morning to go to the bathroom, I give this to him in the crate. It buys me an hour or so of extra quiet time in the morning.

I have started doing this for the 2 Corgis as well, because they literally inhale their food in mere seconds and it makes their meals last and keeps them out from under my feet!

I wish I would have thought of this a LONG time ago!

I would NEVER use greenies for my dogs, ICK. Have you read the ingredient list? Why would I want my dog to eat that???? What exactly is 'natural poultry flavor' anyway?
http://www.greenies.com/en_US/products_nutrition_feeding.asp

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I would NEVER use greenies for my dogs, ICK. Have you read the ingredient list? Why would I want my dog to eat that???? What exactly is 'natural poultry flavor' anyway?

I wouldn't feed these either.

SO, maybe I missed it, but where can i find the ingredient list for the everlasting treat balls? Of course like you say, you can not use the treats and do your own.

 Quote:

Recreational bones are BAD for teeth.

I do aggree that marrow bones are no good. Besides the tooth danger some aggressive chewers chew of chunks of the hard weight bearing bone that is not really digestable.

I like to feed some teeth cleaning meals, kinda half rec bone, half meal I suppose. Things like vertebrea (I happen to have venison/elk) with meat on it, provide good teeth cleaning power, and a bone that is hard but edible/digestable for my dog. That said beef neck bones are too big/heavy for my dog, I would ask the butcher for lamb if I didn't have the wild game.

Cheers,
Jennifer C

 Quote: Jim Thomas

Connie and others: In regards to the dog-friendly jerky... Why not make your own? Talk with your butcher, tell him what you are after. He may either be able to supply it complete, or may be able to give you the beef straps for you to dry on your own.

Making your own jerky is a VERY fun thing. You can get it to taste JUST like you want, as well!

Luck!
-Jim

GREAT idea, and I received PMs too, with instructions. Simple, cheap, and totally ingredient-controlled.

I even received a suggestion to freeze the results.... that way it doesn't matter if I somehow flub the drying and it's still partly under-done. It won't be busily rotting in the cupboard!

(That was my favorite part; I'm always nervous about preserving low-acid foods.)

THANKS, GUYS!

I love the jerky idea! I almost bought some chicken jerky strips made for dogs last year. But then I read the package and saw it was made in China - and back on the shelf that package went.

Jim or Connie -- can you share the instructions for making the dog-friendly jerky? I'd love to give it a try. Either PM me or post -- others might like to know too.

Thanks!