What chew toys are safe for a dog? - Animal Hospital of Statesville
What I tell people is that the chew toy has to be softer than the tooth. When things are harder than the tooth, the tooth loses. Things like cow hooves and deer antlers and even some of these harder Nylabones can fracture a tooth. And once that happens, we're looking at either root canal or extraction of the tooth because that's a very painful condition for the pet. There are many quality chewies out there. We carry some CET rawhide chews that have some stuff in to help keep the mouth healthy. They can work nicely, but you've got to be careful. I'm also a big fan of KONG toys. They're soft enough that they don't break the dog's teeth, but they're hard enough to be indestructible. I've seen some pets destroy some KONG toys, but they tend to generally hold up pretty well. I’m not a big fan of either Pigs’ ears or bully sticks and find them kind of gross. Pigs' ears are fatty. Bully sticks are bull penises, and that's not something I would want to give my dog.