the very best dog bones, imho.

[mopinko]

unless you have access to long femurs from cows, which last 4EVER, but maybe even if you do-
i found a little neighborhood store that has cow's feet. they aren't really much good for stock, by themselves. there isn't really any meat on them. but they are good to toss in, as they have so much gelatin. (i use/cook them first.) but the bones are hard as little rocks, and the round little shapes are pretty uncrushable. they last a really long time.
and there are a lot of them, which is good for us crazy people with 5 dogs. especially compared to the small fortune that you pay for rawhide.

[BTennyson]

1. Bones

Are very dangerous for dogs.
I stay with the compressed rawhide.
Much safer.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. some types of bones are fine

It's rawhide that's dangerous.

Some types of bones splinter, and any kind if it isn't strong enough to remain intact and can be swallowed in large chunks can be dangerous. It also depends on where you purchase a bone - a lot of specifically prepared dog bones come from China and can be littered with dangerous bacteria or dangerous chemicals. Same goes for rawhide if it comes from China.

Rawhide, compressed or not can be very dangerous... better to just not take the risk. Damn things are so high risk for choking and stomach or intestinal blockages that they should be illegal.

Marrow bones like knuckles are the safest bet, but again, one has to be careful where they come from.

Cooked bones are more likely to splinter but raw bones can be a bacteria nightmare.

[mopinko]

3. trouble is, dogs gotta chew. x2 for pups.

i do do rawhide, too. but i don't have any gulpers. i give small pieces, also. right now i just have a bag of chips that are about the size of the pam of my hand. i also cut these so that i can stuff them in a kong.
i bought a couple huge ones in the post x-mas clearance and i have sliced them up with a saw. just a small chuck.

these little toes bones are just uncrackable, and do not splinter.

[TorchTheWitch]

4. have you tried the sofa?

Seems that dogs always want to do all their chewing on the stuff you REALLY don't want them too... the sofa, all your paperback books, all the wires of all your electronics in the house, the very last roll of toilet paper late on a Sunday night when no stores are open, every single cigarette in the last pack, and pretty much anything that's brand new, expensive, and/or irreplaceable. Oh... and everyones' feet especially when you're trying to use them. Yet the pristine lovely dog bone is lying untouched in the middle of the floor.

Seriously though... I've had good luck with a great big ox knuckle bone. It has a huge pit of marrow in the center, and even these big beasts that can destroy everything else on the planet can't seem to make a dent in them. I'm not crazy about him hiding it the bed covers though. Everything else he hides in his binkie blankie, but the knuckle bone he insists has to get hidden in the bed covers.

[Kablooie]

5. Just go to the Goodwill and buy your pup an old sofa to chew on. He'll love you for it.

[moroni]

6. Check your local grocery stores

I get raw frozen femur bones (cut up of course) at my local Publix and Winn Dixie (sometimes). The dogs (rescued 1/2 Australian Shepard and 1/2 whatever got in the back yard with Mama) love'em. Great for their teeth and breath, especially since mine eat a B.A.R.F. diet.

[mopinko]

7. the ethnic markets are the best part of the big city.

i also get chicken feet for them, which they would live on if i would let them.
i found a place where the cow feet come with a yard or so of femur. yeah. talk about win.

[Meiko]

8. I use deer antlers

Never had one splinter and they last forever.