BASIC CHEWING NEEDS
Puppies need to chew. It is a necessary part of their physical and mental development.
They develop muscles and necessary life skills as they drag objects around, fight for possession, and vocalize
alerts and warnings. Puppies chew on things to explore their world. They are using their sense of taste to determine
what is food and what is not. How else can the puppy tell an electric cord from a lizard? Puppies that have adequate
chew toys tend to have less destructive behavior, develop stronger physically, and have less chance of having
retained puppy teeth. You should examine your puppy's mouth at least weekly during the first year of life, to
check for infected gums, foreign objects, and tooth problems.
Puppies and young dogs need something with resistance to
chew on while their teeth and jaws are developing. They need this in order to cut the
puppy teeth, to induce the growth of the permanent teeth under the puppy teeth, to assist in getting rid of the
puppy teeth on time, to help the permanent teeth to erupt through the gums, to assure normal jaw development and
to settle the permanent teeth into the jaws. Tooth and jaw development will normally continue until he is about
1 year old but sometimes continues much longer, depending on the individual dog, its chewing exercise , rate
of calcium utilization, and many factors, which affect the development of individual dog. Diseases,
like distemper, for example, might sometimes arrest development of the teeth and jaws, which may resume
months or even years later.
NATURAL CHEW BONES
Strong natural bones, such as 6 to 8 inch lengths of round shin bone from mature beef--either
the kind you can get from your butcher or one of the many commercial varieties available in pet stores--may serve your dog's
teething needs, if his mouth is large enough to handle them effectively, BUT constant chewing on hard bones
wear down a dog's teeth. Natural bones are very abrasive and should be used SPARINGLY.
You may be tempted to give your puppy a smaller bone. He may not be able to break it
when you give it to him, but puppies grow fast and the power of their jaws are constantly increasing until maturity.
This means that a growing puppy may break one of the smaller bones at any time and may swallow the small pieces and die
painfully before you even realized that there was a problem.
RAWHIDE CHEWS
The most popular material from which dog chews are made is the hide from cows, horses,
and other animals. Most of these chews are made in foreign countries where the quality of the hide is not good enough
to make leather. These foreign hides may contain lead, antibiotics, arsenic, or insecticides that could be harmful
or lethal to the health of your puppy or dog...or even your children!! It is not impossible for a small child to get
hold of one of these chews, as they are usually on the floor where small children are crawling and walking. Rawhide
chews do not serve the puppy's primary chewing functions very well. They are also a bit messy when they are wet from
being in a dog's mouth, and most dogs chew them up quite rapidly. Up until recently, they had been considered
safe for dogs, but now there are studies being done to see if they are actually safe or not.
Rawhide is flavorful to dogs. They like it. Currently, some veterinarians
have attributed cases of acute constipation to large pieces of undigested rawhide in the dog's intestines.
Before you offer your POM rawhide chews, consult your veterinarian. Veterinarians
have a lot of experience with different dog chewing devices. Ask him what he recommends for your POM to chew on.
NYLON CHEW TOYS
The nylon bones, especially those with a natural meat and bone flavor added, are
probably the most complete, safe, and economical to the dog's chewing need. Dogs can't break them or bite
off sizeable chunks, therefore they are completely safe. And being longer lasting than other things offered for
the purpose, they are very economical. Hard chewing raises little bristle-like projections on the surface of the
nylon bones to provide effective interim tooth cleaning and vigorous gum massage, much in the same way your toothbrush
does for you. The little projections are raked off and swallowed in the form of thin shavings, but the chemistry
of nylon is such that it breaks down in the stomach fluids and passes through without effect; the toughness of the nylon
provides the strong chewing resistance needed for important jaw exercise and effective help for the teething functions,
and there is no tooth wear because nylon is not abrasive. Nylon does not promote the growth of microorganisms,
and it can be cleaned in soap and water or sterilized by boiling in water.
There are a great variety of NYLABONE products available that veterinarians recommend as safe
and healthy to your dog or puppy to chew on. There are many nylon chew products that have been copied from the NYLABONE
product line. These are made of inferior quality materials and are sold in supermarkets and other chain stores.
The really good products are ONLY sold at pet stores, your veterinarian's office, grooming salons and other places
where dog supplies are sold. When shopping for nylon chew toys, look for the NYLABONE name for quality.
RULE OF THUMB
Good products have the flavor impregnated into the bone. This makes the taste last longer.
The smell should be undetectable to the human nose. The artificial bones that have a strong odor are poor quality bones
and have had the odor sprayed on to impress YOU, not your dog! These heavily scented toys may impart the odor
into your carpets and furniture if it lays there when it is wet from the dog chewing on it.
