Deer antler for puppies

[steve_b_wales]

I've read conflicting reports about giving a young puppy (8+ weeks) a deer antler to chew. Some say it's 'good for them' while other advise not to give it to them.

Your thoughts?

[old'un]

I would not be giving a dog that young antlers chews, its possible it could damage the first teeth or gums and cause problems with the second set of teeth, dried pig ear would be okay, others may disagree but its your choice Steve.

[steve_b_wales]

55 minutes ago, old'un said:

I would not be giving a dog that young antlers chews, its possible it could damage the first teeth or gums and cause problems with the second set of teeth, dried pig ear would be okay, others may disagree but its your choice Steve.

I agree about NOT giving them an antler. Maybe on their 2nd set of teeth, yes. The dried pig's ear sounds good. I'll check it out tomorrow at Pet's at Home.

                        Thanks.

[Ooops]

Regardless of age, the general advice appears to be "don't give antler to your dogs"

The following is from a discussion on another forum
"Following some discussion with other vets, particularly dental expert types, the advice on using antlers as chews is simple: Don't. 
If you wanted to design something to cause slab fratures of the carnassial teeth (the big one mid jaw) then it would be antler. Since antlers were marketted as dog chews, there's been a rise in these fractures. The fracture can be treated with endodontics, but you have to be doing it very soon after the fracture has happened, so most need full tooth removal. A chewing toy needs enough give for 3-4mm depth of bite, so yes, this also rules out bones."

To be clear, I'm lead to believe that for adult dogs softer bones such as ribs are fine, heavy load bearing not so much
YMMV

[Stonepark]

10 hours ago, steve_b_wales said:

I've read conflicting reports about giving a young puppy (8+ weeks) a deer antler to chew. Some say it's 'good for them' while other advise not to give it to them.

Your thoughts?

Simple answer is NO, his teeth are not designed for it, even adult teeth struggle with them

Give him compressed hide twist\straw chews and then when he can demolish those, move up to the 4 to 5 inch compressed hide bones.

[steve_b_wales]

4 hours ago, Ooops said:

Regardless of age, the general advice appears to be "don't give antler to your dogs"

The following is from a discussion on another forum
"Following some discussion with other vets, particularly dental expert types, the advice on using antlers as chews is simple: Don't. 
If you wanted to design something to cause slab fratures of the carnassial teeth (the big one mid jaw) then it would be antler. Since antlers were marketted as dog chews, there's been a rise in these fractures. The fracture can be treated with endodontics, but you have to be doing it very soon after the fracture has happened, so most need full tooth removal. A chewing toy needs enough give for 3-4mm depth of bite, so yes, this also rules out bones."

To be clear, I'm lead to believe that for adult dogs softer bones such as ribs are fine, heavy load bearing not so much
YMMV

Thanks.

34 minutes ago, Stonepark said:

Simple answer is NO, his teeth are not designed for it, even adult teeth struggle with them

Give him compressed hide twist\straw chews and then when he can demolish those, move up to the 4 to 5 inch compressed hide bones.

Thank you.

I read that dried Pigs ears are okay for puppies??

[Yellow Bear]

52 minutes ago, Stonepark said:

Give him compressed hide twist\straw chews and then when he can demolish those, move up to the 4 to 5 inch compressed hide bones.

These also have risks of choking and stomach blockage, particularly the cheaper ones.   Frozen carrots are good for pups and sea jerky twists for teeth cleaning.

[Stonepark]

5 hours ago, Yellow Bear said:

These also have risks of choking and stomach blockage, particularly the cheaper ones.   Frozen carrots are good for pups and sea jerky twists for teeth cleaning.

That's why the straws to start, can usually only chew off a little at a time. By the time they are 4-5 months and teething, a bone in each room saves a lot of wear and tear to the furniture etc.

[Stonepark]

6 hours ago, steve_b_wales said:

Thanks.

Thank you.

I read that dried Pigs ears are okay for puppies??

Unfortunately I have no personal experience with these but they are not usually recommended for puppies under 6 months.

[steve_b_wales]

1 hour ago, Stonepark said:

Unfortunately I have no personal experience with these but they are not usually recommended for puppies under 6 months.

My pup (9 weeks old today) will only have her plastic toys to bite on. I did put some strips of Carrot in the freezer. At first, she wasn't fussed with it, but she's either hidden it amongst her toys etc or eaten it. I'll check later.

[Jim Neal]

On 12/09/2021 at 07:12, Stonepark said:

Simple answer is NO, his teeth are not designed for it, even adult teeth struggle with them

Give him compressed hide twist\straw chews and then when he can demolish those, move up to the 4 to 5 inch compressed hide bones.

Sorry but rawhide??  You must be kidding.  Before I learned my lesson with rawhide I had one dog almost choke to death and the other sitting in a pool of blood with a haemorrhage.  That stuff should be banned.

[captainhastings]

Some of them chews from the pet shops used to devastate the guts on me dog god knows whats in them