What’s the deal with Nylabones?
Nylabones
have been around for a long time and have sort of been a doggy staple
around my house; I remember my childhood dog, Max, having one, and it
was one of the first things I bought when I got Leopold and then Halo.
If you’re a dog person, its very possible you're already familiar with
Nylabones. But if you're not, then this is the perfect post for you!
Nylabone
is a brand name that originally sold only synthetic bones. Though they
now have lots of products, their original bone is made of a hard plastic
that is supposed to be appealing for dogs to chew. The idea is that as
the dog chews the bone, little burs are formed which then scrape the
dog’s teeth, helping to keep teeth clean and healthy! For most dogs, the
bone is hard enough that they can’t chew off more than tiny pieces at a
time; the tiny pieces are safe for a dog to swallow and are safe to
pass through the digestive system.
I like to keep at least one
Nylabone around for my dogs. My dogs love to chew on them (especially
Halo!). Not only do Nylabones do a good job of keeping my dogs’ teeth
clean, it’s a good activity to keep them busy and happy. Nylabones are
good for powerful chewers and last a long time (Leopold and Halo have
been working on their most recent bones for a good month now and most of
the bone is still intact!).
Think your dog would like a Nylabone?
You should be able to pick one (or more!) up at your local pet store, or you can get them here from amazon.com:
Nylabone Dura Chew Giant Original Flavored Bone Dog Chew Toy
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Halo and Leo's Nylabone after a month of chewing. |
A word of caution.
There is a softer version from Nylabone that are advertised for
puppies. These bones are not safe for adult dogs or even older puppies.
If your dog or puppy is chewing off chunks of their Nylabone, take it
away immediately! (That goes for regular Nylabones, also—I know there
are some super powerful chewers out there that could possibly take off
large chunks from regular Nylabones, too).
I learned the hard way that puppy Nylabones can make a dog very ill if consumed:
Halo was still young when we brought her home—I considered her a
“puppy”. So naturally I bought a puppy Nylabone. I gave her the bone and
let her chew on it a while; she was thrilled with her chew toy. When I
went to check on Halo (I like to keep an eye on my dogs when they’re
chewing things), I discovered that Halo was annihilating her new bone.
There were chunks and bits of Nylabone all over the floor. It seemed
that Halo was eating some of the pieces, too, so I took the bone away. I
instead gave it to Leopold, who loves to chew things, but tends to spit
the pieces out instead of ingesting them. I assumed he’d do the same
with this chew toy. I was wrong. Apparently the synthetic bone tasted
too much like food and Leopold instead consumed the pieces he was
chewing off. I didn’t realize this until Leopold had consumed at least
half of the bone. He became very ill and spent the next two days
vomiting up pieces of Nylabone. Halo was also ill, though less so
because she consumed less pieces. It was awful and I felt horrible for
letting this happen to my dogs!
So learn from my mistake and be very careful when letting your puppy chew on a puppy version of Nylabone.
Happy chewing!
Convenient Product Link:
