Antlers hard on teeth?

[Arron (Shadow)]

Hey folks, we're new on here.  I was looking for some information on whether or not to give my 3 month old Goldendoodle an antler to chew on as I happen to have a few and I came across this site.  There are a couple of discussions on it and it sounded promising to me.  Then I was able to phone my vet and she really expressed concern over it and said that we should not give her bone or antler to chew on as it is too hard and will chip her teeth.  I haven't seen that part of the discussion anywhere else and since this site is full of knowledgeable doodle owners I thought I would post this question here.

 

Do you think antlers are too hard and will chip the teeth of doodles?  Sure don't want expensive dental work for our dog yet.

 

The reason I'm asking about antlers is our puppy is really chewing everything she can outside, shrubs, trees, wooden stakes, skating rink - all stuff she's not supposed to and I'm trying to give her something of her own to chew on when outside.

 

thanks

[Bonnie and Kona]

I don't know the answer to your question but the teeth your three month old has are baby teeth and will fall out. Our four month old puppy chews them and our 3 year old adult doodle chews the eagerly. I have found them to be a great option for a chew toy. I'll be interested to hear what others say about this, too.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I would cross-post this in the food group.  I think 3 months might be a little young for an antler, you don't want her to lose her teeth too soon.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Puppy teeth are much softer than adult teeth so can get chipped or broken easily.

 

I would stay away from the older antlers for now, but an antler from the end of the antler which is softer and has more flavour might be ok, especially if it has been slit in half lengthwise and the marrow is exposed

 

Id also stay away from SOME bones - choose pork, lamb or elk bones as they are much softer.

 

veal bully stick and flexi-nylabones are great for puppies to chew on

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Both my doodles came from their breeder with assorted playthings including a very small antler.  Neither of them seemed to suffer from chewing on it.  Both of them still enjoy chewing on their antlers occasionally.  When they were at the super chewer stage, I thought antlers were awesome.  I did not give them free access.  They were given when I was supervising them.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Maybe try bully sticks. My dogs loved them when they were puppies and they were lifesavers for me. I did not start giving antlers until they were older, but mainly because I did not know about them. The bully sticks are not nearly as hard. Good luck!

[Arron (Shadow)]

thanks for the thoughts everyone.

 

bully stick we've tried, and she likes them but she can go through one now in about 20 minutes.  Her first ones took her a week but she's got the science down now to go through them in a hurry!

 

Might try cutting an elk antler laterally, but that would defeat the purpose that I'm going for.  Maybe a new post is in order to solve my original problem...

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I think you can go with it - just supervise while she chews.

 

I definitely think we gave Peri antlers around 3 months. I remember thinking "oh my God, she is going to eat us out of house and home" - she was devouring chew toys. Antlers were the only thing that kept us sane.  We still use them!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Ichecked Calla's front incisors since she is the big chewer and she has a little chip in one . Is this from the bones or antlers? I have no idea but I wish more people would chime in.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I guess it depends on the dog and it's chewing habit.  Bandit never liked the hard chews until he was older, he really liked the nylabone teething products like the keys and some of the Pet Stages products that were softer rubbery material while he was losing his teeth.   Of course when we weren't looking Rosey shredded them because she already had her adult teeth.  He also didn't really learn to use a Kong until he was older than 6 months.  I personally waited until they were older for marrow bones, antlers and the digestible chew treats like bullysticks and rawhides because I didn't want to upset their digestion system.

[Kimberly Keenan]

I gave Bindi the deer antler at 3 months, she loves it. She still has it and she is 13 months now. I do think it is a piece closer to the top of the antler. I just bought her another thicker one. I also gave her the nylone bones but I had to watch her with it, because small pieces would come off. I don't think she chipped any teeth.

[2y8binkc3hr05]

After paying over $700 for a tooth extraction of the pre-molar due to a cracked tooth from chewing on bones, my vet recommended that if it hurts to hit my knee with it, it is too hard for them to chew on! So I take that with a grain of salt because both of my doodles are over 6 yo now and have always been heavy duty chewers. I have Kongs and Nylabones and the big sterile bones you can get at PetSmart. They also occasionally get bully sticks (tummy problems if too many!) and soft toys which they destroy in less than 30 minutes, so I limit their time on the extra hard stuff. My older doodle, Lexi's teeth are worn down already because of all the chewing she does on bones. Piper is the one that had to have the tooth extracted and within a week wanted back at the hard stuff! LOL!!

I don't know what the happy medium is for this issue, but you have to be prepared to go thru a lot of objects before you find one the dog is satisfied with without ruining their teeth. Good luck!