Best chew toy to distract our landshark?

[Lisa & Sunny]

I've read enough to expect our puppy to go through the dreaded landshark phase, but didn't expect it to start so soon.  We just brought her home on Saturday, and it seems as soon as she started to settle in and feel comfortable, those sharp little teeth came out.  Now she has multiple daily spells where she is nipping at whatever she can reach, including clothing, fingers, hair, and ears.  I've read many discussion threads here on Doodle Kisses on how to handle that; I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations on good chew toys with which to distract the adorable little biting monster.

Thanks!

[Judi Christopher]

Bully sticks!

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Oh, how I remember those days! Winnie was so terribly nippy for about the first 4 months that we had her-I seriously thought I was going to go insane. We gave Winnie bully sticks, too, but found that chewing on them too frequently caused loose stools. A rope toy was my 'go to' distraction. I literally carried it around in my pocket at all times. The second she started nipping at my pantlegs, skirt, nightgown, etc. (etc. etc. !!) I would whip out the rope toy. It also worked as a great distraction when brushing her.

Good luck! 

[Mary ann & Lincoln]

Lincoln is now 2, but I remember well those nippy crazy times!  He still has his crazy hour after dinner.

Nylabones have some good chew toys, some are for puppies and are softer.  But they can't eat them.  We also found an antler .  Just be careful they are hard.  another thing we found was plain old ice cubes.  We would give him 1 and he would play with it and then chew it.  Sometimes it took 2-3.  Just remember the "nippys" do go away

[Lisa & Sunny]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!  We have not tried bully sticks yet, I'll have to look for those.  I also think a toy (like the rope toy) that she only gets when she needs distraction might be worth trying.  We do have a few nylabones, but she hasn't shown much interest in them yet.  I'll have to give ice cubes a try, I never would've thought of that.  And also an antler sounds like it is worth trying as well. 

[Karen C]

Make sure when you buy bully sticks you look for the odor free ones. The regular ones have a bad stinky smell and not only does your dog smell but so will the carpet and any other thing he chews on/around. Our furbaby likes to sit by us on the couch and chew them. The couch would smell bad after if I didn't buy the odor free ones. Also make sure they are made in the USA. I order from bestbullystick.com and think I found that website on here. Be careful of the Himalayan chews as we were at the vet with a broken tooth from one and ended up having surgery to remove the root. They are extremely hard. Antlers can do the same however some people have no issues from them. We stuck with bully sticks after our tooth surgery.

[Lisa & Sunny]

Great information; thanks so much!  Off to check out that website....

[Kathy Basso]

Omg...gave Gemma her first one yesterday and it will be her last, the stink is dreadful!

[Lisa & Sunny]

Did you buy bully sticks that are supposed to be odor free?  I ordered from the same place Karen C recommended above (bestbullystick.com), and I haven't had any problems with stinkiness.  the bully sticks have been great for when she really wants to gnaw on something, because she is not so much into the nylabones.

[EJ & Dante]

We use the three strike rule - if we are playing and he gets mouthy, the first time we distract with a toy.  Second time, we get up, walk away and ignore him for at least 5 minutes.  Third time, he gets a time out in isolation.  If he does it when he gets out of isolation, he goes back into time out, for a a bit longer.  He doesn't get to come out of time out until he's quiet.  Usually it only takes about 2 minutes, and he comes out calm and doesn't repeat the behavior.

If we weren't playing with him, and he just comes up and does it, it's an immediate time out.

It works wonders.  We rarely have to use it anymore.  Dante is 3 month old.

[Lisa & Sunny]

Thanks for sharing; I like this approach.  Most of the time we can distract her with a toy, but sometimes she gets in kamikaze mode and launches a surprise attack on the closest leg.  We have put her in time out a few times already, and it did help.

[Caslynn74]

Ice cubes were what we used to survive.  It got to the point that if anyone got ice out of the fridge she was right there for hers too. lol  Luckily this stage doesn't last forever. lol

[Karla & Zoey]

Zoey has been teething since day one.

Bully sticks, baby carrots, and rope toys all help.