Shamus is the most aggressive chewer we have ever known. He is not agressive to people or other pets - but his jaw is likely made of titanium. This is no "get the squeeky out of the toy chewing." This is the "I can crack a tennis ball in half within 2 seconds of having it in his mouth" chewing... "i ate 2 couches" chewing... "i stumped my trainer with my agressive chewing" chewing.
Before Shamus, we were completely spoiled by our previous two dogs who required very little training. They came into our lives close to perfectly trained and nearly full grown. Shamus on the other hand came to us at about 35 lbs and the size of a beagle.
Once we adopted Shamus we bought a ton of plushy toys for him to enjoy. He destroyed them all in one night. We moved to kongs, which he peeled apart like an orange. Booda bones were gone as soon as they came out of the packaging. Nylabones posed a little bit of a challenge - it took him about an hour to get them chewed to a sharp point, much like a child does with a candy cane.
Our trainer suggested toys for aggressive chewers, and told me about a pet store that sold an indestructable tire that appeased one of her boxer clients. It was $30 and lasted 5 minutes - $6 a minute. Shamus ate the all of the Beagles' toys, and her puff bed. He ate 2 couches (clearly a result of his taste for "plush". He ate the carpet. We tried to get him to enjoy chewing water bottles, but he quickly learned to not just destroy them, but to jump up, grab them from your hands, and chew them while still full.
He was a complete monster who was not only growing about a foot a week but seemed to never listen, care, or learn; however, he was not at fault. As I stated earlier, we were equally untrained, and the only people in the world dumb enough to not immediately put him in a crate.
We learned finally and put him in the plastic airplane crate that Josie travelled across country in. He ate it and the towels we put in there to comfort him.
Then we got a black coated metal crate built for a Great Dane. He was not pleased, but he adjusted. After much experimentation with peanut butter, yougurt, treats, and that gross Kong paste, we created a culinary delight for Shamus.
We stuffed bananas in one of those really hard hollow 10" beef bones you can get at the pet store, and froze them overnight. before we left in the morning, Shamus was in his crate waiting for his banana bone. Trying to get all of the banana out of the 10" bone wore him out and he would sleep until Cindylou, our loving friend and dogwalker arrived. Cindylou would supply him with the 2nd bone of the day.
We also found one toy that could stand the test of Shamus - the Planet Dog ball. http://www.planetdog.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=10740000
We chose not to try the kind with the raised design for fear of temptation to destroy it presented, but the smooth surface balls worked quite well.
We also found a giant knotted rope toy. Not the kind with the toys and bones on it. Its the kind that is larger than Shamus' head. The knot is about 12" diameter. This is a supervised toy so he doesnt eat it, and eventually there is some destruction, but it takes a while.
We also discovered that the Nylabone Double Action Chew
http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/double-action/
and the white dinosaur toys
http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/durable-chews/durable-dental-dinosaur.htm
were much less easy to destroy, yet again, these were supervised toys.
If you have an really aggressive chewer I would not recommend - especially unsupervised:
Any Kong - even the strong chewer version
Any Booda Bone
Nylabone Galileo, Ring, Wishbone or flavored bone
Tirebiter
Any rope bone with toys or bones on it
Pig Hooves
Any plush toy (remember, they were the same as pillows and couches to Shamus)
Rhino Bone
Frisbees
Tennis balls
Rolled Rawhide bones (plus no rawhide unsupervised)
Before Shamus, we were completely spoiled by our previous two dogs who required very little training. They came into our lives close to perfectly trained and nearly full grown. Shamus on the other hand came to us at about 35 lbs and the size of a beagle.
Once we adopted Shamus we bought a ton of plushy toys for him to enjoy. He destroyed them all in one night. We moved to kongs, which he peeled apart like an orange. Booda bones were gone as soon as they came out of the packaging. Nylabones posed a little bit of a challenge - it took him about an hour to get them chewed to a sharp point, much like a child does with a candy cane.
Our trainer suggested toys for aggressive chewers, and told me about a pet store that sold an indestructable tire that appeased one of her boxer clients. It was $30 and lasted 5 minutes - $6 a minute. Shamus ate the all of the Beagles' toys, and her puff bed. He ate 2 couches (clearly a result of his taste for "plush". He ate the carpet. We tried to get him to enjoy chewing water bottles, but he quickly learned to not just destroy them, but to jump up, grab them from your hands, and chew them while still full.
He was a complete monster who was not only growing about a foot a week but seemed to never listen, care, or learn; however, he was not at fault. As I stated earlier, we were equally untrained, and the only people in the world dumb enough to not immediately put him in a crate.
We learned finally and put him in the plastic airplane crate that Josie travelled across country in. He ate it and the towels we put in there to comfort him.
Then we got a black coated metal crate built for a Great Dane. He was not pleased, but he adjusted. After much experimentation with peanut butter, yougurt, treats, and that gross Kong paste, we created a culinary delight for Shamus.
We stuffed bananas in one of those really hard hollow 10" beef bones you can get at the pet store, and froze them overnight. before we left in the morning, Shamus was in his crate waiting for his banana bone. Trying to get all of the banana out of the 10" bone wore him out and he would sleep until Cindylou, our loving friend and dogwalker arrived. Cindylou would supply him with the 2nd bone of the day.
We also found one toy that could stand the test of Shamus - the Planet Dog ball. http://www.planetdog.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=10740000
We chose not to try the kind with the raised design for fear of temptation to destroy it presented, but the smooth surface balls worked quite well.
We also found a giant knotted rope toy. Not the kind with the toys and bones on it. Its the kind that is larger than Shamus' head. The knot is about 12" diameter. This is a supervised toy so he doesnt eat it, and eventually there is some destruction, but it takes a while.
We also discovered that the Nylabone Double Action Chew
http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/double-action/
and the white dinosaur toys
http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/durable-chews/durable-dental-dinosaur.htm
were much less easy to destroy, yet again, these were supervised toys.
If you have an really aggressive chewer I would not recommend - especially unsupervised:
Any Kong - even the strong chewer version
Any Booda Bone
Nylabone Galileo, Ring, Wishbone or flavored bone
Tirebiter
Any rope bone with toys or bones on it
Pig Hooves
Any plush toy (remember, they were the same as pillows and couches to Shamus)
Rhino Bone
Frisbees
Tennis balls
Rolled Rawhide bones (plus no rawhide unsupervised)
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