Teething puppy - how to choose the best chew toy

Narrated from: Dog Problems

If you have a puppy, then be warned – when the teeth start to grow, your puppy will need to chew. Puppies are like babies; you need to look out for them, since you don’t know what they will put in their mouths. If you want to preserve your puppy’s health and avoid some nasty damage to your furniture, you need to supply your puppy with a suitable toy!
You must be picky when you choose a chew toy, don’t just grab the first one you see – the chew toy doesn’t  occupy your puppy’s attention, it also relieves the pain of the growing teeth.

Here are some useful tips for choosing the best chew toys for your little puppy:

•    Get the right size. The toy should be small enough to be carried and tossed around. Sticks are perfect since they offer a good grip. However, the toy must not be small enough to be swallowed – and pray do not forget to change your puppy’s small toys when the puppy starts to grow!

•    Pick a softer toy. Many chew toys are designed especially for puppies. If you get a chew toy that is intended for a grown dog, it will probably be durable – this means hard. Your puppy might hurt its teeth or even break them! Something soft and rubbery should do the trick.

•    Avoid rawhides. At this age rawhides – or anything easily torn apart – are not suitable for a puppy. The puppy could swallow some of the smaller fragments and choke on them.

•    The chew toy must be interesting. It would be a good idea to take the puppy to the store and see what kinds of toys grab its attention. If the chew toy is not interesting for the puppy, you will have to change it – otherwise it just won’t work out.

•    Variety. It would be a good idea to get more than one toy, and the toys must differ from one another. With a single toy a puppy could still get bored and go eat up your sofa!

•    Rotation. If you want to save some money, rotate your puppy’s toys. Keep reserve toys and when the puppy gets bored with some of the chew toys, replace them. After a week or two you can give an old toy back to the puppy, and the puppy would think it a new one!

•    Additives. Sometime puppies are not particularly attracted to a rubber toy’s taste and prefer to chew on your ankles (not a pleasing experience). However, there are toys that have added flavors, or special additives that can be applied to rubber toys. Some chew toys also feel good for the puppy after they have been frozen, since they soothe the gums.

•    Brands. Go for proven products – you don’t want something that will fall apart in your puppy’s mouth. KONG toys are the best known on the market, but Nylabone are also good.

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