We are so DONE with dog toys!
August 26, 2010 | by Border Joy! 
Okay that's it! After spending a ridiculous amount of money on every kind of so-called indistructable dog toy or chew, we're done! We've been buying marrow bones at the grocery store and the dogs LOVE them!
They cost about $1.50 for 6 or 7 of them. This is compared to $5-$10 for the dog toys. Jake and Zoe love to eat the marrow and little bits of meat on the outside and then they will chew on them forever (if we did not finally throw them away). The bones below show you the before and after. The new bone with the marrow is frozen right now. We keep them in the freezer and then put them in the microwave for a minute to thaw them a bit before we give them to Jake and Zoe. These bones don't splinter either.
All the dog toys we've tried ... and it's a long list ... have been distroyed and eaten literally minutes or hours after they are in our Border Terrier's jaws. I don't know if it's just these guys or what, but I'm just glad they don't chew on the furniture or anything else in the house!
Reader Comments (8)
My dogs fave toys that so far have proven indestructable are cow milking inflations. IE the black rubber milking teats used by the dairy farmers. They have to replace them all every year so we get them free which is the right price, and even though we wash them they must still smell of milk and cowshed. The dogs go mad for them. some of the bigger breeds of dogs can rip them up but my Borders haven't managed to.
I could fund my retirement on the amount of money I've spent on "indestructable" dog toys. My BT just needs to kill squeakers immediately, empty stuffing, and basically shred anything sweet and fuzzy. I switched to vinyl or rubberized toys, but they all have holes in their brains where the squeaker was. I'll try the marrow bones! Right now, she's fascinated with a knuckle bone that was sawed in half.
Did you ever try your dog with the Extreme range of toys or the indestructaball dog toy these are really really tough dog toys i think you might get success with these. I think the indestructability lies in the material cross stitching and is the same material and sticthing they use on scuba diving equipment and websuit. I think normal materials and stitching weakens with dog slobber and this material remains watertight and therefore less weakened. Bones are always a favourite though, they just make a mess :) Good luck good post though.
I am glad to see the puppy be a fan of it.
Sherman Unkefer
Excellent website! Thanks for the info on the tough dog toys. I'm checking it out!
I work for a vet and we see a lot of dogs come in with marrow bones stuck on their lower jaw. They usually have to be surgically removed (anesthesia then cut the bone off with a bone saw) and usually damage the skin around the mouth, which needs to be repaired.
Splintering is not as common with marrow bones but can happen, then sharp pieces can get stuck in the dogs throat or GI tract, again requiring surgery and can be life-threatening if the GI tract is ruptured by the sharp piece.
Also, you should know that raw meat is no safer for dogs than for us, so be wary of infection, parasites, etc. The problem is that cooked bones are more likely to splinter...
I am not saying not to use them, just wanted to expose a down-side to the marrow bones.
Then again, risk of GI obstruction if they ingest parts of dog toys too...
I think it's important to make sure they get thrown out once they have been chewed on for a while and weaken .. thus splinter.
I really like the look of my dog's face whenever I gave her treats or toys...Its like she's always hungry for something and wanted to destroy it right away! LOL! I use to buy them toys and treats at www.greenearthdog.com coz I read they have all natural and organic products, so means to that it wont give ant harmful effect on my baby, so I tried it and it really is great! try them too!