Chew safety

This is where most enrichmentActivity that meets a dog's behavioral needs, usually through sniffing, chewing, licking, foraging or problem-solving.Read more → lists get it wrong, and it costs owners hundreds to thousands of dollars in dental work.

The two tests

The kneecap rule. Veterinary dental specialists use this one. If you wouldn't want the item swung against your own kneecap, it's too hard for your dog's teeth.

The thumbnail test. Press your thumbnail firmly into the chew. If you can't leave a dent, it's too hard.

Antlers, cow hooves, hard nylon chews, and raw or cooked bones all fail both tests. No bone reliably passes the thumbnail test, which is why the American Veterinary Dental College does not recommend bones for dental care.

What actually breaks

The tooth that usually goes is the upper carnassial: the large fourth premolar on the upper jaw, the biggest chewing tooth in your dog's mouth. Dogs brace a hard object there and bite down, and a slab fracture shears a piece off the outer surface.

These fractures frequently expose the pulp, which is painful and gets infected. Treatment is a root canal or an extraction. Neither is cheap, and dogs often show no obvious sign that anything is wrong: they keep eating and keep playing. Owners find out at a dental cleaning.

The high-risk list

Avoid or use with real caution:

• Antlers: among the most consistently cited causes of slab fractures
• Cow and pig hooves: hard, and they splinter into sharp shards
• Bones of any kind, raw or cooked: cooked bones splinter, raw bones are still harder than enamel
• Hard nylon chews: the rigid ones, not the flexible rubber versions
• Very dense compressed or over-dried chews: some can rival antlers for hardness
• Large solid ice cubes: fine for most dogs, but a real risk for dogs with existing dental disease
• Rocks, sticks and tennis balls: sticks splinter and cause mouth injuries, and tennis ball fuzz is abrasive enough to wear teeth down over time

Safer choices

• Bully sticks. Single ingredient, fully digestible, and they soften as the dog chews. The main risk is the swallowed end piece, which a Qwizl or similar holder solves.
• Beef trachea, gullet, and collagen sticks. Softer, still satisfying.
• Dehydrated fish skins. Soft, and good for dogs with dental history. Rich, so introduce slowly.
• Flexible rubber chew toys. KONG, West Paw, and rubber Nylabone products. These flex under pressure rather than transmitting all of it to a tooth.
• Frozen stuffed rubber toys. All the satisfaction, none of the hardness.

A word on yak and Himalayan chews

They're popular, they last, and they're genuinely hard. Do the thumbnail test on one before you buy a bag.

If you use them, take the stub away well before it's small enough to swallow, and use the microwave trick in entry 41 so the last portion is soft. I don't recommend them for dogs with any dental history or for dogs who crunch rather than gnaw.

The VOHC seal

The Veterinary Oral Health Council is a council of nine veterinary dentists and dental scientists who award a Seal of Acceptance to products shown to reduce plaque or tartar.

One nuance worth knowing: the VOHC does not test products itself. It reviews data submitted by the manufacturer against its published standards, and awards the seal when that data meets the requirements. That's a real bar, most products on the shelf don't clear it, but it isn't independent testing, and it's worth describing accurately.

If a product claims dental benefits, look for the seal. The VOHC also makes two safety points of its own: size the chew to the dog's body weight, and only give chews when you're there to watch.

A dental chew is not a substitute for toothbrushing, and neither is a bully stick.

Universal chew rules

1. Supervise. Every chew, every time.
2. Take it away when it gets small enough to swallow.
3. Size up. A chew should be too big to fit entirely in the mouth.
4. Time it. Fifteen to twenty minutes, then trade it out.
5. Count the calories. See ditch the bowl and calorie math.
6. Separate your dogs. Chews are the highest-value item in the house.
7. Check the mouth monthly. Lift the lip and look at the big upper teeth for chips, discoloration, or a red line at the gum.

Signs of a broken tooth: chewing on one side, dropping food, pawing at the face, a swelling under the eye, or bad breath that's suddenly worse. Any of these means a vet visit.