Whoever it was who suggested antlers...

1196 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Riley&MayMom, Feb 9, 2012

murphydog1003

Discussion Starter · Feb 8, 2012

Thanks for the entertainment!

I ordered Murphy a piece of elk rack off Amazon. I balked at the price but read all the reviews about how long they last, so I was sold. I don't want to give Murph rawhide as he seems way too good at tearing them to bits, which is dangerous, but he needs something to chew on!

So... today the package came. Wow, this thing is heavy. It feels as if it's made of ceramic. Murphy was interested in the package, as he always is. I held out the antler and told him to take it - he put is nose up to it and jumped away! I put it on the ground and he spent a good 20 minutes circling it, wagging his tail, bowing down to it, woofing at it, jumping at it, and occasionally acting really freaked out by this new thing in his home. It really looked like he thought the thing was going to spring to life and become a giant elk in our living room. I sat here and laughed

op2:

He is now happily chewing on it, after that period of discovery...... It was just too funny. Last time I saw him react like that was the first time I ever gave him an ice cube.

Sometimes, he can be a little jerk....... but then these times make up for the frustration of having a lab puppy!

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Crantastic

· #2 · Feb 8, 2012

Haha, glad he enjoyed it! My dogs love them, too, especially brand new ones; they quickly set to work trying to gnaw out every bit of marrow they can. The price is high but they do last for ages.

My dogs seem to prefer the elk ones to the deer ones, too.

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PackMomma

· #3 · Feb 8, 2012

Antlers are great, I have one small peice that I bought for Thumper when he was 8 weeks old, he's only managed to gnaw off 1/4 of it and he still chews it religiously every day and he's almost 8 months now. I have a couple of antler's though that I found out in the bush by my Dad's place, fresh off the buck himself who must have shed them around rutting season, so I have those, which are even bigger, for Thumper once he finishes his puny $12 store bought one.

I've noticed though, that Thumper didn't show as much interest in the antler until he really started to penetrate it, the further he got into, the more interest he had in it. Now my older dog steals it from him every now and then too. Strange but hey seems to work and its pretty much a non-calorie chewy that lasts forever!

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murphydog1003

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 8, 2012

Oh, now he wants to play fetch with it. Somehow that doesn't seem like a great idea!

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agility collie mom

· #5 · Feb 8, 2012

I love antlers. However they are hard on my hardwood floors especially when Savannah tosses them!

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upendi'smommy

· #6 · Feb 8, 2012

All of my dogs love antlers, although my three seem to prefer deer antlers to elk.

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BellaPup

· #7 · Feb 8, 2012

I am pro-antler as well. Have to be good quality though...the first one I got Bella was inexpensive and it splintered. That was tossed and replaced with a better - albeit much more expensive one that is about 8" long.

Bella was soooooo funny as well when I introduced it to her. She - like Murphy - was very suspicious as first. Then she made her super zoomie circles around it, tried to grab it and run, but kept missing it...ran back, did her circle thing, rubbed herself all over it, gnawed on it a few times then has since ignored it ....LOL

I'll have to put it away for a while so it's like a brand new thing a few months from now....wish it could be recharged or something!

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xxxxdogdragoness

· #8 · Feb 8, 2012

Have any of you guys had probs with the antlers breaking teeth or no?

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Crantastic

· #9 · Feb 8, 2012

Yes. Crystal cracked a back tooth on an antler and I had to have it extracted. She chews properly, though, so I'm not overly concerned about it happening again.

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PackMomma

· #10 · Feb 9, 2012

My older dog cracked his back tooth on something or other, I'm not sure what but it would have either been the antler or a marrow bone. I didn't actually notice it, the vet did when she was doing a routine exam during his vaccines - tried to force me into spending upward of $1500 to have the tooth extracted. I'm pretty sure if that tooth needed to come out Cash would have been in some discomfort or pain or it would have been infected after who knows how long its been cracked for. Anyway, glad I rarely trust vets and didn't waste my $1500 + cuz 6 months later and the tooth is still fine, its broken in half now but he still eats and chews vigorously with it and it hasn't caused an infection and he doesn't seem to bother him thankfully. It's scenarios like that which i've encountered a few times with vets, that makes me wonder just how wild dogs and other canine species survive in the wild when similar stuff like that happens to them and they don't have vets to pump them with meds and anesthetic and perform surgeries on them? My (ex) vet attempted to make me feel like a cruel person because I refused to pay them over $1500 to pull out a tooth that isn't causing any problems..

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Jpepper

· #11 · Feb 9, 2012 (Edited)

Both of my dogs love antlers! I've got a couple of dogs that I'm trying to get into shed hunting right now to pass the time this off season.

Picture of Roush and one of his whitetail antlers.

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Riley&MayMom

· #12 · Feb 9, 2012

All three of my dogs love them and actally antlers are the only thing May will chew on, so I am glad we have found them!

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