I visited a local boutique style pet store last week and they had a bin of deer antlers pieces. The sales lady was explaining to another woman that they came from naturally shed deer antlers that were cut into appropriate sizes and sterilized. She said they were great because, unlike the sterilized bones, they won't splinter. So I bought two medium sized ones for our two imps. They have been obsessed with them….or rather, with one of them. They've ignored one antler but have taken turns gnawing on the other one. They even trick each other into giving it up. Cory had it and Jayden wanted it. So he took off after an imaginary squirrel. When Cory took up the chase, Jayden circled back and took the antler. I have now discovered that the antler has been half eaten. :eek: I'm not sure that they are supposed to be able to do that. I guess when she said it wouldn't splinter, I assumed they could gnaw on it with no effect. But it appears that they soften up a bit and that is how they have managed to eat it. I have now thrown away the remaining portion of the favorite antler - it is getting too small and I just don't know if they are supposed to actually EAT it.
Any one familiar with these???? I thought I had found the perfect treat and now I'm not sure.
Pat
Sounds to me like they are for "eating"… read over this link
Yeah, it looks like those are edible. Medjai has one, but no amount of gnawing has done anything. His antler is brown on the outside, and he has 'eaten' a little of the white, inner part of it.
That's a great price, Pat. I think I paid about double that for the piece I have for Medjai. I got it at one of the dog shows in Denver.
That is a great price!!! I've been curious about these…I might order a couple from this site, so thanks for that link Pat!
BTW, I tried that Himalayan dog chew (yak cheese)...they "say" they are a long lasting dog chew...well "not" for my basenjis. They loved them, but they were super expensive and didn't even last as long as a bully stick.
I'm glad to hear all of that. I had never heard of them before but they sounded interesting and they seem pretty odorless. The dogs loved it but I was just so shocked to discover one half eaten. The dogs have been obsessed with one of the antlers and have ignored the other. Can't figure out why. The price of the ones in the local store, as I recall, were pretty comparable to those online. I wish I could find my receipt to verify that. I'm definitely going to get them another one.
Well…now we know why Redmund, the winery dog, took down the deer....he just wanted the antlers.
Pat
Well Tilly certainly likes Deer atlers too - last time we took her a walk in the woods directly behind our house she disappeared into some bush, and appeared with some antlers in her mouth - unfortunately they were still attached to a well-rotted head…. so she didnt get to keep them...
Well Tilly certainly likes Deer atlers too - last time we took her a walk in the woods directly behind our house she disappeared into some bush, and appeared with some antlers in her mouth - unfortunately they were still attached to a well-rotted head…. so she didnt get to keep them...
Yuck, yuck, yuck!!!!!!!! :eek:
Ewwwwwww! That pretty much trumps anything any dog I've ever owned has chewed on or tried to keep. Makes you wish you could teach a dog to use mouthwash. Yuuuccccccck.
Pat
We bought one for our new male and he is able to split the outer shell into sharp shards, so for him they need to be supervised.
What kind and from who did you get them? I have quite a few of them and they have never been able to do that
We bought one for our new male and he is able to split the outer shell into sharp shards, so for him they need to be supervised.
Same here. Seems to depend on the antler somehow. I've had to take a couple away for that reason.
We have been buying them for a year or so and Kaiah loves them. But in the beginning the store owner was telling us about them and how wonderful they were and that she didnt know a dog that could chew through them. So we bought one and she ate the antler so small in 45 minutes that we had to throw it away. Next time we were in the store we told the store owner about it and come to find out the antler that we bought was split so now we are just careful to buy the whole antler and she has 3 or 4 that she works on but it is a slow process.
Oakley love deer antlers, moose antlers, and elk antlers!! This only but the split ones that have the marrow exposed, dogs seem to go wild over that part and they last forever! They also provide a good source of vitamins and minerals not usually present in a regular diet. I've been buying those over bully sticks and te reactions the same, he can't get enough. Certainly worth the money and more
Butu loves his too, and has managed to get about 1/4" of marrow out…
After I found out what a Bully Stick was I could not buy another.
I think it may depend on what type of deer, elk, moose, etc the antler came from. I bought two, I can't remember what they are, and they are hard as rocks. Mine have not penetrated them yet. The ends are just ground down a bit. It may also depend on what time of year they are harvested.
From what I know, if the antlers are naturally shed in the late fall/early winter they will be hard because they no longer had a blood supply and were dry and dead when lost, but if cut off while they still had a blood supply the antlers will be softer.
What kind and from who did you get them? I have quite a few of them and they have never been able to do that
One deer and one elk both were split pieces from Petsmart.
I don't get the split ones…. so maybe that is why I have not had a problem
This is so good to know! I've never offered antlers, but I'm going to give them a try. After pig's ears and snouts, the gross factor kinda recedes. Where's the best place to buy ones that don't/aren't split– online?
