calcium deficiency?

[abhims]

My puppy is 14 w/o now. He has a habit of chewing the walls. Somebody came by and said that the puppy does that if they have calcium deficiency. Is that true?

[debbiej]

I don't know about dietary deficiency, but I would keep him from chewing the walls. redirect, play with him or crate the little guy. chewing walls isn't a great habit.

[abhims]

He chews the crate :-). If I keep the bowl of water near him ...he chews the bowl ...if i play with him ..he tries to chew me :-). he is like pacman. also he looses interest in the rawhide bones in about 10 mins. he likes dry coconut husk ..which is my only way out. :-)

[debbiej]

does he have things to chew that are ok? toys, etc.? I've never had a rottie pup. how about rags, ropes, nylabones?

[abhims]

oh yeah ..he has his chew toys. The rawhide bones, old tennis ball.

[RottsNScotts]

When my guys/gals were that age, I bought beef neck bones from the grocery and had them down - raw - all over the house. They worked at them to their hearts' content and I didn't have chewing problems. When they got bigger and stronger, I switched to beef femur bones or, preferably, knuckles - still raw.

[abhims]

Aren't raw bones a health hazard for humans? ecoli and all that?

[Judi W]

They certainly can be, but the suggestion is for the dogs to chew them. If you want to eat them, best they be cooked.

[Judi W]

The reason why pups or dogs chew on things like walls and baseboards and so forth is that they find them more interesting than the items they've been supplied with. A nice raw bone is hard to beat.

[cathydownes]

I've been getting knucklebones for Sherman since he was about 2 mos old - there is one store near me that has HUGE ones for really really cheap -

Having read in one of the multitude of Rottie books that they should be boiled before giving them to the dog I've been doing that - would prefer not to though as it stinks up the house.

If I give it too him raw, how long do I let him keep it - at what point would it get to the "spoiled" stage and hazardous to him? Or would it ever?

[Judi W]

I've never had one keep anything on it long enough to become stinky, however, you can choose to pick them up after a bit and stick them in the frig for later. I find fossilized artifacts every now and then hidden in a crack, or under the bed, or under the dresser or......... usually discover them with my bare feet!

[cathydownes]

GREAT - sounds like I no longer have to boil them - and yes Sherman usually cleans them up of all the gristle and meat in short order!!

[Anne]

Cooked bones are dangerous to dog as they are likely to splinter. I would throw out any book that suggested cooking bones for dogs.

This pup will chew walls when he is not supervised. Crate him when you are not able to watch him and provide him with interesting things to chew.