10 Best Dog Bones For Aggressive Chewers: 2020 Buying Guide

As every proud dog parent knows, pups have quirky, sweet, and just plain funny habits that keep us entertained and build loving bonds between pet and human. We are less likely to admit to our dog’s annoying habits but they’re there too, and one of the most destructive of these is chewing … On everything. 

If your pooch is a chewer, it’s a good idea to get them a dog bone or chew to keep their jaws busy and prevent your plants, door frames, table legs, and human legs being gnawed on instead. A bone will keep your pup’s jaws strong, help keep tartar off their teeth, and have a nice taste while they’re chewing, unlike the furniture. You should look for one made from all-natural ingredients, with a high degree of safety, and that will last a while. 

There’s a bone for every dog on this list, and if your pup is in need of something to keep his teeth away from important stuff, you’ll find plenty of value here. We’ve done the research for you, so you can be sure each option here is healthy, hardy, and tasty for your chewer.

10 Best Dog Bones & Chews For Aggressive Chewers

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Testing Protocol & Criteria Used For Evaluation

Criteria 1 – Safety

Obviously, no pet parent wants to inadvertently feed your pooch something that is dangerous, so safety comes first when deciding on an appropriate dog chew or bone for your fluff. 

The things that fall under this criteria include whether or not the bone is actually edible (many aren’t), the materials it’s made of, and whether or not there have been any recalls or reports of issues. 

We’ve avoided any dog bones or chews that are made from rawhide. Although there are mixed reviews on rawhide products, we’ve chosen to avoid them as the negatives have the potential to outweigh the positives, and there are plenty of other options that have none of the potential negatives that rawhide does.

Criteria 2 – Durability

A chew that lasts a while is going to be preferable to one that is gone in a flash. If your pup is a serious chewer, you don’t want them to be going through a chew a day, or you’ll be breaking the bank just to prevent your pet chewing on the furniture or on visitors. 

This depends quite a bit on your pup’s chewing style, but also largely on the materials the chew is made of. Of course, as we see in the criteria above, safety comes first here, but durability is a close second (of course, the chew needs to have the best of both worlds). 

We’ve indicated which chews on this list would be best for big, powerful jaws, and which would be suitable for the little guys. The level of durability depends quite a bit on this, because you can feed the same chew to a large and a small breed, and the big guy would kill it in a couple of hours while the little one would gnaw on it for weeks.

Criteria 3 – Taste

A chew is for … Well, chewing. Although some of them are edible, the main purpose of these things is not for eating. That doesn’t mean it should be bland and boring, though. 

If your pooch doesn’t like the taste of what they’re chewing on, they’re going to stop putting it in their mouth. This kind of defeats the point, so we’ve made sure that the bones and chews on this list have a decent taste (sorry, we haven’t tested them ourselves but we have it on good authority!). 

The second part of this criteria is that the taste comes from a healthy source – nothing chemical or artificial. There’s no use sacrificing the healthiness of a bone or chew for the taste, so we’ve made sure the ones we’ve reviewed are not only tasty, but healthy too.

Criteria 4 – All-Natural Ingredients

All of these criteria link up in one way – they ensure that these things your dog will be chewing on are as healthy for them as possible, in all ways. 

The previous three criteria are essential, but the bone or chew needs to satisfy all of those while being made from healthy, all-natural ingredients. It’s no use giving your dog a chew that is easy on the jaws, lasts for ages, tastes great,and is affordable, but is made of synthetic stuff and laden with chemicals. 

Whatever products you buy for your pup, they should be promoting the good health and wellness of your pet. All-natural ingredients are a must for this, so we’ve made sure these products contain as few artificial ingredients as possible – if possible, none at all. 

Criteria 5 – Affordability

Our mission is to help you help your pet by choosing the highest quality, healthiest products for them. Our secondary mission, though, is to make sure we offer something for everyone, and affordability is something that we can’t ignore. 

There are plenty of amazing, high-quality products out there that will benefit your pup immensely. The prices, though, may not be suitable for everyone, and we don’t want you skipping meals so your dog can have a decent quality chew. 

There are perfectly affordable products that are on-par with the top-of-the-price-range things when it comes to quality, but are far more affordable to the average person who needs to fit their pup’s daily needs into a budget. 

We’ve made sure to include a variety of options here, so you don’t need to worry about this factor – no matter how much you can afford, there’ll be something healthy and beneficial for your pooch on this list. 

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Questions & Answers

You may think that dogs can chew on anything (chairs, plants, shoes, cables, and so on), so why should it matter what a bone consists of? 

While it’s true that pups do tend to chomp on stuff regardless of their nutritional value, healthiness, or potential for harm, you should put some thought into the kind of bone or chew you get for your pooch. 

Most of us wouldn’t let our pup gnaw on a metal bar, or a piece of glass, because we know it’s not safe and can cause them harm. Why do we neglect to make sure that things we buy for them are just as safe? While most products are not going to contain glass or things like that, the fact is, some products are simply not safe. 

You should make sure the bone you choose for your pet is all-natural, contains no artificial stuff or chemicals, and is physically safe for him or her to get their mouth around. Take a look at the ingredient list and make sure nothing untoward finds its way in there. 

Make sure the one you select is also durable and isn’t going to be chewed to pieces in a day or two. It should be nicely flavoured with natural flavourings, so your pup will enjoy chewing on it. 

A good quality bone can make the difference between having intact or chewed on furniture, a dog with bad breath or good breath, and visitors who still enjoy visiting. 

There are few dogs who don’t enjoy a good chewing session, so the first benefit is that your pup will most likely be super happy to have something to chomp on. The smell of the bone will most likely keep them going back to it instead of switching to the table leg after a bit, and it should be especially helpful if your pooch is a “boredom chewer”, as they’ll have a go-to chew-thing to keep them busy. 

Chews generally help clean your pup’s teeth as well, so you can look forward to less smelly licks and love, as well as fewer dental problems to be dealt with (for your pup … we can’t speak for you, unless you’re chewing them too). 

You may not be able to make something similar to the products we’ve reviewed, but a little creativity can go a long way when it comes to fixing chewing with homemade stuff. 

Things like carrots, raw bones, and jerky-like meat treats are all great to keep chewers busy. You can find recipes online for natural, healthy chews that will be good for your pup, although they may not last as long as the ones we’ve reviewed here. 

In terms of ingredients, there are no specifications for different breeds. The biggest thing you would need to consider is the size of the bone – you wouldn’t give a tiny pup an enormous bone because he wouldn’t be able to wrap his mouth around it. In the same vein, you wouldn’t give your large pooch a tiny chew, because it would gone in two chomps and defeat the point. 

The material it is made of could also factor in here. Harder materials may be better for bigger teeth, and softer ones for the little teeth. It all depends on your pup, and you’ll know best when it comes to them

Many chews on the market are non-edible and are made from ingredients and materials that can be dangerous to your pup. It’s advisable not to go with something that can’t be digested by your pup, because if he or she ends up swallowing a piece of it, you could be in for some hospital time. 

Raw bones are controversial, as there have been reports of damage to teeth, tongue, and the digestive tract. Of course, this is a natural product that a canine would eat in the wild, and the same kinds of injuries could just as easily be caused by Fido chewing on a tree branch or a table, so we see no problem with raw bones. 

You should, however, never give your pup a cooked bone to chew on. They tend to splinter far more easily than raw bones, and also don’t give your pup’s jaws nearly as much chewing satisfaction. 

All in all, we recommend raw bones or an all-natural, high-quality, edible chew or bone.

Dogs have a natural instinct to chew on stuff that comes from way back. Their wolfy ancestors would eat only what they could find in the wild, and they also didn’t necessarily know when their next meal would arrive, so they would eat every single bit they could of the meal they’d killed. 

That included the marrow inside the bones, which is super healthy and nutrient-dense. To get to the marrow, though, they’d have to chew through the hard stuff. This instinct hasn’t gone away as dogs have become domesticated, even if they don’t need those extra nutrients. 

Apart from the natural desire to chew on things, there are some circumstances that can cause the chewing to get out of control and become excessive. Anxiety is a big one, as the repetitive gnawing motion will bring some comfort to your pet when he or she is feeling stressed. Separation anxiety is a common type of stress. Others include stress-reaction to thunder, other noise, other animals, or a change of environment. 

Boredom is another common reason for out-of-hand chewing. If your pup is left alone for long periods of time and has nothing to stimulate his mind, he may resort to chewing on things simply to pass the time. A simple solution is to leave him enough toys and chews to keep him busy, and make sure he gets enough exercise too. 

Puppies naturally chew more than adults as they are learning and teething. If you have done some analysis and none of the common reasons seem to be the cause of your dog’s chewing, there may be something medical going on. Chewing could be providing relief from dental pain, or it could be a sign of a compulsive neurological disorder. If you can’t find a likely explanation for it, it’s worth a visit to the vet for a checkup.