WARNING ABOUT COW HOOVES!!

While I give cow hooves to my puppies during teething time which quickly becomes a favorite amongst them, it was brought to my attention the dangers of hooves as your mastiff grows. Obviously, the older a mastiff gets the stronger their jaws become. These powerful jaws can break a cow hoof into sharp fragments that can then cause intestinal obstruction. This can be fatal!!! So please take this warning to heart and either not purchase these for your mastiff or stop giving them to him/her at an early age. The same can be said for the cow femur bones purchased at pet stores/walmart. In this case, close supervision is necessary with this well loved treat.

My husband purchases the cow femur/shin bones fresh from the butcher shop. These bones are much stronger than a coated one from the store. They will last forever. That is until the marrow is licked out then the bone tends to get less attention & only gnawed on from time to time. A little supervision is always your safest bet.

I find the brand KONG to be very safe and extremely tough. They come in different shapes and sizes. You can put numerous types of treats inside them that will keep a mastiff's attention for a while. They even make Kong balls, which is a must have over a tennis ball. Deuce will take a tennis ball and puncture it with his teeth and often hide it in his mouth so I don't know he has it (he's mouth is so huge that you would NEVER guess a tennis ball was inside). This has terrified me so I no longer purchase tennis balls. However, about a month ago, I bought a large tennis ball that is new on the market (maybe you've seen it). It's about the size of a soccer ball. I love to watch Deuce try to wrap his mouth around this one...its impossible.




Another thing my mastiffs love are rope toys. They work hard at getting the knots out and then spread the strings all through the house, as if my kids don't give me enough to pick up...haha!