Beckman's Dog Training Blog

When I was student at Moorpark College I worked with two cougars. We would feed them a soft ground up meat called Nebraska, and also chicken necks. Chicken necks have a bone with meat around the outside. The cougars got all of their necessary nutrients from the Nebraska meat so I asked my instructor who oversaw the big cats why we gave them chicken necks and I’ll never forgot her answer. She said that predators need to crunch things, they have “energy” built up in their jaws that needs to be released. Now I don’t think you will find her comments anywhere in a big cat or animal training text book, and it’s only her opinion, just like most of the content in these blogs are my opinion, but what she said makes a lot of sense to me. We also had a hyena at school. If you have ever looked at a hyena you might notice that they have a very square head with a high crest at the top of the head. That’s because they have huge muscles that go from the lower jaw and connect at the top of the head (if there is one animal that I hope I never get bit by, it’s no doubt a hyena). We used to give that hyena whole cow heads to eat for a treat. His natural behavior is to crunch bone, hoofs, horns whatever. And I would argue that wolves and dogs are as much or more of oral creatures than big cats or hyenas (but not nearly the biting power).
You may be wondering what this has to do with your dog’s chew toys. Dogs also have “energy” that needs to be released. Remember when your dog was a puppy, he chewed on everything, your hand, shoes, table legs… a big part of that behavior was due to puppy and adult teeth coming in, but it’s also such a natural behavior for a dog. Ever wonder why a piece of leather or chair leg seems more attractive than that stuffed animal form the pet store, and no it’s not because he is trying to get back at you or that he’s testing you, it’s because he can crunch and chew on those things.
My dog will distroy just about any “chew toy” that he gets his mouth on. If it’s got a stitch, a seam, or a way he can scissor through it, he will in about 2 minutes. So I’ve had to come up with inventive and safe ways for him to get that “energy” out.
I have 3 criteria for a good chew toy. It has to be 1) safe 2) reinforcing and 3) long lasting. Many things will fit one or two of these criteria but very few fit all three. First let me tell you about some of the ones I’m not a fan of.
Raw hides- they are long lasting, but dogs can choke on them and it can often cause diarrhea.
Stuffed toys- Dogs rarely enjoy chewing on them, unless it’s an obsessive sucking that some breeds are prone to. If torn up the dog can injest the plastic squeaker and nylon filling. I sometimes give these to my dog to thrash and run around with for a few minutes, but never let him sit there and work on it.
Bully sticks-Similar to raw hide.
Rope toys- extreme chewers can pull the rope threads out and ingest them, any long thread that’s injested can cause serious problems.
The items I do like.
By far my favorite is a frozen food filled Kong- I came up with this idea after a lot of trial and error. I would give my dog a kong with the included kong treat and he would get frustrated and give up, so I started to fill the kong with dry kibble and he would get it all out in a minute or two, so I started to wet down the kibble and put it in the freezer so it would be more challenging. Then I got smart and bought a quality wet food, filled the kongs and put them in the freezer and now I have what I believe is the best chew toy available. If you are busy and want to keep you dog occupied and stimulated, think about giving your dog all his food food in this capacity. There is no rule that you have to feed your dog twice a day out of a bowl. I fill kongs each evening for my dog and the dogs doing the board and train program at my facility. Filling the kongs can be a bit of a hassle but it’s a small price to pay for a occupied/stimulated dog. Your dog will learn how to lick it for a while then chew on it to break it up, then drop it on the ground to get the food out.
Other good chew toys are Raw marrow bones- they should be at-least 3 inches long so the dog has to lick out the marrow and can’t just pop it out. Make sure it’s not the end of the cow femur but the long circular marrow filled part. They can be messy if given inside, and if you give a lot of them the dog’s lower front teeth can wear down. The bone is usually too thick to chew and ingest, but the dog should be monitored. I’d take away the bone after the marrow is out. I also sometimes fill the hollow bone with wet food and put that in the freezer, you can save on kongs that way.
Pigs ears- Most dogs go crazy for them, but they don’t last a long time. A little trick is, if people are coming over and you don’t want your dog to jump on them, and don’t feel like doing any training, give your dog a pig’s ear right when the people pull up and then let the people in. Your dog may cruise around showing off the pig’s ear or go somewhere to eat the treat. Then when he’s done with it he will come in without jumping on them because he has already seen and smelled them, and the big meeting/ freak out session that he does at the door has already passed. He may just walk in the room and act like the people have been there for an hour. Some dog’s drive to meet and jump is too high for even a pig’s ear to compete with. I recommend Costco’s pigs ears.
And finally nylabones- they are long lasting and seem to be safe enough (although I have no idea what small plastic fragments constantly going through a digestion system can do to it). The problem usually is that the dog isn’t that into it.
If you get nothing else from reading this, realize that dogs need to chew on things. It’s a natural/healthy behavior that needs to be met. Giving them appropriate chew toys will help them learn to be by themselves, keep them mentally stimulated, wear out their mouth and tongue so they won’t chew and bark as much and give you a break to do what you need to do.
No chew toy is perfect, anything can be torn up and ingested.
I realize this was a long post, if you have found it or any of my posts helpful or interesting or you disagree with anything I have said please comment, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have been involved in many animal introductions. Whether it’s a baboon meeting a baby monkey for the first time, a Killer Whale being introduced to a pod of whales, or dogs meeting other dogs, each introduction is a little different and needs to be taken very seriously, it can even be life or death.
It’s important to understand wild animal behavior in order to understand how a particular species is going to react to a new member/intruder. In the case of Killer Whales, males will move from pod to pod mating with the females, so Killer Whales are programmed to accept new member somewhat easily. In the case of baboons, female baboons can be so maternal that they will sometimes steal someone else’s baby for their own, so an introduction to a baby should be much easier than lets say introducing a female to another adult female. Although the problem we needed to be aware of with the baboon was that she didn’t get so possessive that she didn’t want to give the young monkey back. Adult male chimps have been known to kill young chimps to try to improve their status in the group. Wolves rarely if ever let a strange wolf into their pack, although a singe lone female will often pair with a single lone male to start a pack. And that is one reason that so many dogs have problems meeting other dogs.
Most people don’t own chimps and killer whales so I will focus most of my attention on Dog introductions.
When my dog was a pup I took him with me to check out a boarding facility that we were thinking about leaving him at when we went out of town. The owner let us in a side area to wait for a minute. There were about 7-8 large dogs on the other side of the fence barking, some aggressively, as dogs do when a new dog is in the environment. The dogs were so excited they broke through the fence and all rushed me and my dog, I instinctively picked my dog up and the dogs crowded around us smelling me and him and then went about their business. The owner of the facility told me that I should never pick up a dog when something like that happens.  She is correct, for some situations, but not for this one.  If the woman had let the dogs in herself I may have kept my dog on the ground, trusting that she knew her dogs, but even then I think I would have picked up my dog or any other small dog in that situation. So, worst case scenario, the dogs break through the fence, I pick up my dog and the dogs smell me and my dog’s hind quarters. Actual worst case would be they attack or bite me and my dog, but upon arrival I didn’t notice any signs of human aggression). Or dogs rush through the fence, I leave my dog on the ground, one dog takes a bite at my dog, and a pack mentality kicks in and my dog is seriously injured.   My point is each situation is different and just because something is said on a popular TV show does not make it true.
When I get a new dog at the facility it is not a forgone conclusion that that dog is going to meet my dog or any other dog that is staying with me. I have to see a number of positive behaviors before an introduction ever happens. Each scenario is different.
The first dog they will meet is my dog who is a 1 year old, 70 lb Doberman. He is confident, playful, and non aggressive. If I am introducing a potentially aggressive dog to my dog at my facility I will exercise the dog, then I may walk him past my dog from a long distance or through a gate or window, and then maybe walk both on either side of me. If all that goes well it’s time for an actual meeting. Based on the level of aggression I may introduce them in the middle of a hot Ramona day so their energy level is very low, or I may introduce them in the pond so they aren’t thinking about the other dog but instead what they’re doing in a pond. And the most important part (now remember, if I am introducing an aggressive dog to my dog or another dog it is because that dog has been sent to me to fix the aggression issue) as the dogs meet on leash, and are good, even if only for a split second they are Bridged, (see my blog on clicker training) called away, and reinforced.
Something I often hear is that dogs are much better when they meet off leash. I agree with that but my clients can’t walk down the street and let their dog off leash every time they see another dog. What if a fight breaks out off leash? It’s much harder to break up, especially if more than two dogs are involved and there is a much greater chance of human injury.
I just spoke with a client today that has a 100 lb Doberman and a 115 lb mastiff. Her dogs are showing aggression towards each other when they get excited. She read somewhere that you should never break up a dog fight because you should let them fight it out. I don’t think I have ever heard worse advice in my life. (Although if you choose to break up a fight you should use extreme caution in order to not get injured). And I don’t know any dog loving owner that feels comfortable letting their dogs tear each other apart. I have worked with a lot of animals and aggression is always a concern, I have also worked with the best animal trainers in the world, and I have never once heard then say “just let them fight it out” Never! Always remember that with knowledge of Classical and Operant Conditioning, motivation and the use of positive reinforcement you can train anything and train anything out of your dog with a little guidance and patience.
Dogs are often aggressive on leash, through a gate, when the owners present, when the owners not present, toward submissive dogs toward dominant dogs, toward children… Each situation is a little different. You have to understand your dog and put them in a situation to learn, get reinforced and ultimately, succeed.