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When our mastiffs were pups we got them a couple of Orbee bones. I think they were mint flavored, and the dogs loved them. Unfortunately, once they got a little older they were in a billion pieces one day.

We've considered trying another version other than the bone for our 170 lb male who likes toys with a little "give" but after many expensive, supposedly indestructable toys have been destroyed, we're a little wary. They do just fine with the really big Nylabones - can get shavings off but mostly stay intact. Has anyone else with big dogs tried out any toys with their 4 or 5 chew-o-meter rating?

We have a Doxie and a 6-month-old Pitt Bull, and either one can destroy a toy within 24 hours, with two exceptions; Kong toys and home-made sock toys. The Kongs are self-explanatory, available at most pet stores and pretty sturdy. We do have to keep an eye on them though because after some time they chew off small "crumbs" of Kong that they'll try to eat if we don't catch it and throw it away. The home-made sock toys started as a recycling joke and have turned out to be pretty sturdy. Take a standard rope toy and put it in an old sock, then put that sock in it's mate and tie a knot in the end. I did this with an old acrylic blend pair of my husband's dress socks and the dogs can't seem to chew through it.

i got one of the orbee balls for my 17 lb boston terrier mix. it was distroyed in about 5 minutes. if it's not made out of hard plastic or rubber he'll destroy it in minutes and i'll have wasted my money.

itsabecky you might want to try and get a heavy chewer toy from planet dog. they rate all of their toys on a 1-5 star rating... 5 for heavy chewers.

planet dog makes MUCH better toys than the kongs on the market. we have 3 balls and 3 orbee planets for our cattle dog. we usually freeze the orbee with some dry food peanut butter mixture and leave it as a snack for our pooch during the day. he has yet to destroy one of the planet dog toys!!

they also smell great! no matter how much slobber is on it, it always smells like mint!!

Even better than plastictoys: naturally shed deer antlers! Dogs LOVE them, the animal didn't have to perish to get them, and no plastic (funny how we are so concerned about our consumption of plastic, but not so much for the dog who is literally chewing on the plastic). You can find them online, from friends (ask them to look for them on walks), or on your own hikes.