Our bulldog looooves chewing sticks. In the forest, in the woodshop, in the backyard...

He'd often go to my husband's woodshop and just seek out the biggest stick he could find:

"I knew I could fit it in my mouth!"

It seems harmless enough, but we noticed that he'd not only leave a chewed up mess of bark on the floor, he'd also poop wood shards and drool profusely afterwards, most likely as a result of splintering wood. Not good.

But, he loves chewing sticks. No Nylabones. No bones. Sticks.

Now...finally - one of the strangest, but oddly logical and amazingly well rounded "chews" we've ever seen! What is old is new. Deer antlers. Yes, deer antlers. No, it's not from hunted deer. They are antlers gathered by folks on ranches after the annual, completely natural wild deer antler shedding season.

They are odorless, don't splinter, don't stain and are rich in calcium and good minerals. You can soak them in chicken broth to make them even more tasty, but we haven't even had the need. Our bulldog loves them and we can feel good about him gnawing on 'em. I'm not sure why dogs seem to obsess about them - you almost have to wonder if it sparks something primal - like, they were toothpicks for the the wolf pack after they hunted their prey on the tundra. Umm, I think our bulldog's cushy microfiber dog bed and spot on our pillow-top mattress bed is a far cry from the tundra...but, hey, he still likes those deer antlers!

A lot of pet stores and sites carry this now, but you can also read/learn more about them from a popular provider, Antlerz.

p.s. One thing we did notice is that he should gnaw on them post or pre-meal, since some of the 'minerals' seem to unsettle his stomach unless he has other food in his belly.