Safer alternatives to rawhide?

Get her huge actual weight bearing animal bones, preferably from a cow or an animal of that size so she won't be able to swallow it since it'd be far bigger than her head. I have a local shop that sells dog food (commercial and raw) and they have a nice selection of recreational bones, some of which are enormous and there is no way a boxer could swallow those. Of course, once the bone starts showing wear and tear switch it out with a new one to avoid her breaking off a piece or something, but if anything it's as natural as natural gets so a small piece of raw bone would be far beter than swallowing rawhide. :p

In addition to antlers, braided bully sticks are another good alternative. Granted, they won't last nearly as long as an antler, but its better than rawhide. Be careful with the marrow bones too. Too much marrow can give a dog the runs.

The dog always needs to be supervised when indoors. Every time the dog goes to the toilet in the house, and he is not caught and corrected, the behaviour is reinforced and he will think it is acceptable behaviour.

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• Take your dog on lead to the area where you would like him to relieve himself

• Use the word “toilet” when the dog is going to the toilet so he learns to associate the word with the action

• Reward with high praise and a treat reward so this behaviour is keenly repeated by the dog

• If the dog tries to jump and play with you ignore this behaviour until the dog focuses on sniffing the ground and starting to cue for the signs of relieving himself

• Remember to be patient – as this may take time

• If consistent, in weeks to a couple of months you should be able to do without the lead and your dog should be able to relieve himself on cue when hearing the command “toilet”

As prevention is better than cure; get in the habit of closing doors and not allowing your dog free access to areas that are unsupervised. NB: Baby dividers between rooms and hallways can be very effective to keep dog out. It is interesting to note that carpeted rooms are attractive to puppies as they hold the scent particularly well.

Make sure your cleaning the urine up completely! There are a number of excellent cleaning products that you can now purchase from pet stores that eliminate the smell of urine or feces. If the pup can smell any urine or feces, remembering it has a much stronger sense of smell than us; it will encourage him to go again on the same spot.

If you are to catch your dog in the act simply give the “a-ah” command. Pick the dog up and place outdoors or on paper so that he can finish his deed there. Remember that if you do not catch the dog within 3 seconds of an undesirable act he will have no comprehension of what you are correcting him for. This may worsen his toileting habits as the dog will learn to be deceptive as he will now want to hide away.

antlers are one of the best things for aggressive chewers. I have very aggressive chewer and it takes him a month to destroy an antler. Deers naturally shed their antlers... they really do just fall off their heads every now and then. Antler Shed... so, cruelty to animals isn't a concern with the antlers.

Raw bones are great too. you can get "marrow bones" from the meat counter. The marrow inside is nutritious and the thick marrow bones wont break or splinter. Sometimes marrow bones are sliced into discs so it may not be good for a larger dog that could swallow them.