Bleeding Gums When Chewing

[BoxerBella]

Hey guys,

So, last weekend I bought Bella a Nylabone Galileo bone and she adores it. She'll lay down with it and just chew, chew, chew. Tonight I noticed a little bit of pink of the chewed end of the bone and took the toy away from her for the night since the little bristley bits that get scraped up seem to be making her gums bleed. It doesn't seem to bother her. Is this ok, or should I take the toy away completely? I don't want to take away her beloved bone but I also don't want her to end up getting infected gums.

For the record, she has healthy teeth and gums and is still just a pup so I doubt the bleeding is caused by gingivitis. The bristles are kinda scrapey and I can see how they'd cause this. She's moping and letting out loud, bored sighs at my feet right now because I won't give her bone back

Advice?

[ownedbyboxers]

Hi I don't think there is too much need for concern, this very often happens with My dogs I would say it is the doggie equivalant of us brushing our teeth 'til they bleed, I would just keep an eye in it.

[Nicole]

Nah...no big deal :) If I notice blood on their Galileo (mine love 'em, too) then I just take it away for a couple hours. You're going to notice that for the rest of her life ;) It's actually good when the ends start to fray a bit...cleans teeth better!

[fjones]

Not a problem. We have one for Willow. She loves it. The bristles, they say on the package, are for cleaning????

[BoxerBella]

Yay, I don't have to take it away

It's the only toy so far that she hasn't been able to destroy!

[Nicole]

There's another one, I don't know the name of it...Nylabone...but it looks like a bone and has sort of a knuckled end? The wolf size is very popular here. Those and the Galileo's hold up really well :)

[BoxerBella]

Nicole, does the one you're thinking of sort of look like a fist on one end? LOL I can't think of any other description.

Another question- I never know when these things need to be replaced. On some it says when the knuckles are worn down, but how worn down do they need to be? And I read somewhere that the Galileo one only needs to be taken away when it can be swallowed whole... is that true??

[Nicole]

Souper bones!! Had to go find them on eBay :) But yeah...looks like a fist. The Rhino bones (big fat rubber things) also last a really long time! Mine also like the ring and the wishbone. I was using the dental dinosaurs but Meatball can bite those in half.

When the nubs at the end are gone and the whole bone sort of takes on the same shape is what they mean. Like you have the middle straight bit, right? And knobby ends (just different shapes depending on the bone). When the whole toy looks like the straight bit and you think it never came with knobby ends, it gets tossed :) The Galileo tells you when it's small enough to swallow just because there are no knobby bits to keep at eye on :) It's a judgement call.

Just an example...you can get some really good deals on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Nylabone-Durab...item414a968c03

[pupeluv]

My two love them as well, sometimes they get their jowles in there when chewing away too. Its a common sight around here.