What to buy for the dog who has eaten everything! (Nylabone Galileo Bone)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Nylabone Galileo Bone
Date:	09/09/02 (388 review reads)
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Rosie O'Hooligan Magee was desperate for a mobile phone, but I refused. As a puppy it was curtain hooks that she craved, but she quickly progressed from that childish phase and moved on to telephone cabling and alarm clocks. She doesn't just crunch at them and spit them out. She eats them.

Kia Monkeydoodle Magee, on the other hand, is a chew-and-spit dog. She will emerge from the garden and deposit an unrecognisable lump of chewed plastic at your feet. It's only when you find that the bottom end of the garden is flooded that you realise it was the tap from the water butt. She chews stones from the garden. I have a basket on the kitchen window sill which I empty back into the garden once it's full. There are some rather attractive cobles in there at the moment. Aesthetically she prefers a grey and white mixture.

Rosie and Kia are Rhodesian Ridgebacks. For those of you who are not familiar with the breed, they're a large dog (both weigh in at about 40kg) and they have exceptionally strong jaws. Particularly when they're growing they need to be able to chew on something resistant, much as a baby needs something like a teething ring. Normal meat bones splinter (particularly if they've been cooked) and if swallowed can rupture the intestine or bowel.

I'm sure that you've all seen those toys labelled as 'Virtually Indestructible!' Well my dogs regard these as a minor challenge. I once bought a chew which the pet shop owner assured me would last for ages - "and if it doesn't" he said "I?'l give you your money back!" He's not renowned for his generosity in such matters, so I took him at his word. It took me ten minutes to get home, fifteen for Rosie to destroy the chew and another ten minutes for me to return to the shop and get my money back. Rumour has it that the offer has not been repeated.

So with the dining room table starting to loo
k nervous whenever it saw the dogs approaching, the hunt was on for something, anything, which the dogs could chew and not destroy within a matter of minutes. As luck would have it I didn't find the Galileo Bone, but rather it found me. I followed a lady with a trolley to the checkout in a Pet Superstore. As she cleared her trolley she dropped a Galileo Bone on my foot. I was hopping round, she was apologising and all I could say was "just tell me where you found it! I need two!"

You should always buy the largest Galileo bone that your dog or puppy can pick up in his mouth. I bought the largest size, the Super Galileo. At about 19cm long it weighs in at 375gr. and is solid as a rock. It's made from super-tough virgin Dupont nylon and the manufacturers, Nylabone, claim that it is more than ten times as tough as any other nylon or polyurethane bone. I'm not certain which, if any, actual bone it's intended to resemble but it has a comfortingly rounded central section which fits neatly in the mouth and end sections shaped for easy chewing and gnawing. The smaller size is about 14cm long.

It's designed for aggressive chewers. That doesn't mean that it's designed for aggressive dogs but rather that it's for the sort of dog who puts heart and soul into his chewing, as my two do. Now this does ultimately have an impact on the bone. What started as a beautifully smooth surface is now pitted with sharp pieces sticking up. To the dogs this only seems to make the bone more desirable, but if a visitor to the house is wearing tights I have to make certain that the bones are securely locked away. Occasionally, too, a very small piece of the surface comes away and usually catches in the dog's throat. We then have much coughing and spluttering from one dog, whilst the other dog takes the opportunity to quickly nip in and snatch the bone. Yes, I'm sure that you know how that one ends!

It i
sn't a quiet activity either. When one of the dogs is energetically gnawing it sounds rather like someone enthusiastically sawing wood. If both dogs are doing it then you need earplugs.

Additionally, from the dogs' point of view, there's the drop factor. Scenario 1: find a wooden floor. Lift bone to maximum height (consider standing on sofa if necessary) and drop. This is particularly effective if no one has seen you making your preparations and the noise created is sufficient to produce a heart attack in the unwary. Scenario 2: take bone to the top of the stairs, flick head upwards and drop bone. With luck it will bounce all the way down stairs. This has already accounted for one drinking bowl and nearly accounted for the person who unwittingly sat on the bottom step to put their shoes on.

Those are the drawbacks. You might also think that the cost of £12.50 is a drawback but I'm inclined to disagree. We've had the bones for more than six months now and, although we've had the odd bit of damage, such as a chewed corner of a dog blanket, we haven't had any major damage. Clocks and cabling have lost their appeal. The dining room table doesn't look quite so vulnerable.

Our vet, too, is impressed with the state of their teeth. In the wild dogs constantly eat carcasses and use their teeth as nature intended them to be used. The domesticated dog is at a disadvantage here as a commercially-produced diet is generally too soft to be good for the dog's teeth. Whilst the Galileo bone doesn't reach all areas of the teeth it can help to reduce plaque build up.

The bones have been a good investment for us and could well be for you if you have a dog who needs to chew. Just remember not to sit at the bottom of the stairs!

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