A chart across five sizes, from under 5 kg to over 45 kg, shows which chew bone to pick for the way your dog chews. We also cover what’s marked for puppies and what vets say about hard chews.
You pick a chew bone by your dog’s weight, which gives you the size, and by the way they chew, which tells you how hard the chew can be. It has to be big enough that it can’t fit whole in their mouth, and the hardest chews, like deer antler, are for adult dogs with healthy teeth, given only while you’re with them. In the chart below, our chews are sorted by size and by how your dog chews.
What to choose by your dog’s weight
| Size | Gentle chewer | Moderate chewer | Power chewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini (under 5 kg) | Bully stick Standard S, 10 cm, thinner than Premium; Redfish cubes, easier to chew than cod skin | Deer antler S, easy chew, 10 cm; Cod skin rolls, easy to chew | Himalayan cheese S, hard chew, 6–10 cm; Cinnamon wood S, hard, 15 cm |
| Small (5–10 kg) | Bully stick Standard S, 10 cm, thinner than Premium; Redfish cubes, easier to chew than cod skin | Deer antler S, easy chew, 10 cm; Cod skin rolls, easy to chew | Himalayan cheese S, hard chew, 6–10 cm; Cinnamon wood S, hard, 15 cm |
| Medium (10–25 kg) | Bully stick Standard M, 15 cm, thinner than Premium; Redfish cubes, easier to chew than cod skin | Deer antler M, easy chew, 12 cm; Fallow deer antler M, softer than red deer antler, 13–16 cm; Bully stick Premium M, 15 cm, thicker than Standard | Cinnamon wood M, hard, 19 cm; Cod skin sticks, durable texture. We don’t have Himalayan cheese in a size for medium dogs. |
| Large (25–45 kg) | Redfish skin rolls, the softest of our fish chews | Bully stick Premium L, 30 cm; Cod skin rolls, easy to chew | Deer antler XL+, 18 cm, or XXL, 20 cm, hard chew; Himalayan cheese L, 13–16 cm, XL, 14–18 cm, or XXL, 15–20 cm, hard chew |
| Giant (over 45 kg) | Redfish skin rolls, the softest of our fish chews | Bully stick Premium L, 30 cm; Cod skin rolls, easy to chew | Deer antler XXL, 20 cm, or XL+, 18 cm, hard chew; Himalayan cheese XXL, 15–20 cm, XL, 14–18 cm, or L, 13–16 cm, hard chew |
The rows are the sizes from the dog profile on our site, and the columns are how your dog chews. Everything marked for Mini is also marked for Small, and everything for Large is also for Giant, which is why those rows match. Weight is only the starting point: their mouth and the way they chew matter too.
Toy, treat or something that lasts
When you’re looking for something for your dog to chew, you’ll come across three kinds of things. Toys aren’t eaten: your dog chews and plays with them, like the Loop M rope toy. Chew treats get eaten up: bully sticks and dried skin. Others last a long time: deer antler and cinnamon wood are gnawed slowly, and Himalayan cheese is eaten, but very slowly. The wood isn’t eaten at all: your dog only gnaws it. Most of them have a single ingredient, and we’ve written separately about how we read a treat label.
How hard does your dog chew? Three signs you’ll see at home
The first few times you give them something to chew, stay close and watch three things: how long it lasts, whether they break pieces off and whether they try to swallow big pieces. That tells you which column of the chart to look at.
- Gentle chewer. Licks, nibbles, stops and comes back. A chew lasts a long time and stays almost whole.
- Moderate chewer. Chews patiently and for a long time, but doesn’t break pieces off or try to crack what’s between their teeth.
- Power chewer. Bears down hard, breaks pieces off, splits things. The American Kennel Club (AKC) writes about powerful chewers that destroy conventional chew toys within hours.
If you don’t know yet where your dog fits, start with something gentler and see how they get on.
Size: bigger than the mouth
There’s one basic rule: the piece shouldn’t fit entirely in their mouth. The AKC puts it the same way: “pick chew toys that don’t fit all the way into your dog’s mouth. This helps protect aggressive chewers and may reduce the risk of choking and obstruction.” Our sizes are matched to dog sizes for exactly this reason, so that the right piece for your dog can’t be swallowed whole: S for Mini and Small, M for Medium, and L, XL, XL+ and XXL for Large and Giant. If your dog is between two sizes, go for the bigger one.
Don’t let your dog chew the piece right down to the end: take it away once it’s small enough to swallow, as our product pages also say. Bully stick bites are for every size, and you pick a piece that suits your dog.
Hardness: the fingernail test
We’ll say it plainly, as we did in our deer antler article. Dr. Brian Collins, a veterinarian at Cornell University, puts it this way: “I discourage pet owners from giving bones, antlers or hooves of any kind or any other hard or abrasive objects.” He also gives a simple test: “the object should be bendable and be able to be indented with a fingernail.” The AKC writes that “antlers and other excessively hard chews are a common cause of broken teeth in dogs”, and the WSAVA treat guide for owners says “Excessively hard chews and treats, for example, antlers and hooves, and those with sharp edges should be avoided.”
Deer antler doesn’t pass the fingernail test. Himalayan cheese is described on its own page as a hard chew, and cinnamon wood as a hard stick. The rules are the same for all three: adult dogs only, the right size, and you nearby while they chew. How to choose between the easy chew and the hard chew antler is covered in our deer antler article.
For everything else, from bully sticks to dried skin, do the test yourself on the piece you have: press with your fingernail and see whether it leaves a mark. If your dog has sensitive teeth or is getting older, ask your vet first what they can chew.
For puppies: what each product page says
Puppies’ teeth are changing: the AKC writes that “Before they’re 6 months old, puppies lose all their baby teeth as their adult teeth grow in.” Each product page says which age it’s meant for; we’ve gathered the chews here.
Marked for all ages, so for puppies too:
- bully sticks, in every size, plus bully stick bites;
- the cubes, rolls and sticks made from cod skin and redfish;
- the Loop M rope toy, for medium dogs, though it also has a piece of deer antler, so ask your vet first before giving it to a puppy;
- beef ears and rabbit ears.
Adults only, among others: deer antler, including the easy chew, Himalayan cheese, cinnamon wood, and beef, camel, lamb and deer skin. The Himalayan cheese page also says why: it’s a hard chew, and puppies’ teeth are still forming.
The age at which a puppy can have antler is for your vet to decide, and the AKC suggests asking about safe chewing options at the first vet visit. On bully sticks, the AKC writes: “They’re even suitable for puppies, as long as your puppy can chew hard food or treats on their own.” With puppies too, stay close while they chew.
How often: chews have calories too
Anything that’s eaten has calories, and almost all of a bully stick gets eaten. A 2013 study in the Canadian Veterinary Journal, by researchers at Tufts University’s veterinary school and the University of Guelph, looked at 26 bully sticks bought in the US and Canada. The ones tested for calories had between 9 and 22 calories per inch, and the average six-inch stick had 88 calories: 9% of the daily calorie needs of a 50-pound dog (about 23 kg) and 30% of those of a 10-pound dog (about 4.5 kg). Those figures come from the study, not from our bully sticks.
The WSAVA treat guide counts chews as treats and says treats “should always make up less than 10% of a dog’s daily calorie intake.” Its table, based on a healthy adult dog at ideal weight, gives 24 kcal a day from treats at 4 kg, 47 at 10 kg, 94 at 25 kg and 146 at 45 kg. For a small dog, a single stick can go over that whole allowance.
In practice, with a small dog you split a stick over several days, and chew treats count as part of the day’s food, not on top of it. Himalayan cheese counts too; the wood, which isn’t eaten, doesn’t. Work out the right portion for your dog with your vet.
Each type, briefly
Deer antler
Deer antler is a whole bone that deer shed on their own every year, and the label has a single line: 100% red deer antler, naturally shed. It’s cut into pieces and sorted by size, so your dog can hold it in their paws: S (10 cm) and M (12 cm) as easy chews, XL+ (18 cm) and XXL (20 cm) as hard chews. The fallow deer antler M (13–16 cm) has a softer texture than red deer antler. They’re all for adults, in our antler collection, and how to choose and give one is in our deer antler article.
Himalayan cheese
Himalayan cheese is a hard cheese made from cow’s milk, salt and lemon juice, and it’s eaten very slowly: its page describes it as a hard, long-lasting chew. S (6–10 cm) is for Mini and Small, plain or with strawberry, mint or blueberry, while L (13–16 cm), XL (14–18 cm) and XXL (15–20 cm) are for Large and Giant. There’s no size for medium dogs. It’s for adults only. The label says lactose-free, but it contains milk protein, so it’s not for dogs allergic to milk protein. You’ll find them all in our Himalayan cheese collection.
Bully stick
A bully stick is dried beef penis, a single ingredient; it’s edible, and it’s marked for all ages. Standard is the thinner one: S (10 cm) for Mini and Small, M (15 cm) for Medium. Premium is thicker and heavier, M (15 cm) for Medium and L (30 cm) for Large and Giant, and according to the manufacturer’s tests it takes a dog about 50% longer to chew. Bully stick bites, in 100 g and 250 g bags, are for every size. They’re all in our bully sticks collection.
Dried skin
Dried skin is edible and takes a lot of chewing. Beef, camel, lamb and deer skin come as braids, strips and rolls, for adults of any size, and the beef skin braid is meant for power chewers. The cubes, rolls and sticks made from cod skin and redfish are marked for all ages: the cubes (Mini, Small, Medium) are for gentle chewers, the rolls suit every size, and the sticks (Medium, Large, Giant) are for dogs who chew hard. They’re all in our dried skin collection.
Cinnamon wood
Our chewing wood is Ceylon cinnamon wood, a single ingredient. It’s a hard stick, for chewing, not for eating. Its page says to check it regularly and replace it when it gets small or starts to splinter. S (15 cm) is for Mini and Small, M (19 cm) for Medium, both for adults, in our chewing wood collection.
Loop M rope toy
The Loop M rope toy is for tugging and chewing: 100% natural cotton rope with a piece of deer antler. It’s for medium dogs, it’s marked for all ages, and it’s a toy, not a treat: the rope isn’t eaten. Stay close while they play, and replace it when the rope frays or the antler piece has worn down small enough to be swallowed. It’s in our toys collection.
Table bones and park sticks
Keep cooked bones from the table away from your dog. The AKC writes: “Cooked bones splinter into shards. So if your dog eats one, they might choke on the tiny pieces. These pieces can cause serious damage to the dog’s mouth, throat, or intestines.” The same goes for sticks from the park: according to the AKC, “chewing on sticks or stones can cause your dog a lot of potential harm”, and a piece of stick can get lodged in the mouth, between the teeth. Our cinnamon wood is hard too, which is why you check it regularly.
If your dog has swallowed a cooked bone anyway, call your vet and ask what to do. For chicken bones, the AKC says not to try to make them vomit at home, and to have them seen by a vet if they vomit, drool a lot, have trouble swallowing, make choking sounds, stretch out their neck or stop eating.
Frequently asked questions
What’s a good chew bone for a small dog?
For Mini and Small, up to 10 kg, we have size S: the Bully stick Standard S for gentle chewers, the deer antler S for moderate chewers, and the Himalayan cheese S or cinnamon wood S for power chewers. Antler, cheese and wood are for adults only.
Which chew bone suits a large dog?
For Large and Giant (over 25 kg), there’s the Bully stick Premium L, deer antler XL+ or XXL, and Himalayan cheese L, XL or XXL. Whole antler is for adults with healthy teeth who are already used to antler.
What can a puppy chew?
They can have anything marked for all ages: bully sticks in their size, the cod skin and redfish chews, and beef and rabbit ears. The Loop M rope toy is marked for all ages too, but it has a piece of deer antler, so for that one, as for antler, your vet will tell you when the time is right.
Are deer antlers safe for dogs?
Antler is hard and doesn’t pass the fingernail test, and the AKC notes that “most veterinarians advise staying away from antlers for dogs”. If you do choose antler, give it only to an adult dog with healthy teeth, in the right size, and stay close while they chew.
How often can I give a bully stick?
In a 2013 Tufts study, a 6-inch stick (about 15 cm) averaged 88 kcal, 30% of the daily needs of a 10-pound (about 4.5 kg) dog; that’s the study’s average, not a figure for our bully sticks. The WSAVA advises keeping treats under 10% of the day’s calories. For a small dog, split a stick over several days.
If you’re not sure what to choose
Start from your dog’s weight, watch how they chew and pick from the matching column of the chart. If you’d rather not work out sizes yourself, fill in your dog profile (size, age, sensitivities) and we’ll show you on every product whether it suits your dog. If you have any questions, write to us at contact@petique.ro.
