Reddit mentions of NEWTS CHEWS Antler, Large

Oh man, I am right there with you. My second dog was adopted 6 months ago. He's finally settling in and we can really see that all of the BAT work we've been doing for the past 5 months is really making a difference. Unfortunately, he's now comfortable and safe enough to exhibit those exact behaviors--resource guarding and barking for attention. This is a trying time.

First, as an ex-vet tech of 12 years, I hate the gentle leader. It seems to make dogs a lot more frustrated and it's very bad for their neck. Instead, try the Easy Walk harness--it fastens in the front and operates on a similar principle--they can't pull as much because the harness mechanics mess with their center of gravity. They can still pull, which is actually a good thing. You can work on training for pulling, which will stick a lot better than by just making it hard to pull, and they can't hurt themselves if they get overexcited and lunge unexpectedly. A dog can (and many have) break its neck lunging on the gentle leader when the owner holds on and their head is snapped back.

Dial back the expectations and set your dog up for success. If it's too distracting to practice walking nicely outside, do it inside. Do your best outside in the mean time, but focus on the learning inside. Then, when he can walk on a loose lead inside without an issue for 10-20 minutes, try moving the work outside for 5 minutes. He'll always backslide every time you move the trained behavior to a new environment because dogs don't generalize well. So, if you teach your dog to heel in the living room, you will need to remind him how to heel in the front yard and tell him that the rules he already knows apply out here as well. At first, you'll have to practice for a few minutes before entering a new environment before the dog gets it and makes you the common denominator in his good behavior.

He's a heeler, so he needs a lot more exercise than a walk after work. They are bred to herd livestock for 8-12 hours a day. His behavior is screaming "I AM BORED AND HAVE TOO MUCH ENERGY"--a tired dog is too tired to develop bad habits. In the morning, get up, feed him, and take him on a multi-mile run. Walk him when you get home, and if you can hire a dog walker to stop by in the middle of the day and walk him--do that. It's usually about $20 a day for that sort of thing. Find a fenced in area where you can let him off the leash and play fetch. Teach him to drop it--showing him that if he gives you something, something fun will happen is going to help a lot with the resource guarding.

Stop giving him rawhides. If he eats them that quickly, he's going to choke or get an intestinal blockage. Instead, get something like pizzle sticks or pig ears which are more brittle and fibrous and won't form gooey, unsoluable masses like a half chewed rawhide. An antler would be a much better chew for him. Don't get the ones that are sliced in half or quarters, they don't last very long. Get the whole ones. [These] (http://www.amazon.com/Newts-Chews-NCO-19905-Antler-Large/dp/B005FU4XBW/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0HACBQ0M7TFZ3RT9PT88) have the horn material all around the tasty soft stuff while [these] (http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Naturals-Calcium-Stick-Antler/dp/B00HEF83B2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1420566308&sr=8-4&keywords=antler) have all the soft stuff exposed and he'll consume it very quickly. You can even buy them in bulk. Another favorite chew in our house is a frozen beef marrow bone. Do not ever, ever give your dog a cooked bone. But, a raw bone is fine. I get them way cheaper at the pet store than what I can find on [Amazon] (http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Variety-Frozen-Bones-6-Count/dp/B00HYFBBH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1420566550&sr=1-1&keywords=frozen+beef+bones), but they are relatively inexpensive and if you give it to him still frozen, he'll take an hour to get all the marrow and meat bits off and then can chew on the bone for days. We give ours a bone when we have to leave for a long time or at least once a week.

In the interim--if he growls at you, back off. He's warning you that he's not ok with what you're doing and you need to respect that. Do not ever punish him or yell at him when he growls. You're not telling him that the guarding behavior is bad, you're telling him that warning you that he's thinking of biting you is bad. So, the result of punishing him for growling will be that he will stop warning you before he snaps. That is very unsafe. We're dealing with that now--my dog's previous owners probably punished him for growling because he rarely does it before he snaps at someone. I've been heavily encouraging the growling when it happens by respecting his warning and leaving the area. In response to that, and the other work on resource guarding, he growls more frequently instead of snapping, and the overall incidence of the guarding behavior is decreasing. So rather than snapping 10 times a week, he's growling 2-3 times a week and snapping maybe once.

For now, pick up all of his toys and chews. He can only have one at a time, which you hand him and you will pick up once he's lost interest. This makes it easy for you to play the trading game, where he has a toy and you offer him a different toy or treat. Practicing that game will help a lot with the guarding. Play it as often as you can and stop when he tells you he doesn't want to play. He'll either growl to warn you off or he'll walk away. Respect his boundaries for now and work on other things that will reduce those boundaries over time. He needs to trust you guys and respecting his boundaries really builds a lot of trust. It also gives you leeway for when you have to ignore his boundaries and give him a bath, clip his nails, or pull cactus thorns out of his face.

Misdirection works only if you have something of equal or greater value to exchange. So, find some really awesome treats and work on 'drop it'. If he gets a Super Awesome treat in exchange for putting down a stick, he'll start to associate you taking what he has with a positive experience. Be really, really, ridiculously excited when he does it, especially at first. Praise heavily, use a high pitched and excited voice and shower with treats. You can either give a few by hand or you can do my favorite and make it rain.

Seconded. I've had luck with ordering this brand from Amazon. They seem expensive but they last my corgi about 3 months, compared to how she'll go through a decent sized rawhide in one day.

You need to buy this RIGHT NOW because it's that time of year when hot tea (or coffee, or cocoa) is PERFECT!! And I need this because I have 3 dogs that always need a distraction!!

I haven't noticed a difference between brands, so I just look for the cheapest. The antlers from Grateful Shed are the cheapest I've found, but I've also tried Newt's as well.

My dog does seem to prefer deer antlers to Elk though. You may have to try both to see if your dog has a preference. The one you linked to is Elk, and the two I've linked are both deer.