I've just been reading the thread about rawhide chews and agree with a lot of the posts, in that they are far from ideal.  My dogs love to have a chew in the evening and they all have a cold carrot from the fridge, which they love, but I'm wondering what everyone else uses.  I also get bones from the butcher but they really can't have them indoors.  I have seen dried fish sticks advertised that I am thinking of trying, but I'm sure they won't smell too good!  So I am looking for something that will be fairly robust for my big dog, doesn't have a load of dodgy preservatives and isn't going to cause the problems rawhide chews can cause.  Look forward to hearing what you all use!

Fish sticks go in a nanosecond - they love them but they're a short pleasure!  Ditto with carrots

Ever since I changed my dogs to raw a few years ago they get much of their chew urges covered by real bones however I do sometimes give stuffed kongs if i want them to have something with food content.  I stuff them with fish4dogs salmon mousse and freeze so that they last a bit longer.

A friend recently bought my youngster a 'Tastybone' and the other two, in competition, find it very interesting.  I've now bought several more so that they can rotate flavours!

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i brought some tripe for my pup last week and she loved it and because it is fairly hard it took a while to get through it BUT it does smell a bit pongy!!!! and we also tried paddy wack which went down rather well!!!

If you don't want raw bones inside, use sterilised bones. Not as interesting but all my dogs like them. One of my papillons has a collection of them (I tend to have to bin some once they reach the 40 mark or so!!) and he talks to his and argues with them. :) Pet shops and supermarkets sell them, either with dodgy looking filling (which I'd say is okay because they only get a bit out at a time) or plain.

I buy the fish stix from Fish4Dogs but only give them on a weekend and usually buy the knots or twists as they last longer. I dont find any smell from them.

I remember someone once telling me that pet shop sterilised bones can splinter - do you think a larger dog would be ok with them?  Also not sure I like the idea of them swallowing bits of nylon from the Tasty Bones - what does everyone else think?
I think I'll order a few different things on line and see what they prefer, although I've bought things like tripe before and they only last a few minutes. 
I'll definitely be ordering the dried fish sticks, as they seem natural with no added dodgy ingredients.
Thanks everyone for your ideas!

> Also not sure I like the idea of them swallowing bits of nylon from the Tasty Bones

I take your point, but my little toad would eat far worse if left to his own devices.  He likes to cruise the garden for sticks and unripe apples and, careful as we are, we can never eradicate his garden hazards.  He also likes to play Jenga with the wood pile.  I'm happy to swap his sticks for a Tastybone and the bits the dogs grind off are tiny flakes over months and months of pretty intensive chewing.

> but they really can't have them indoors.

I have yet to find anything that they enjoy as much as a good bone and when they realy can't have them outside I've got round it by covering their baskets with old towels and giving them there. They soon learnt and will happily stay for as long as they have them. Not ideal but it works and towels just thrown in the wash.

I remember someone once telling me that pet shop sterilised bones can splinter - do you think a larger dog would be ok with them? 

My biggest dog weighs almost 40 kgs and these bones tend to only splinter after many weeks of chewing (have used them for about ten years now), and then into large enough pieces to not be a problem -not small splinters. Splinters would happen if they were cooked or roasted. These rather tend to gradually wear down.