Benebone Wishbone Durable Dog Chew Toy for Aggressive Chewers

Nice and durable. Our dog loves chewing on these things. Has gnawed all the way through a few toys but this one is holding up well!

My pitbulls love this toy. They constantly try to steal it from each other. So durable and keeps the dogs engaged since they can sense that there is chicken inside

My 18 month old puppy has been a terror, especially when separation anxiety kicks in. Dogs chew on things because it calms their anxiety. Dogs should NEVER be allowed to chew on “unauthorized” items, such as shoes, power cords, furniture, rugs, etc. This chew toy is great training aid for giving them an “authorized” item to chew. Gently (!) scold them for chewing on your table leg, and give them this toy to chew on instead. The chips from the Benebone they ingest will not harm them, unlike most other things they find to chew on to pass the time. The toys are very tough, and depending on how intensely they’re chewed should last from a couple of months to a year. When they get so chewed up that they hurt your fingers when picking them up, it’s time to get a new one; if they can hurt your fingers, imagine what it’ll do to your dog’s gums! And still cheaper than getting a new table leg, or new sneakers!

My dog had a Benebone (puppy size) that I got for her when she was little. That was months ago and she’s pretty much chewed it down to a nub, so I wanted to get her a new one for Christmas. As I looked over the sizes, the smallest size they had was small, so I purchased it. From the moment I opened it, I knew it was too big.

My pup is a Chihuahua/Dachshund mix. She’s around 8 lbs. This bone is bigger than her head! It’s half the size of her body! She can still get her mouth around it, so I hoped that she would find a way to enjoy it like her other bone. She’s barely touched it. The silver lining is my other dog had been stealing her bone for weeks, so she was very happy to take the new bone as her own. And I will say, the small size is best suited for her. She’s a Boxer/Beagle mix and weighs around 34 lbs. It’s perfect for her.

Other than the size mishap, my dogs love these bones. I did notice there may have been a bit of blood on the bone. I’m assuming it’s likely from the bits scraping her gums. You’ll definitely want to keep an eye on your dog while chewing this. And if you have multiple dogs, be sure to watch out for resource guarding. Lucky for me, my dogs don’t mind sharing the bone with each other. They haven’t been protective of it at all.

I also want to add, I bought the two big dogs Nylabones for Christmas. They’ve barely touched them. But both of them have chewed on the Benebone. Compared to the Nylabone, it feels softer and more real. The Nylabone is very much like hard plastic. Maybe that’s why they don’t care for it.

Either way, I guess I’ll have to go back to buying the puppy sized bone for my girl. I did see in the product description, there is one size smaller than small, called a tiny. But there’s no option to buy that size, unfortunately. At least not during the time of me writing this review.

***EDIT 3: I have upgraded this to four stars. I received two replacement JUMBO bones after the one I purchased broke off almost instantly. I think that product had a defect in it, which is a little dangerous because it broke into a piece that could be swallowed. HOWEVER, the two replacement bones have been excellent. One got chewed up first, and it did slowly whittle away, but it did not break into any dangerous pieces and it did not get sharp. My puppy loved it! The second bone she has had a little more trouble chewing away, and it still gets her attention after months of hard chewing. Which makes me think that the bones have different hardness levels in the batches they are made, but that is just speculation. Regardless, the bone is great and does does not break into little pieces which could be choking hazards, and it does not get sharp.

Great product, a little inconsistent in batches maybe, but it will get your dog’s attention, provide hours of chewing, and the scent does not get on the carpet like other chew toys or bones. Good purchase!

***Edit 1: Benebone contacted me almost immediately and offered a replacement of the larger size. Their customer service representative has been friendly and I forwarded my contact information through their website for the replacement. I will update when I receive the new product and my experience.***

***Edit 2: When I contacted Benebone’s customer service to provide my address, they immediately responded in approximately an hour. In fact, they already sent and I received not one replacement, but TWO replacement bones and a nice handwritten note. I have attached a photo below proving it. The replacements were the LARGER, upgraded sizes too! I have upgraded this review to 3 Stars premised on the sincere and strong customer service they have shown me. THIS COMPANY STANDS BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS. For that, I think it is just to upgrade my 2 star review to 3 stars. I still stand by what I had said below regarding the smaller size, but so far my puppy LOVES the JUMBO Benebone and I will surely review the JUMBO in two weeks to see how it holds up. So far, the JUMBO is 5 STARS for sure; it has held up much better than the other chew toy, despite my puppy’s intense chewing on this bone (it smells much stronger than the little bone and the flavor must be super intense for her). Despite this intense chewing, the bone has taken very little damage from her–it is holding up much better.

ADVICE: Do not go by the weight recommendations and size. If your puppy/dog prefers to chew on hard bones, just get the largest size for 100 lb dogs. If your puppy chews on hard bones once in awhile but not really, then you can go for the size for 70 lb dogs. I still think the 70 lb Benebone I got had a defect which resulted in one branch completely falling off immediately–the other two branches are solid despite heavy chewing–but this new JUMBO bone is amazing!

***Original Review*** – 2 Stars

I purchased this for my 45 lb, 8 month old pit bull/shepherd mix. It is a good idea and design, but one whole end was destroyed in no time. Perhaps I got a defective one with an air bubble or crack, as you can see from the photo below that one end completely broke off/wore down but the other two ends are barely damaged despite my puppy’s chewing.

Regardless, I feel a little mislead that it was rated for dogs up to 70 lbs and, while the packaging warns you that this is just an estimate, one who anticipate that it would last longer than a week for a puppy 25 lbs lighter than the estimate. Nylabones and elk antlers lasted much longer than this did and my puppy seriously chews on the elk antlers quite intensely.

As way of some background, my puppy has a lot of chew toys ranging from bones, rawhide, ropes, stuffed animals, nylabones, and rubber balls. She certainly spent a lot of attention on this toy the last week, but it wasn’t exclusive and her chewing was shared with some of her other staples.

I like that this toy has bacon mixed in with it. If you smell the toy, particularly where your dog has been chewing, you can kind of smell a meaty aroma. It does not get on the rug or rub off, and it is a faint smell, but on the chewed parts you can smell something. It is not noticeable when you are sitting next to your dog/puppy and the toy, or near the toy; it is only when you pick up the toy and put it right to your nose. I can only imagine what this smells like to dogs with their super sense of smell!

I also can’t argue with the design/shape of the toy–it’s perfect! The curve of the toy is great, as she can scoop it up or put pressure on one end to elevate the opposite end to chew on it.

But I just can’t get over how quickly that one end came off. I got it about two weeks ago and I gave it to her last week (I slowly introduce new toys to keep her occupied and her mind stimulated). Compared to other chew toys–including nylabone and elk antlers–this toy wore down much quicker. In fact, the nylabone she has had for much longer, the puppy nylabones nonetheless, have outlasted this toy and the nylabone has been around since we first took her home at 2 months. She has also had an elk antler which has also lasted much longer and she REALLY goes after that one.

I have attached a photo below of my puppy and the damage to the bone. For the cost, which is about the same as a nylabone, I would have wished it lasted much longer than it did–which is why I got it in the first place as opposed to another nylabone. I would be happy if it lasted a few months, which is what I would guess to be its normal lifespan.

I would not classify my puppy as a big chewer either. She certainly chews and can do damage to hard bones or chew toys, but she is by no means a destroyer–she does not even shred her stuffed animals and has executed only a few (some were not even dog chew toys but children’s toys she was given to play with). This is the first hard toy she has destroyed where I had to take it away.

CONCLUSION: Perhaps I got a Benebone that had a defect, or my puppy really just destroyed this one in a mere week, but I simply cannot recommend this version of the Benebone I got. I might try to get the jumbo Benebone or one rated higher for bigger dogs up to 100 lbs if they go on sale, but I don’t think that my 8 month old puppy should warrant a toy for dogs up to 100 lbs when she has not destroyed any of her other toys like this one. It even takes her longer to go through some of the large rawhide toys she has!