Don’t buy antlers for your dog to chew on. Even if the package says these antlers come from wild deer who dropped them in the forest. In the national parks of Canada, the removal of shed antlers is an offense punishable by a maximum fine of $25,000 CAD. This is because removing shed antlers can deprive small animals of a valuable nutrient source.

Discarded antlers represent a source of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals and are often gnawed upon by small animals, including squirrels, porcupines, rabbits and mice. This is more common among animals inhabiting regions where the soil is deficient in these minerals. Antlers shed in oak forest inhabited by squirrels are rapidly chewed to pieces by them.

Everything in nature has a purpose and serves to keep the entire ecosystem in balance. Antlers are an important part of forest ecology. Get your dog a safe toy or a tasty free-range butcher’s bone instead.

Rawhides are no good either, because dogs swallow the rawhide pieces whole and they can ruin their stomachs attempting to digest the tough material. My aunt’s dog died early because of rawhide ingestion- he could only eat boiled white rice and hamburger towards the end of his life because his stomach had been damaged due to consumption of rawhides.

Again, just stick with safe toys and butcher bones.

Don’t buy antlers from genetically inbred deer farms either

Antlers from farm raised deer is also a bad idea. These deer are genetically inbred to have massive antlers that hurt their necks. The genetic inbreeding causes multiple diseases that in turn can be spread to wild deer. More info here: http://www.petersenshunting.com/deer/deer-farms-huntings-ticking-time-bomb/