My 14 year old MacKenzie River Husky was treated for gastric torsion about a month ago. He is doing well, albeit has lost about 30 pounds and is only recently back up to his old energy level.

Vet operated and sutured his stomach to his abdominal wall to prevent future torsion, but I've had to be very careful about his diet to reduce any chances of gas/bloat recurrence. Phazyme seems to help when he is in minor distress.
However, he's always been a bit of a chewing dog. Now it's even more of a problem, because he tends to dig up random things in the house to chew. (Last week it was half a gym sock-we were worried he was going to have to be opened up again to remove it, but he seems to have passed it, finally.)

We used to get him knuckle bones from the butcher to chew on, plus he loved the random tennis ball he would find in our stuff. But I am afraid to let him have anything like that anymore for fear it will upset his stomach and cause more bloating. (The doc actually found a bit of an old one inside him during his surgery.) Needless to say, his stomach is more easily upset these days.

Any suggestions on what to give him so he has something hard to bite on? I think for him it's more of a tooth cleaning thing than boredom, because we keep him pretty busy.

Thanks!

Check with your vet first, but I'd try Nylabones and Kong toys. Some dogs don't take to the Nylabones at first. If that happens, try boiling it first to bring out the flavoring, let it cool to a comfortable temperature, and offer it warm, but not hot.

[wishbone]

Someone tipped us for Kong with peanut butter in them then frozen.

[UnderDog]

For our sensitive-stomached dogs we use Kong toys matched to the size of the dog, stuffed with a mix of lean raw rabbit mince (or thinly cut strips of rabbit) and natural goats milk yoghurt. Rabbit is a relatively plain meat but very healthy so shouldn't cause stomach upset and goat milk yoghurt is virtually lactose free and a great binder. We then freeze it for 4-5 hours, take out, pop into a bowl of warm water for a few seconds then take it out and give to the dogs. Keeps them content for hours and is great for young puppies as it isnt enough to cause a stomach upset but keeps them content and quiet throughout the night!