Are rawhides bad for dogs?

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#21
The rawhide good/rawhide bad is one of those things like religion, there are believers on both sides and some of them get crazy about it. I have asked several (3) vets about it, with a total experience of nearly 80 years, and none of them had any problems with it. None had ever seen any complications from it (suffocation or intestinal blockages), ever. I asked them because I had a dog that went through a huge amount of it daily, and I heard the stories about "dogs that died from ...while eating rawhide".
One of them made the comment, "I have taken about a dozen socks out over the years, that were causing blockages, but no rawhide, ever".

My dog lived for over 14 and a half years and as a result of prostate cancer that spread, rawhide never bothered him a bit. He was one of those "super chewers" that sawed through anything he wanted at an amazing speed. He had a huge head and throat and used to swallow 1/4" thick, cigarette package sized hunks after sawing them off a bigger piece. He loved the beef basted rawhide, and his teeth were still white and looked great the day he died. We never had to touch his teeth at all.

One of my present dogs likes it, one doesn't. The one that does has it available to her at all times, and she probably has 3-4 pieces of the "chew-eez" a day. Her teeth are nearly spotless, my other dog will be getting his cleaned next year as he has a moderate amount of plaque.

I guess I'm a Rawhide - Yes! Member.
 
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#22
Some dogs do all right with the pigs' ears, but on the other hand, my Mom's little Rat Terrier, Katie, ended up vomiting blood from the rough pieces she swallowed. After that I figured it's safer to stick with stuff they're not going to have a chance to get hurt on. I think part of it's got to do with what kind of molars a dog has. Katie's aren't big, grinding teeth. I don't worry so much about the bigger dogs, especially Shiva and Kharma, since they've got these huge slabs of grinding molars from the midpoint of the jaw on back. Scary teeth. The kind that can crush large bones. Bimmer's are larger than a normal GSD's, although not monstrous like the girls', and his mouth is obviously built to slash and tear flesh.

The thing to be careful of with any kind of edible chew is that it's not manufactured with chemicals or other toxic ingredients, and I'm always very wary of anything edible manufactured outside the U.S. or Canada since there aren't the same labeling requirements.
 

mom2two

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#23
Rawhides good or bad

Thank you very much Ratboy,

I have to admit that our vet has mentioned that my 4 year old female bichon who does chew on rawhides has very white teeth. She doesn't let us brush them so that is the way we have her "brush" and my 1.5 year old now also has good teeth. I have never had my vet tell me not to give the chew-eez, and my dogs love them. I have asked my vet about this issue to and she said never let dogs have tiny pieces that could cause choking, of course, just like with anyone!

I appreciate your thoughts on this situation and want to say thank you!

Beth :)
 

mom2two

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#24
Rawhides good or bad

Thank you Renee, I did want to let you know again I checked into the planetdog site you listed! I think I will try an Orbee bone. On the site it mentions large. But off hand do you know if those orbee bones come in different sizes. I do not think a large would be needed for a 12 pound female bichon, and a 17 pound male bichon. I was hoping small and mediums were available too, I have not had a lot of time to cruise around the site, but I plan to. Thanks again for the site! and your help!!!!

Beth :)
 
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#25
Beth, they come in small and large. The small will probably be perfect for your Bichons. They have both sizes at the feed store where I saw them, and the small are actually more like everyone else's medium. Since they aren't hard and brittle, even a dog the size of a Bichon - or even smaller, for that matter, would find the small Orbee-tuff bone a good fit for the mouth.

The only problem I have with them is that I have to keep finding where Kharma has stashed them. She hides both of them so that Shiva can't find one! Kharma's such a brat!
 

bogolove

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#26
I have a question that stems off the rawhide one. What about calves hooves? (did I spell that right?) A lady down the street from me told me that they were good for the dog's joints, but I had never heard that. She gives them to her dog a lot, and I just wondered if they were bad or good or......?
 

RD

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#27
I have no idea whether it is bad or not. All I know is that Ripley's stomach can't handle it, so I've stopped giving it to him.
 

mom2two

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#28
Hello bogolove,

I will only be able to inform you of what our vet told us about these cows/calves hooves...they are not the greatest for dogs, because of how hard they are they can splinter teeth quickly. Now keep in mind when she told my hubby and I this we own bichons, could it be different for larger dogs?! Maybe. I quit giving them to our dogs for the teeth issue only. My dogs thought they were being punished for a long time after I stopped giving them those. I would check with what your vet would feel is in the best interest of the dog.

Beth
 
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#29
I gave my last dog a few hooves and the first two were destroyed in short order, but the third was bigger and when he really cranked on it, one of the points of his molars snapped off, so that was it. His jaws were so powerful, I guess the hoof was just strong enough and he put so much pressure on it, the tooth gave way first. He spit out the point and the hoof, and I had the vet look at it and he said it wouldn't bother him.

Renee- I would say my dog had molars approaching the size of the ones your Filas have, and that's pretty big. They were about and inch and a half long and aout 3/4 wide. In a 75 pound dog, that's huge. He was basically 4 very thick legs, and a huge chest and head. His neck was 21". The vet said there were only a few dogs that truly scared him, and Gus was one of them. He had reason to be scared one day when he was given a vaccine where it was dripped into his nose. He got panicky, and it took three of us to hold him while it was being given. He was growling all the time. He was a three growls and you're out type dog. One was "hey". Two was "Don't do that again". And three was "NOW YOU'RE DEAD!!"
When it was done, we let him go, and the vet took a step back, and Gus lunged at him, and made one full power snap (sounded like a door slamming) of his jaws. He went for the vet's face, just under his left eye, and just missed. The vet stood there for a minute, panting, and said "Jeez, I felt his teeth graze my face!" "I guess I deserved it though, he told me to stop!" He went into the back and came back with a cookie and all was forgiven. He said only the dogs with "mouths than can amputate scare me, and with that head and teeth, he can really hurt me, if he wanted to, and I guess he did". Actually, Gus really liked the guy, unlike the vet we went to when he blew a disk in his neck. He tolerated him at best. Kings not crazy about him either, but loves his partner.

He didn't use that same vaccine again!
 

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