weylyn said:
Bobsk8, there are risks and rewards in everything in life. Even dog food. I think this applies very well:
"Feeding your dog is about management of risk. No matter which path you decide to take there is always risk. There is always someone who will criticise your decision. However you, and only you can decide what is best for your dogs. Weigh up all the benefits and risks. Do your own analysis. Do your research. Do what will have the greatest overall benefit for your dog. " Jane Anderson
http://www.b-naturals.com/Spr1999.php
I guess I am totallyconfused at this point. For about a month ( I just adopted a dog a month ago), I was giving my new dog Dently''s Rawhide Bones. These are the 9-10" size bones and she can chew one one of these rawhides bones up in a few days ( she weighs about 40 pounds) I went to a Petstore today and bought some Solid Gold dog food and in a conversation with the person running the store, I was told that Rawhide Bones are not good for the dog since many of the rawhide bones are imported and may contain formaldehyde. The brand I have at home, are made in Columbia so I am assuming that these may what she was talking about. I then started researching this on the web this afternoon and am reading many posts by people stating the rawhide bones can cause all kinds of digestive problems in dogs, and should be avoided completely. I was surprised at this since there are racks and racks of these products at every pet store I have been in so far.
Anyway, I went to the supermarket this afternoon and got some Beef marrow bones from the butcher there. These are about 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter by about 1 1/2 inch thick. I boiled one for a few minutes and gave it to my dog and she loves it, but I could start to see after awhile they she is "grinding" the edges of the bone down by chewing on it. Now I read, that these type marrow bones are not good for the dog either because they can grind the bone material down and ingest it ....
I guess my question is, what do vets recommend or give to their own dogs for them to chew on ?
1. Rawhide bones
2. Marrow bones as I described
3. one of the hard rubber chew toys like the King Stuff a ball ( which she doesn't seem to care for )
4. none of the above....