Rawhide?

[Scooter]

Zoe needs to keep busy all the time, and I like to give her things to chew on, but have never given her rawhide. It bothers me to think she'll swallow it. She won't chew "toys"- they bore her. When I give her meat/food-like chews, she likes them, but goes through them in minutes.

At the pet store there are aisles of rawhide chews, so people must buy them. But....are they harmful?

 

[Saeleofu]

I give rawhide, and I've never had a problem. In the 3 years I've worked at a vet clinic, I've also never seen any problems. That's not to say a problem couldn't happen, but it's not as common as I thought it was before I started working there.

Just make sure you watch that she's not swallowing large pieces. I'd rather get a chew that's too big for my dog than one that's too small. Gavroche gets retriever rolls and CET Hextra chews (they have enzymes to help clean the teeth better). I'll also give him some of those big sticks that are chopped up and put back together rawhide. He eats them in no time, but it's still something to chew on and a nice treat once in a while. I also give him Booda velvet bones and Pedigree Dentastix. He has a Nylabone, too, but he doesn't much care for it.

I would stay away from those hard processed bones they sell. I have seen problems with those, and they're much harder than raw bones so they can cause broken teeth.

 

[Dreeza]

I know other ppl on here have a differing opinion, but I buy & give rawhide all the time. Oakley, however, is very trustworthy with his cuz he kinda sucks it down soft & almost dissolves it before gnawing off a tiny piece. I leave him alone with his bone because I have just watched him do it enough that I trust he isn't gonna break off a big piece & choke on it.

My friend's dog, on the other hand, WILL & DOES choke on rawhides...he needs to be closely watched cause he is dumb and swallows giant pieces...I've seen my friend pull out 3 inch long pieces from his throat on numerous occasions...sooo he pretty much is banned from rawhides now.


So, just buy one & see how Zoe eats it & go from there...

 

[Silverotis]

Raw hide is the only things my dogs will play with or chew on other than socks. So if there is no raw hide in the house all our socks go missing in the back yard. They will even try to pull the socks off our feet.

 

[dogsarebetter]

mine get raw hide sometime. never had a problem

 

[Brandyb]

My hubby gives his big guy raw-hide and we've yet to have any issues. I don't give it to the little guys though, but that's just me being anal with my dogs.
Actually my parents used to give it to our mini-dachshund as well with no issues, and I think hubby's parents used to give it to their golden as well, no problem.

 

[Pops2]

Sonic gets real rawhide, i salt & dry the hide off of a deer w/ the hair still on and it will last him about a year, smaller critters don't last as long but he generally gets those too.

 

[Tazwell]

I've always recommended to people not to give rawhide to real heavy chewers, because of the choking hazard and some past experiences I've had. My dogs all can eat rawhide without a problem, although I don't very often. But I've also given them to almost all of my foster dogs (comparatively inexpensive...). The dogs that ate them quickly, almost always had diarrhea or otherwise upset-tummy afterwards. I assume it expands in their digestive system (or so I've been told); or maybe it's just too much. I don't know.

On a side note, I've heard people say that some rawhides are better than others for dogs. Compressed rawhides normally getting the better 'review'. Anybody know about that?

 

[Snark]

The only thing I've heard about rawhide is to try to find the ones made in the US because they don't use arsenic as one of the ingredients to process the hides. (Don't know if that's an urban legend or not but I'd just as soon support American companies anyway). Given the current track record of Chinese products, I definitely steer clear of those rawhides...

 

[copperdogsmom]

I give Teddy Rawhide with no problems and he is a 7 pound Pomeranian.I have always givin my dogs rawhide I just watch them at first to see if they can handle it..

 

[lisabobisa]

I used to give Jasmine rawhides and never had any problem. I stopped getting them when I got Domino because she eats things way too fast and I'm afraid she'd swallow huge pieces. She did get one once and ate it very fast, but no problems came of it. Still don't trust her though!

If you are going to give rawhides here's a couple of things I've heard about picking out good ones (I do stress the word "heard" though, I haven't done a whole lot of research since I don't give 'em to my pups anymore anyway):
Get the ones that have a more natural color, the brownish/tan ones. The bleach white looking ones are that color because of chemical treatments they've done.
The other thing I heard is that the chipped apart and then put back together type seem to be put back together with a mystery glue. Based on what I heard, the company isn't required to list the "glue" ingredient so it could be anything.

So keeping that in mind I'd just suggest keeping a close eye on her anytime she's chewing on it.

 

[elegy]

make sure it's american made and as with all chew toys, make sure you supervise closely at first to see what your dog does with it. if your dog is the type to gulp down big chunks, they can have problems because rawhide can get stuck.

i don't give rawhides, but it's a resource-guarding issue. i used to give them to luce all the time and she never had a problem with them. although she would peel the compressed rawhides and that made me nervous, so she just got the regular ones.

 

[stardogs]

I give rawhides under the following conditions:

- the dogs getting them don't gulp large chunks
- the rawhide is american made and sourced (so far the only brand that meets those criteria is Wholesome Hide btw - all the "american made" store brand ones are processed overseas; it's mentioned in VERY fine print generally )
- the chews are made of one piece, not multiple small pieces mashed together or with knots at the end
- I am available to supervise

 

[stellasmama]

Our Stella loves rawhide chewies! We don't let her have them unsupervised, and although she chews it up fairly quickly....she doesn't swallow large pieces...and has had no troubles.

I in fact, bought her a big rawhide bone for Thanksgiving Day to keep her entertained while we eat our dinner.

 

[colliewog]

I give rawhides under the following conditions:

- the dogs getting them don't gulp large chunks
- the rawhide is american made and sourced (so far the only brand that meets those criteria is Wholesome Hide btw - all the "american made" store brand ones are processed overseas; it's mentioned in VERY fine print generally )
- the chews are made of one piece, not multiple small pieces mashed together or with knots at the end
- I am available to supervise

^^ this. And also, only the 'retriever rolls' in very large sizes (i.e. 'Great Dane' sized bones for my 55lb collie.

 

[danai]

I give rawhide to my dogs because it's supposed to be good for their teeth. To tell you the truth every time i do this i have my attention on them because the big ones tend to shred the rawhide to smaller pieces and swallow it. I think it can be dangerous so i always keep an eye on them when they chew. I think it depends on the dog, if you see your dog swallow big pieces you must be alert. Other than that i think it's good for them and of course they like it!