Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO Food Forum => Food Discussion & Information => : Neicy December 02, 2007, 05:58:38 AM
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OK so all my life my dogs have had raw hides. I do not buy the ones with knuckles and when they get to a small size I throw them away.
I was told by someone that they are totally against feeding rawhides to their dogs and its the new wrong thing to do.
What do you all do? They seem to be saving my furniture right now! :)
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Really?? :o
I didn't know that. I'll be taking the raw hides away asap.
What do you give other then bully sticks then? And what about compressed raw hide, my vet suggested that. Or is it the same thing? ???
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I only give Lily pressed raw hides. That way she can't eat big chunks out of it.
I have heard really bad things about them but after 10 months gave up a bought a pressed one and she loves it. She is a very slow eater though..I don't think she would swallow a huge chuck BUT you never know with dogs ;)
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Do you know if they say on the package if they have formeldehyde in them? I just bought a huge pack at Sams Club. I give them each on probably twice a week. They are the rolled raw hides.
My big dog I worry about most because he can and will swallow the smaller pieces so we pick them up pronto when they get small, the puppy seems to enjoy chewing them after he has ;)
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What do you give other then bully sticks then? And what about compressed raw hide, my vet suggested that. Or is it the same thing? ???
I also have hooves. One lasts for more then a month in our house. Great investment!!!
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Well..I heard rawhides can expand in a dogs stomach and cause issues....but I think if it is the right size for your dog or they're not eating the whole thing in one sitting, they're ok. I don't mind Miles having one once in a while with supervision.
Other than rawhides...Mil es is a big bully stick fan. That's the one chew (other than rawhide) that he will never get bored with and takes him forever to eat. Hooves...he will chew on a bit...but he's not a fan. Any other hard bone....like a femur or rib....he will eat the "stuff" off of it...then I have bones laying around that he won't touch unless I specifically show it to him. Then, he'll barely give it the time of day. He thinks nylabones are boring as well. And he LOVES pig ears...but those are gone in minutes.
His new favorite thing is booda bimple bones. They say those aren't the best to give your dog either because of blockages if swallowing large chunks...but whenever he has bones...he's supervised. And he loves them. They keep him busy for a good 1.5 to 2 hours....STRAI GHT. It's magical really.
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Hi Neicy,
I, too, am concerned about rawhide and (in my case) everything else she is about to put into her mouth. And I haven't even gotten her yet!!! I pick her up this coming Sunday. I'm running around trying to get things ready for her - especially in the chew toy area - and I think I'm being "clinically paranoid" about the whole thing. But I just can't help it. I want the best for her.
This is a different situation but I know someone who's dobe guide dog ate some wood chips about 4 weeks ago. They were able to get the wood chips out by surgery but she began to bleed internally again and passed away on the table during the second surgery for the bleeding. And from what I've heard so far, dobies will eat just about anything. So I want plenty of chew toys for her but I don't want the CHEW TOYS to hurt her either. I guess I need to take a trip to the vet today for a talk. Maybe he can "shrink" me into some sanity!
Let me know what you decide. I'll try to remember to come back here and let you know what my vet says.
Terri
BTW, the avitar is of Ratdog, my best friend who passed away 3 1/2 years ago. I still miss her alot. She was an exceptional dog (though she thought she was human - and actually so did I ;D !!!)
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I have bought pig ears before for my first dog, they seem to be just about the same thing as the rawhide, but they dont expand I guess....this is so confusing.
Hard too because I grew up with dogs that lived to be elderly that ate rawhides everyday but I guess there were not so many manufacturers back then?
Puppy seems bored today...must be the weather....she has already attacked the dishtowl in the kitched and the stuffed tiger in the living room (its a chair) and is now working on the old dog....poor Buddy he is such a Saint with her!
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The new bad things go in cycles. I first heard that rawhides were bad in the early 1970s. Then all people talked about for a while was cooked bones.
Another potential problem with animal products like rawhides is they can be contaminated with salmonella. The only dog here who gets them is the Chihuahua, Sparky. We buy them on sale in bulk, usually in the spring as Christmas overstock, and leave them exposed to the air for a year or so before use. They get much harder, last longer, and get rotated out every few days.
Zita likes her Kong as long as there is something tasty inside. Lately it has been salmon skin.
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We did the pressed rawhide bones when Phelan was a puppy but as soon as he discovered his chewing abilities we took them away. He can destroy one in minutes and we did have a time when he was chewing one that was half in his mouth, half down his throat. Rawhides gone. He is monitored with his bullystick, gets raw shank bones, kongs and rubber chew toys (tires...). Really it depends on the chewing capabilities of your individual dog and what you are personally comfortable with. They do make a pressed pork bone similar to the pressed rawhide that I am told is supposed to be a better option. Phelan didn't like them :-\
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We give our dogs the large rolled rawhides. At night or anytime we are not going to be here, I walk around the house and pick up any pieces smaller than the size of my hand. Max will swallow large pieces and they get stuck in his throat. He will come to you and lean on you, licking his lips like crazy. We know he has a piece in his throat and open his mouth and pull it out. My whole hand will fit down his throat, so it is no problem. My Springers ate them all the time and lived to be 13.5 and 14.5, so I don't personally feel that they are a problem for my dogs, but that is just my opinion. Hooves are gone in a matter of minutes, Max can crack and eat almost anything. Any rubber toys, kongs, etc. that we have tried, he destroyed and we ended up picking up the little pieces that he spit out. Bully sticks, even though we buy the whole ones and saw them into 1' lengths, are gone in a matter of minutes. The only thing that lasts are rawhides and frozen beef marrow bones. Those will take 30-45 minutes for them to finish and then they swap off and eat each other's, another 15-20 minutes of swap the bone. When you have a collection of "dead" clean bones, thread them on a rope and tie the ends of the rope into big knots. They will play with that and chew it to death. When Max was teething, I used to wet and freeze washrags for him to chew on. You can usu beef stock or chicken broth to add flavor to the water you wet them down with and make them more appealing. Another thing we did for him as a puppy was to take old tube socks, roll them up and stuff them into another tube sock, tie it in knots, with the rolled up sock in between the knots. He would chew on those and carry them around for hours. Now he would eat them, but as a puppy it was a great, basically free toy, as the socks were worn out. Good luck with your new baby.
Kathy
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We're big fans of bully sticks around here! I had heard the concerns about rawhides and that's when I discovered bully sticks. You can get them in different sizes and they have one that has three large bully sticks braided together, which helps it last longer. I buy them in bulk and you can get ones that are free range.
Jenny can still get through one more quickly than I would like, but I don't worry about choking when I give it to her.