Are Rawhide 'bones' ok for a 5 month old Doxie?

[cal_gecko]

I was wondering if it was okay for my 5 month old doxie to chew on a small rawhide chew toy?

[Cocoa and Me]

Hello and :welcome8: to this great dachsie board!!

I have a ~6 1/2 month old mini and she LOVES her rawhides. She's been chewing on those for actually a very long time. I know they can be high in calorie, so I watch how much she eats, and how long its taking her to finish her bone. I also NEVER let her chew on it when I'm not there to watch her. When she can no longer hold on to it, I throw it away. Dachsies are known for choking on small pieces of rawhide, so you must be very careful. I don't feed her Greenies, and I just got her her first nylabone, which :( she doesn't seem to thrilled about. I actally don't blame her though, they are hard as rocks. Anyhoo, I know more people will chime in and tell their opinions too!! :) Good luck, and welcome aboard! :thumbsup:

[cal_gecko]

Thanks! Good to know, .. My wife seemed to think that there were problems with Rawhide bones splintering and damaging their intestines.

I'll see if anyone else chimes in as well.

Thanks for the warm welcome :)

In addition to Maggie (our Doxie), we also have an 8 year old male cat (Benny), 3 (4 year old) Female Leopard Geckos and a 1 year old Betta fish :)

We both LOVE pets and have happily welcomed Maggie into our home... she's a real sweetie, and sleeps in our bed with us at night.. we're still working on the potty training - getting her to go outside when she needs to 'go'. We got her from a Rescue last weekend, and she seems pretty well behaved (so far :) ) ... we got her some chew toys and stuff and have been giving her TONS of love.. The rescue that she was in also had cats, so she's fine around our male feline.. the cat is doing an incredible job of accepting her into his household, and is gradually getting closer and closer to her to sniff her and figure out what she is :)

This seems to be a pretty active message board, so I'll probably be around here frequently. I'm having trouble finding a Dachshund message board that gets good traffic.

[kpm_tex]

I don't feed rawhides any more. One reason is some dogs inhale them... or in the case of my little girl she pulled on it and pulled on it till it was long and stringy... and then tried to swallow it. Had I not been there she would have choked. I've known other dogs that have swallowed large pieces and had to have surgery to remove the blockage.

The other reason is that a lot of rawhide comes from outside the US and contains chemicals from processing that would be out lawed here.

If you must give these to your dog.. make sure it is made in the US and get the larger compressed type...don't give a dachsie anything like a rawhide it could even think of swallowing! And ALWAYS supervise and toss them when they get stringy or worn down too small.

My recommendation though is to avoid them period.

[kpm_tex]

BTW... I was rude and forgot to :welcome8: you to the Best Dachshund board on the internet! Congratulations on your new addition!

[Schatz's Mom]

:welcome: to the best dacshie board around! I have had a bad experience with rawhides so they do not come in my door. My first dachsie swallowed a piece of rawhde and could not digest it. It sat in her stomach for a while and then she tried to pass it. It created a blockage in her intestines which we had to have surgically removed. It looked like one of those brown gum erasers when they removed it. We almost lost my little girl over one rawhide so they have no place in my house. Many people give them to their pups without incident but I don't want to chance it. If you do give them to your pup please do so only under supervision.

[Bobbiesmom]

Hi & :welcome: !

We give Bobbie Bella rawhides...Only when we're there to supervise. One of us holds one end & she gets to gnaw on the other end. When it gets too small, we toss it out.

Bobbie hasn't had any issues with digestion or choking with rawhides; we limit it to 1-2 per week.

[Jacqueline]

:welcome8: :welcome8: :welcome8:


After watching Taffy tear the little regular rawhide bones....the kind with the ends tied into knots....and nearly choking on one, we stopped getting those.

Now she only gets the compressed kind, and she is supervised with those. If I see little pieces that need to go out, I take them away from her. These don't seem to splinter. If your dog chews them well, I don't see a problem. But if it gulp, I would be very very careful.

NO GREENIES NO GREENIES NO GREENIES EVER!!!!!!

[mamaw]

Unless you are going to sit and watch her/him chew the rawhide, I would not give it. They can chew a section off and swallow it which could lodge in their intestines and lead to problems even death if it isn't caught in time. This is true with any chew that they can chew a portion off and swallow it.

[HawaiiDoxieLover]

I don't give mine rawhide. Not only am I terrified of them choking on chunks, I worry about bacteria :blush:

[FourOrchards]

You will probably find different answers on this one. Some of us do let our puppers have them and some won't at all. I know that is confusing. I guess you will have to weigh the pro's and con's of both and at least make an informed decision for you and your pupper.

I do give Ally rawhide. Usually the tightly rolled log ones. She isn't able to get large pieces off and enjoys them. I hate having them around and will throw them away when they get small.

If you are going to give them...always supervise!:angel:

Btw....:welcome8:

[cal_gecko]

Thanks for all the tips and feedback!!! This is the type of feedback I was looking for! I was on another Doxie forum and barely got a single response.

Anyways, to me, it doesn't sound like it's worth the potential risk , so I think we'll pass on the rawhide 'bones'.

Why should we not feed them the 'greenies' ?

Thanks again for all the warm welcomes!

[beausmom1]

:welcome: Hi! Welcome to the DBB. I went to other dachsie bulletin boards also before finding this one--and this is the best by far! The people are great and you'll get plenty of advice! Great to have you here.

You had asked about why you shouldn't feed Greenies....

www.burtscause.com

Check out this site! Greenies used to be my pup, Beau's, favorite treat--and then I read this website and now we definitely do not give him these anymore!

[Jacqueline]

We all worry about what MIGHT happen if the pups chew off too big a piece of the rawhide and swallow it, but we KNOW what has happened to far too many of the babies with these GREENIES.

It is just not worth the chance you would be taking to feed these to your pet. There have been too many cases of pets dying or coming close to death with them. If you haven't already, check out the website given above. My girl hasn't ever had one, never will.

[cal_gecko]

Wow, that's horrible about what happened to Burt :(

But, isn't that possible with any kind of food, jerky or chewable hide type treat that we may give our beloved dogs? What makes the Greenies so much worse?

[kpm_tex]

But, isn't that possible with any kind of food, jerky or chewable hide type treat that we may give our beloved dogs?

Yes, it can happen with any chewable that can be broken into large pieces. Burt's case is tragic and my heart goes out to his owner. I have not read the lawsuit filing so I can't comment on specifically why he is sueing.. but Burt's case should be a warning to all that when you give your dog something large, hard but edible you need to watch them like a hawk, or better yet find something else to give them to chew on.

[SirOliversMom]

I think in some cases it depends on the dog. If you have a gulper or aggressive chewer I would probably pass on the rawhides. When they're all "mushy" I find that they have the consistency of really thick glue like substance and if they are gulpers that's not good. Just recently I found some rawhides at petsmart that are made for puppies and small dogs. They are really thin and not very big and break down more easily. My two really like these and they are safer than the thick rawhides. I also prefer bully sticks because of the way they break down when they're wet and being chewed on.

The favorite here however is still raw marrow bones. They will chew on those for hours and IMO they are the safest thing for them to chew on.

Welcome to the Board!! So glad you decided to join us!

[Rupert's Mommy]

:welcome: This is the best board ever!!! :party6:

Yes, you will get all sorts of info on this board - - I have learned SOOOOOO much great information. I don't know exactly what makes greenies different, but I agree that with anything you should use very close supervision. And I will never give my dogs a greenie again just because there have been too many incidents for me to feel safe about letting them have this (even under direct supervision). They have had them in the past and had no problems, but ever since I heard about the incidents with greenies - - no more for my boys!

I have not checked out the brag book today yet, but you MUST post pictures of Maggie if you haven't yet :D

[smilee1079]

I would not give a dog a rawhide. I hear too many bad things. Give her a RMB (raw meat bone such as a marrow bone... get some of the marrow out the first few times so she doesn't get an upset stomach). This is fabulous for her teeth, lasts forever (since it is not actually consumable), and is an excellent, yummy teeth cleaner.

I'd feed it in a crate or on a towel or something so the raw meat does not get all over the house.

Hope this helps! Oh, and stay away from Greenies!!!!:D

[jeanne]

: no rawhide ever in any form. my two doxies were both introduced to rawhide sticks, which they dearly love; however, they do not become digested and just lay in their little tummies and then up it all comes, in one big barf.....they should take them off the market.

[Suzanne R]

I highly suggest NO rawhide of any kind, and NO Greenies of any kind. I've pulled soggy chunks of rawhide out of dogs' throats more than once! There are many horror stories about rawhide, and others have posted their pro and con comments on rawhide. As to Greenies, although the packages say they are digestible, (my two LOVED them!) they are, IMO, death waiting to happen because they do NOT totally dissolve in some dogs - why take a chance? It's not worth it! (My vet even recommends Greenies - I say, no way!)

Mine now get one smoked beef knuckle bone once a week from Petco for chewing, entertainment, occupying their time, and cleaning their teeth (GREAT for teeth!). My local Petco has discontinued them but they can still be ordered on line. I also plan to check my local butcher shop and see what they have.

By the way, WELCOME! This is a GREAT board, and although I've had dachsies for over 20 years, I'm still learning!!!

[Lee]

I am a fairly new doxie (and dog) owner so I tend to rely very heavily on my vet's opinion as well as the info I get here. My vet said no, never rawhides. She was on the fence about greenies. She recommends nylabones and rope bones for chewing as well as Kongs. My little man is in love with the ropes, and not so crazy about the nylabone so far, but I am going to try another flavor. As far as why, she told me that with smaller breed dogs ( i have a tweenie) anything that isnt fully digested has the chance of causing blockages in the intestines, besides the possibility of getting caught in the throat. I love my baby too much to put him in harms way if i can avoid it. So no greenies and no rawhides on my home. I even gave one back to my sister that came in a holiday package (she had no way of knowing). But ultimately you know your pup best, or will learn the likes and dislikes as you go. The Kong treat ball has been keeping the little guy busy. And there is a paste you can get to use it for teeth cleaning too (havent tried it yet but will soon)
Good luck and welcome. This really is a great resource for info and support:welcome: