rawhide

[Timber]

I read that rawhide is bad for dogs and I have read that rawhide is fine for dogs. What's the real truth? I want to know before I buy Timber a rawhide bone for Christmas so I won't feel bad giving it to Timber.

Tiff and Timber

[dutchman]

Hi Tiff,

I'll admit my boys get rawhide chews. Here is what the Vet (Head of Emergency Medicine at the Colorado State Vet Teaching Hospital) said on the subject of chews. He has had to go in and remove many rawhide chews, pigs ears, parts of real bones, ... He said if you have a dog that just chews on the rawhides and only pulls off very small pieces then they are probably safe so long at you take it away from them before it gets so small that they could swallow it. By the way he has removed the same intact Kong form the same dog two times so no toy is 100% safe. Use your own judgement. There is no nutritional value in the rawhides some danger but if supervised and your dog isn't one who chews off larger chunks and then swallows them then you are probably safe.

My boys will most likely continue to get their chewies. I only allow then to have them when I am home. It's like many things in life we can't be 100$ safe 100$ of the time. MY boys chew for hours and don't rip large pieces. I do take the chews away before they get too small. The chews I get most often and my boys like best are about 2" in diameter and 8" long.

Tom

[Mark]

Hi Tiff,

If you asked 100 people, they would likely split the vote 50/50 then there'd have to be a recount in Florida http://216.74.85.16/ubb/smilies/lol.gif (sorry I couldn't resist).

For years we didn't give rawhide because we heard the same thing . . . but now our 3 get some rawhide every night. We wait an hour after their dinner and they each get one. Their teeth have been so much cleaner since then I wished we would have done it sooner. Our vet thinks rawhide is OK, too.

Then the fun begins . . . it isn't a normal night if they don't switch chewies several times . . . it goes something like this: Top Spin will hear a noise and go to the doorwall to look out, Masse scampers over and steals the one he had, Duck Butter sneaks over and takes the one Masse had and Top Spin comes back and I toss him the one left over. http://216.74.85.16/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif This happens about once every 15-20 minutes.

You've gotta watch them closely when they get it down to a small piece so they don't choke, though. It's happened with the 2 Mini's several times now. When they get too small I usually take them away and toss it to Top Spin for disposal. http://216.74.85.16/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

That's our experiences and opinion . . . I hope it helps.

Mark

[Augie Dog]

I won't give Aug raw hide, I have a great pet shop near by that sells roasted cow tendons, beef trekia <sp> and pizzles. I don't know what that stuff is in the other stores, I can't ever tell it is raw hide. At least I know that Aug is getting real cow stuff.

[Penny's Aunt]

Shilo's favorite chewie is SitStay's Macho Stix (in assorted sizes). They are long-lasting (even for a Belgian Tervuren, the chew-maniac of the dog breeds), & they can't really chew off chunks (if she could, she would). They are made from (giggle, giggle) bull penises, dried like jerky.

She gets enough gas from rawhides to light up Seattle for the winter.

[Timber]

And why exactly would you give your dog[ or any dog for that matter] a Sitstay Macho Stix? Hope you use gloves when you touch them!<IMG SRC="http://216.74.85.16/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0> Maybe I'll give Timber some braided beef chews instead of rawhide.

Tiff and Timber

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Timber on November 12, 2000 at 12:17 PM</font>

[Wienergal]

Tiff, the controversy continues, and we are now down to counting the votes on this issue by hand.... http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/bad-boy.gif

I've always given my dogs rawhide, with no ill effects. Some dogs, like Penny's Aunt's pup, might have trouble digesting them adequately and become gassy--you wouldn't know that until you tried. I would just suggest too that, if you do give Timber a rawhide chew, you do it only when you are there with him, just in case there should ever be a choking problem. We just found a new line of "Tex-Mex" rawhide sticks--all four of our office dogs LOVE the guacamole flavor!!

My dogs also like Booda velvets. There are no calories in them, they're an inert product, and they're very good for the dogs' teeth and gums. And they're hard, so it takes the tough-jawed dachsies a lot longer to chew them down to nubs....! (Throw the nubs away, so they don't choke on them.)

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Wienergal on November 12, 2000 at 07:09 PM</font>

[OneCoolPup]

Sadie got her first chewy thing yesterday. I gave her a pigs ear, and it was bigger than her head. She chewed and chewed for three hours. She stood on it, layed on it, carried it around the house, and hid under the chair with it.. and it still looks barely nibbled on. Watching her enjoyment over it was really amusing. I gave my other dog one, and she won't touch it. Go figure.
On those little white, flat rawhide thingies, we thought one of my dogs was choking one time, and I went to see if it was lodged in her throat but it had gotten stuck on the roof of her mouth,and there was no way she could have gotten it out by herself. So, it's really good to be near them while they are eating something like that.