Good Rawhide Bones - Are There Any?

[Guest SuperiorItaly]

I've heard that rawhide bones are not good for greys. Is that true? If not, are there any good/safe ones from Petco or PetSmart? Italy got ahold of one of my friend's dog's bones yesterday and seemed to love it until I took it away from her.

[Guest Sweetreba]

You will get a lot of comments on this. My Reba's teeth were a mess when I got her even though she had a teeth cleaning before I adopted her. My other breed chewed the rawhide and her teeth were white and beautiful. So I let Reba have one but I supervised and now my vet raves about how great her teeth are. I had trouble with the braided ones she would undo it and get some pieces that would make her gag. What I buy now and works really well are the ones from Sams Club. They are rolled and about nine inches long. They do not come apart and she gnaws on them about 15 mins a day. Petsmart and Petco carry them in a pack of one or two. Sams is a big bag. My Petey boy will not gnaw on anything and his teeth are a mess. I have bought the big bones with the marrow in them and neither one of mine liked it. There was a thread on this subject awhile ago and there were a lot of comments for and against rawhide. My dog does fine but she does not chew for a long time and the pieces are very small she chews off. One lasts her for weeks. It is suppose to be hard to digest but so far I have not had any problems.

[Guest SuperiorItaly]

You will get a lot of comments on this. My Reba's teeth were a mess when I got her even though she had a teeth cleaning before I adopted her. My other breed chewed the rawhide and her teeth were white and beautiful. So I let Reba have one but I supervised and now my vet raves about how great her teeth are. I had trouble with the braided ones she would undo it and get some pieces that would make her gag. What I buy now and works really well are the ones from Sams Club. They are rolled and about nine inches long. They do not come apart and she gnaws on them about 15 mins a day. Petsmart and Petco carry them in a pack of one or two. Sams is a big bag. My Petey boy will not gnaw on anything and his teeth are a mess. I have bought the big bones with the marrow in them and neither one of mine liked it. There was a thread on this subject awhile ago and there were a lot of comments for and against rawhide. My dog does fine but she does not chew for a long time and the pieces are very small she chews off. One lasts her for weeks. It is suppose to be hard to digest but so far I have not had any problems.

 

Thanks! Do you have the name of the product?

[Guest Energy11]

I wouldn't feed ANY TYPE of rawhide. I think, honestly, it might have been what killed Bold Energy! He loved them, and, in those days, I gave them to him at will. His intestines telescoped into themselves, and stopped his bowel modality (movement). Personally, I think it had something to do with the rawhide chew he had that night.

 

Rawhide is NOT allowed in any form in our house. I now give dehydrated sweet potato chews, made in the USA, via, Sam's Yams, Snooks, or Plato. I give "soup bones," ... IF you can find them, with marrow in, frozen, and given from the freezer, NOT cooked. Lastly, I give Elk antler chews ... Elkusa.com. BUT, never, ever, never ... rawhide.

 

Just my five cents.

 

Good luck and happy chewing!

[PrairieProf]

Deer or elk antlers have also been highly recommended here -- I got one and Beth likes it. They're not that easy to find, maybe in a high-end natural pet boutique or you can order them online.

[Guest Energy11]

Deer or elk antlers have also been highly recommended here -- I got one and Beth likes it. They're not that easy to find, maybe in a high-end natural pet boutique or you can order them online.

 

You can get Elk, Deer, and maybe even, Moose antlers at Elkusa.com. Go to the right of the page, and click on the "cartoon" dog. Chew away!

Edited February 17, 2010 by Energy11

[Guest mountain4greys]

No rawhide in our house, but if you want to give rawhide, only give the kind made in the USA.

[RobinM]

No rawhide in our house, but if you want to give rawhide, only give the kind made in the USA.

 

Agreed. But if you MUST give any rawhide, give the CET chews which are actually treated to release an enzyme to clean the teeth. They are expsenive but they are for a purpose. If you do give rawhide, please make sure you are right there to supervise and don't let them swallow any large pieces. Knowing how to do doggy heimlich is helpful too.

 

here is the link about cet chews.

 

http://www.virbacvet.com/cet/product/cet_hextra/31/

 

If you want them, just do a search to find where you can get the best prices. You can not get this at petco, petsmart, etc

 

My vets say no rawhide. Give a RAW meaty bone from the butcher instead. Much better, much safer and I bet your dog will be much happier!!!!

 

ETA:

 

There are many reasons why feeding your dog rawhide is a bad idea. Rawhide is very hard to digest, thus it can easily get stuck in your dog’s esophagus or intestinal tract and cause a blockage and intestinal obstruction. It can also splinter, into sharp pieces, risking perforated your dog’s intestines and other internal injuries.

 

 

Rawhides digest very slowly and if consumed in large amounts quickly can actually cause vomiting or diarrhea. These large pieces of rawhide can also get lodged in your dog’s throat and cause choking. Large chunks can also scrap and irritate the esophagus as it goes does, which will cause coughing, irritation, and then possible infection. The worst types of rawhides are the ones that are thin chips or have knots on them. Dogs can quickly and easily break these off into pieces that they cannot chew and digest.

 

 

Lastly, rawhides are wasted calories. They contain nothing. If given in large amounts, they could make your dog gain unwanted weight.

 

 

Alternatives to Rawhide:

 

· Beef Tendons

 

· Frozen Raw Bones

 

· Kneecaps

 

· Deer Antlers for Dogs

 

· Bully Sticks

 

· Sweet Potato Chews

 

· Yams

 

 

Many of these alternatives are all meat and thus 100% digestible.

 

 

Non Food Alternatives to Rawhide:

 

· Kongs

· Hide a Squirrel Toys

· Canine Genius Toys

· Interactive Dog Toys

 

 

 

.

Edited February 17, 2010 by RobinM

[Guest Fasave]

I've given rawhide to my guys for over 6 years with no problems. I only do rolls without the knots and they are always supervised and limited to the amount of time they can have them (15-30 minutes). My senior has never had a dental since he came off the track 7 years ago. Of course I brush his teeth every night but I still think the rawhide gets where the brush can't always.

[Guest SuperiorItaly]

I've given rawhide to my guys for over 6 years with no problems. I only do rolls without the knots and they are always supervised and limited to the amount of time they can have them (15-30 minutes). My senior has never had a dental since he came off the track 7 years ago. Of course I brush his teeth every night but I still think the rawhide gets where the brush can't always.

 

Thanks, everyone. No rawhide for Italy. Don't want to take the risk even if there was one problem in 100 instances. She'll keep getting the knuckle bones from the butcher.

[Guest Sweetreba]

You will get a lot of comments on this. My Reba's teeth were a mess when I got her even though she had a teeth cleaning before I adopted her. My other breed chewed the rawhide and her teeth were white and beautiful. So I let Reba have one but I supervised and now my vet raves about how great her teeth are. I had trouble with the braided ones she would undo it and get some pieces that would make her gag. What I buy now and works really well are the ones from Sams Club. They are rolled and about nine inches long. They do not come apart and she gnaws on them about 15 mins a day. Petsmart and Petco carry them in a pack of one or two. Sams is a big bag. My Petey boy will not gnaw on anything and his teeth are a mess. I have bought the big bones with the marrow in them and neither one of mine liked it. There was a thread on this subject awhile ago and there were a lot of comments for and against rawhide. My dog does fine but she does not chew for a long time and the pieces are very small she chews off. One lasts her for weeks. It is suppose to be hard to digest but so far I have not had any problems.

 

Thanks! Do you have the name of the product?

 

 

It just says 10" rawhide rolls. Free Range Cattle. It is in a large blue bag with a see through window and there are 14 in the bag. Needless to say it lasts me a very long time. Although I do throw them away when they get about 4-5 inches just in case she does get them apart.

[NeylasMom]

I've given rawhide to my guys for over 6 years with no problems. I only do rolls without the knots and they are always supervised and limited to the amount of time they can have them (15-30 minutes). My senior has never had a dental since he came off the track 7 years ago. Of course I brush his teeth every night but I still think the rawhide gets where the brush can't always.

 

Thanks, everyone. No rawhide for Italy. Don't want to take the risk even if there was one problem in 100 instances. She'll keep getting the knuckle bones from the butcher.

Bully sticks are great too. Don't hesitate to find a source for those as well.

[Guest twhitehouse]

Our adoption group just gave us an awesome article about "finding the right rawhide." You must make sure it's made in the US. Make sure, if you're buying the rolled kind, that the roll is all the same thickness. A lot of companies, have the outer layer be thick and stick in small, thin, dangerous pieces in the middle.

 

KV Vet Supply is good place to get GOOD rawhide. http://www.kvsupply.com/browse/Home/Pet/Dog/Bones-Chews-Rawhide/P/1:1:100:200:10000:10300?viewall=true

[racindog]

After RESEARCHING rawhide bones I determined that the Foster & Smith premiums were what I would go with. Some of their literature even said they had never had a dog choke on one of them. Well my Slim did! Luckily I had read the Whole Dog Journal article on the dog Heimech manuever and remembered the basics. After 4 thrusts it still hadn't dislodged and he began to try and bite me-he thought I was trying to hurt him!!!!! I thought OMG I don't want his last memory of me to be that I was hurting him...I ignored the biting etc, told him to stop it and he trusted me enough not to stop me so on the next- the 5th compression- the piece of rawhide came flying out. It was a little over 1/2" wide and ~ 1 1/4" long. Needless to say that was the end of rawhide bones in my house-even though he really enjoyed them previously. If they can't enjoy a nylabone then they are out of luck. I had already had a Dalmatian choke to death on a small piece of cooked liver and a Chihuahua turn blue and nearly choke to death on the same thing but I managed to save him-so no more cooked liver in my house either. Also had a pup one time choke on dog food and though I successfully dislodged it he had to get over respiratory issues afterward. So I am somewhat paranoid about dogs and choking. In my experience they have choked far too often and far too easily with sometimes deadly results. Don't know if it has just been a coincidence or whether they really do choke that much but its too nerve wracking to risk so its nylabones/kongs etc. or nothing. Nobody has choked on them so far!

Edited February 17, 2010 by racindog

[Trudy]

Pressed rolled rawhide sticks from Fritofeet here.

We don't have digestion problems from it here, and I don't do anything extra before giving T one and he's the one that can't digest stuff.

Keeps them occupied and works on their teeth. The mess of marrow bones in the house kind of sucks, so I tend to do more rawhides here.

[Jiffer]

We give ours rawhides regularly. They love it.

I buy the rolled rawhides from Costco (come in packs of 25). I don't remember the brand and of course I can't find it on their website.

 

Regardless of what you choose to chew, keep in mind what their salt content is. Pork products are a no-no in our house since pork is naturally high in salt and is often salt cured. I also avoid any smoked or "flavoured" rawhides.

Raw bones are given sometimes but only as a special treat and only for a short period of time since the richness of them causes upset tummies. The rolled rawhides are about the only thing they all can eat without one of them getting sick.

[Guest Houndie]

We are new greyhound owners and are just learning the ropes. Is the compressed rawhide any better or safer? Our vet suggested that as an easier to digest option, but I don't know if the choking risk is any less.

Edited February 19, 2010 by Houndie

[Guest SoulsMom]

I don't like any rawhide. After having to pull a chunk out of Archie's throat because he was choking I just decided it's not worth the risk