Please Please

[Guest koolaidnconner]

When your dogs are eating raw hide bones babysit them. My Conner ate one so quickly that he cut up his tongue and inside of his mouth and started vomitting which scared me to death. He spent the day at the clinic monitoring him in case of a blockage. Thank god he is okay except for his mounth!

[Guest dizzyLu72]

Personally I banned rawhide treats a few years back when my previous dog (dalmation) almost gagged to death..also had a few vomit-fests between the old dogs due to the rawhides. Wasn't worth the paranoia anymore..they loved rawhides, but I loved them more.

[OwnedBySummer]

I won't give rawhide to any dog now, either. With my previous dog (pit/pointer cross), TWICE I had to stick my finger down her throat and fish out rawhide on which she was choking. I will never give rawhide again.

[Trihounds]

Sorry to hear of Connor's difficulty today but glad to hear he'll be allright.

 

We don't do rawhide either but like everything, learned the hard way....with our GSD some time ago. Similar situation.

[Guest IrskasMom]

I never did give my Dogs Rawhide for that Reason. Glad Conner is ok .

Years ,Years ago we did Greenies and have to eliminated them from the Menu.

[Guest greybookends]

I am glad Conner is OK but we have also banned rawhides and greenies from this house. There are just to many dangers involved with them.

[TheFullHouse]

Glad he's okay. No rawhide here either.

[racindog]

I too banned rawhide bones a couple of years ago when Slim nearly choked to death on one. On the FIFTH Heimech thrust it blew out thank God. He was dying without air, did not understand why I was forcibly squeezing him like that and had begun to reach around and bite at me- I was thinking oh no his last memories of me are going to be of what he perceives as hurting him and then finally praise God on the 5th thrust the small piece came up that was blocking his airway and he was OK. I don't plan on going through that trauma again so no rawhide. It was "good" rawhide too- expensive and supposed to have been very safe. So like the other poster said they love the rawhide but I love them more-so I don't let them have it. There was a very good article in WDJ a couple of years ago explaining the Heimech on dogs. Before that I didn't even know it applied to canines-but it does.

[RobinM]

Interesting that you posted this. We have a walking group of greyhounds. On our walk on Sunday, I was told that one of our walkers who feeds her 2 greyhounds raw, leaves them both with smoked pork bones when she leaves for work.

 

I took the liberty of telling her the facts of life in a very direct but nice email, full of concern for her and her dogs.

 

I have not heard from her. I do not expect to and I only pray she will listen to what I said.

 

Glad your boy is feeling better.

[Guest Energy11]

OH!! That poor boy! Glad he is OK.

 

NO rawhide bones here, either. I, personally think that Bold Energy's death was related to one (rawhide bone). He had a intussception of the intestine, and in those days, I allowed rawhide! :-(

 

We give RAW soup bones, Bully Stix, or Free Range Beef Tendons here. Oh .. and, Sam's Yams Sweet Potatoe Rawhide. ... all without incident.

 

Again, sooo glad Conner is OK!!!! :)

Edited November 30, 2010 by Energy11

[Guest greyt2love]

Very glad that Connor is okay! Never had any incidents here, but after reading about other people's dogs, no rawhides allowed here, either!

[Guest Lakota]

ditto. Rawhide has been banned for over a decade.

 

Glad he's ok. I think it's so unethical for petstores to continue to sell them when they pose such a danger to our dogs (and yet many people are unaware).

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

I bought a rawhide bone and a pressed stick before I got Annie. She never touched them. Normally she would eat everything and ask for more. Maybe she had a precognition of her choking on it and decided to pass.

[Guest june]

I'm so glad Connor will be OK. I tried rawhide shortly after I got my first grey and it made her sick so I just never bought any after that. I've heard the horror stories and there are enough other things out there that they love so why take a chance.

june

[Guest BlueCrab]

Glad everything turned out ok!

 

Yup - rawhides and Greenies banned in our household, too. Too many near misses with the previous crew.

[Guest kydie]

Poor pup! glad he is O.K. No rawhide, greenies or hooves here for years,, I have an agressive chewer and I know he would swallow it with very little chewing

Edited December 9, 2010 by kydie

[GreytNut]

Are CET chews considered rawhides? I've given them to the hounds on nearly a daily basis for years without a problem. They break down very quickly and the hounds don't gulp them. We actually get them from the vet.

[Guest Swifthounds]

No rawhides, greenies, or weight bearing bones of large ungulates. Rather like my hounds and want them around.

 

Though it's funny how little "big time chewers" need a "chew toy" when they actually eat food that involves doing more than gulp and swallow.

[Guest DPH]

Sam's Yams sweet potato products are a much safer alternative to rawhide. Even if you don't have choking issues, rawhide can be treated with many nasty chemicals.

[beledi]

ditto. Rawhide has been banned for over a decade.

 

Glad he's ok. I think it's so unethical for petstores to continue to sell them when they pose such a danger to our dogs (and yet many people are unaware).

Also vet clinics sell a type of chew called CET to help with dental care. I do not use those either.

 

Are CET chews considered rawhides? I've given them to the hounds on nearly a daily basis for years without a problem. They break down very quickly and the hounds don't gulp them. We actually get them from the vet.

I think so.

[sarabz]

My parents give their Goldens rawhides all of the time, so when Bella's at their house, she'll usually find a rawhide and chew on it for a while. I watch her carefully when she does this - most of the time she chews for a couple of minutes and then just falls asleep :wubs: I don't love it, but I can't put away all of the rawhides that are around the house (they'd just get put back out) and my parents have been giving their dogs rawhides for years without problems so there's no point in my saying anything - it would just precipitate another family argument.

 

Bella gets beef tendons at our house occasionally.

[Guest KsFrets]

I've been giving my dogs rawhide for nearly half a century, and never any trouble. With that said, it's not the dogs, or the rawhide that's bad, it's what the idiot companies are doing with it. little sticks? That's a choke-athon waiting to happen. And the cute little rawhide toys with multiple small pieces just made to be wedged into a throat. But even worse is the POTATO CHIP THIN CHEAP CRAP rawhide products sold at Pet-Smart and Pet-co. They look decent, but you pick them up and they are light as a feather. Magnus could destroy one in minutes. This is the CRAP that you buy today, that is giving good thick heavy American produced rawhide a bad name. We have a local mom and pop pet store that still sells the real deal. You can get it at the Feed stores too. Thick and heavy, and it takes our dogs several months to get anywhere with them. In fact, some of it is tough enough that I saw them in half to give the dogs a better starting point. I'm very picky when I buy it. It's got to be good and thick and heavy. The good stuff is more expensive, but worth it. It doesn't break into choke-chunks like the cheap crap. Our dogs love it, and our vet always remarks how good their teeth look. Common sense also, in everything you do. When they get a larg rawhide down into a small enough piece (usually about 2-3 months) it could be dangerous, it goes into the trash. We also make sure there is always enough for evey dog (fight prevention) and we put it up when the dogs are home alone.

[Guest LindsaySF]

No rawhides or greenies here.

[Sambuca]

I'm glad he's doing OK. Sounds very scary.

 

I don't generally give rawhide, but the only rawhide I have given my grey are GIANT bones that are almost as long as he is and I watch him carefully and if anything gets loose, I make him drop it and take it away. The other raw hide I give is the ground up compressed rawhide. When they bite into it, it falls apart into tiny (a little bigger than grains of sand) pieces. Honestly, I don't think he's gotten any rawhide in over a year though. I much prefer bully sticks and similar things.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Think and heavy or light and thin, rawhide just isn't digestible by a dog. Hides of animals in their original condition, maybe. But cooked and bleached and pressed they're too condensed and require too much liquid just to even begin to soften.

 

This time of year at the vet was nicknamed "obstruction season." Two times of year we were up to our ears in them - spring, when lots of new puppies are born and the Holiday season, when people want their dogs to be neither seen, nor heard - and it was really sad. I came to dread anyone calling me about a vomiting and/or dire rear dog. With other chews I say supervise, with rawhides that's only partly helpful, since they really take a mammoth effort at digestion. I don't know why anyone would risk it. Too much extra cash lying around? I just spent a small fortune on Comet's surgery, which was risky given his age alone. If he had had to have surgery because he ate something I knew was dangerous I would feel just awful.