Rawhide Chews

I remember the 'rawhide chews' and bones - from when I had dogs as a teenager.

I note they are still available.

Should I give my wee Kirra - rawhide chews/bones

As you may know she is 8 months old and loves to chew. She already has the 'Kong' - but still prefers a good chew

Rawhide

Rawhide chews etc are available at most good pet stores - they come in all shapes and sizes so there should be one suited for your dog. Just keep an eye on the dog when they are chewing them for the first few times because they can choke a bit on them. Also, some don't chew them properly, swallow the chew whole and vomit it back up (it's a very wierd experience cleaning up an intact, but vomity, raw hide). There should be no probs giving one to an 8 month old pup - they really are a great way to keep them entertained and most dogs love them

Murphy loves a good chew, but he's not too keen on rawhide, so we got him a 'Nylabone'. Which he loves

It saves the worry of choking. He used to get Triple Sticks, but he would chew a bit and then just swallow the rest.

You can get them in a couple of different strengths, sizes and flavours, we have to buy the Medium sized Durable one for strong chewers for Murphy.

http://www.nylabone.com/products/non-edible/durable-chews/

Bandit almost choked to death on a rawhide stuck in his throat (he tried to swallow it whole when I tried to take it from him). I took him to the vet, and they fussed at me for giving it to him at all. They said NO rawhide. Very dangerous. Lots of impactions from it because it does NOT break down, and it swells up in the stomach. I used to give the pig skin twists all the time to my dogs, but I don't anymore.
Here is a really good article to scare anyone away from rawhide. it gives facts only, no horror stories, but facts are enough for me.

http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm

I do give cow hooves (they just gnaw on them like a bone, but don't eat them) and use the Kongs. None of my dogs ever would eat the nylabones, so I gave up on them.

Hi islewriter, giving my little one rawhide chews has always made me nervous, I tried a couple of times but gave up on them because all I could think about was the fact that if she broke a large piece off and swallowed it, that it would swell in her tummy. I've found a good alternative to be dried tripe sticks, they certainly don't last as long as rawhide and they smell yucky but dogs absolutely love them and I don't have any fears about her making herself ill with them. Phoebe can spend a fair amount of time working away at a good sized piece of tripe - it keeps her happy and it doesn't seem to bother her very sensitive tum. She's certainly been having them since she was the same age as your little one.
(certainly not more than one piece every few days though otherwise poops become a bit squitty .......you know.... that stage where trying to pick them up in a poop bag becomes a bit of a challenge!!)

My two get rawhide chew sticks every day. Never unsupervised I hasten to add. They're both good chewers so only swallow really small pieces. I haven't ever had a problem with them getting bunged up with it :xfngr:, and they don't seem to upset their tummies.
Different things work well with different dogs though.

I have a 7 year old Boxer who swallowed a very large rawhide chew whole. When I gave it to him I thought it would last him at least a week of chewing, and was horrified a couple of hours later when I found it missing (swallowed). Luckily he was sick and brought the whole thing back up. Because of this I would never give a rawhide chew to my Cavalier now.

Some rawhide chews are supposedly made from dog & cat skin in the far east !.

I only buy the thick white beefhide if I get them.

I do the same as Murphys Mom. Twice have had expensive vet bills as Chelsea does not diget the rawhides even the small ones so Nylabones are her best friend. She has 4 or 5 of the very hard ones that she can chew on for months(depending on where she stashes them) and I give the softer ones as after dinner treats a couple of times a week to help clean the teeth.

Have been very lucky as she does not chew on anything except her bones and toys (lots and lots of toys).

Hope this helps. Suzanne

Maggie LOVES the red barn bully sticks. (aka pizzle chews)

The marketing says they're made of tendons. I just found out *which tendon* they're made of (after reading brotymo's link). Safe though they may be, yeck.

The girl at the pet supply store told us never to give rawhide for all the reasons listed above.