Rawhide Risks

Originally Posted by Johnny

My dogs seem to throw up from raw-hide. Does anyone's dog do the same?

My labrador always throws up after hide bones. He is 5 years old. I do know they irritate the stomach.

[Dewi]

It's like anything in life you need to decide for yourself if it's right for your dog. I know some dogs it's completely inappropriate for that particular dog to have raw hides to chew, because they swallow everything and are not slow careful chewers.

Dogs like mine have a perfectly fine time enjoying Rawhide slowly without incidence or problems.

I do give them to her in adult presence, she slowly licks, chews and gnaws forever, never a problem.

She also regularly chews on whole carrots sticks.
So it all depends on your own dog.

And I also taught her how to chew whole almonds (i eat a lot of raw almonds) and showed her how to chew them, and she copies me, it's the funniest thing to see her chew them to mush! That's my dog I know she is a slow careful chewer and eater in general.

[Feathers]

what about bully sticks?

[TexasDogFamily]

Would you say the whole issue can be resolved by raw feeding? Never even seen a hint of yellow on Emmas teeth and she is soo shiney too

[themindisonfire]

I've heard that since rawhides are only 80% digestible they can get clogged in a dog's intestines or something, but I've never heard of it actually happening. Maybe the manager where I used to work just told me that so I could move more bully sticks and porkhide, haha.

[Feathers]

My dog just wants to chew... she has chewed up all her toys... the only thing she hasn't destroyed in her kong and she only chews it when there is food inside it. I need to have things she wants to chew on because I keep pulling the kids' toys out of her mouth. ugh.

[SadiePants]

I got those rawhide chips, and in the ingredients it only says rawhide. I decided to give it a try. I have four dogs and 3 of them had no problems. But of course my lab Sadie had problems. It would not completely block her but it would partially for the rest of the day, so everything she ate would almost instantly come back up. It took her a whole 2 days seemingly to digest the small chip. She would never vomit the rawhide, just the food. Never again for Sadie pants.

[Z mann R2]

Originally Posted by Ace'sCamille

So what do you all use for safe, supervised chewing?

an oak log usually does the trick....lol....

[troutbumgreg]

i will be getting a puppy in 2 weeks and was wondering if it can play with raw hide or is it bad for puppy teeth? thanks!

[jdog]

troutbumgreg: I've given my pups rawhide. Just watch out for the choking hazard once they wear the toy down or if it breaks into pieces.

ZenCat:This is a Great post. Thanks for this info

[newlabowner]

We had a giant mutt some years back. We often gave him and our other dog the rawhide chews.

One day while I was watching TV he came right up to me face to face. I tried to move him to the side because he was blocking the TV but he kept coming back into my face staring at me.

I finally noticed that his breathing sounded funny. I opened his mouth and looked inside.

At the very back of his mouth/top of his throat, I saw a small piece of gooey rawhide. I grabbed it and pulled on it and a piece the size of the sole of a shoe came out of his throat. He was most grateful.

We have never bought rawhide chews for any of our dogs after that.

[JosiesMom]

Be CAREFUL with rawhides!!!!!! I absolutely will not give my dogs rawhides again after this morning.

I had a bowel obstruction scare this morning with Solstice, my 1yo black lab...She was literally throwing up feces...almost rushed her to the vet but then she threw up a HUGE hunk of rawhide and has been acting fine since. I even monitored her chewing last night but SOMEHOW she swallowed a huge chunk. It could have been fatal..... Anyone have ideas on other SAFE treats?

[JosiesMom]

But like a previous poster said, it's up to your dog. My Solstice is a HOG and not a careful eater, whereas my chocolate lab Josie takes her sweet time and is very gentle. I guess it's up to your dog! Personally, I'm not going to take the risk again with rawhides

[SweetLabs]

Oh my!!! Our boy used to polish off a rawhide in under 10 minutes Thankfully we never had an issue with rawhides, but I think I'll stick to Kongs to be on the safe side.

[GlennBaxterFam]

I know it's been said over and over again so at this point one more time could not hurt but might annoy lol

Everything in moderation AND depending on the dog. I've seen small breed dogs who can chew through a rawhide in minutes and Great Danes that took weeks. It's not about the breed so much as it is about the individual dog!

As with anything you choose to do with your dog or allow your dog to do is really only up to YOU. You know your dog best and in the end only you know if rawhide is a safe chew toy for your dog.