Rawhide

[silver_girl]

Hi!

I am fairly new here. I am a little hesitant to post, but what the heck!

Maggie, is my 3 month old shepherd/rottweiller mix puppy. I have given her lots of toys to play with (balls, KONG, Nyla-bones,etc) but she discovered rawhide this weekend. We were at my sister's house (she has a gs too) and she discovered her dog's rawhide bone and took an immediate liking to it. I wasn't sure if she should have it so I distracted her with her toys. I was wondering at what age a puppy should be introduced to rawhide, it seems to me that I should wait. Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

We have our 2nd vet appt this Saturday, so I will ask him too, but I wanted to get your comments as well!

Thanks,
Lisa

[Lucky Rescue]

Personally, I wouldn't (and don't) give rawhide at all. It's too easy for dogs to chew off large hunks and swallow them - as my dog did - and rawhides seem to make some dogs very protective of them.

Raw bones are much better!

[sammiec]

I consulted my vet about rawhide because I had heard all the negative things about it as well. He told me that he has AT LEAST 5 dogs per year come in due to a blockage in their intestinal tract due to rawhide. His suggestion was nylabones; we also give marrow bones and knuckle bones.

[Goldenmom]

All dogs LOVE rawhides, however, they are not good for them. I would not give your dog anymore, even though he does like them. These can get caught in their throats and choke to death and can cause diahhrea etc....

The best bone you can get for your dog is a raw marrow bone from your butcher. Search the archives in this forum, there is lots of good advice about chew toys and food.

Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

[silver_girl]

thanks, well maybe I should stick to nyla-bones then, she seems very happy with them, but it could have been that the rawhide was "new" to her....my sister's dog doesn't seem to chew hers anymore, she just got bored with it!

of course, she will get real bone treats once in a while once she is older....

[Goldenmom]

Nylabones are the best. Do you have a Kong? Another must have for puppies. Make sure that you can take the chew toys away without any growling etc. To ensure this, always take things away, wait a bit, and return it and say "good boy" I pretend that I am eating it and then return it

Heather

[silver_girl]

Goldenmom

Trust me, I am doing this so far, no problems about protectiveness to her toys..I am also "interrupting" her while she is eating, and making her wait and sit until I tell her to go ahead..for some reason I can do this, however my sister (who lives with us) is still not able to do this without Maggie growling..... but we are trying..she learned to sit at a very early age and this week has mastered shake a paw...the "come" command is progressing along nicely..we are up to about 8-10 ft away....

[AussieDoodle]

When it come to giving rawhide, bones, KONG, Nylabones, or an other chew toy to your dog, I think it all depends on a couple of things.
What your dog is like?
How old your dog is?
And if the dog is supervised, or not?

I have an Aussie-Doodle named Jersey who is a very agressive chewer, and I have found what works best for him, when he is in his kennel is plain old rawhide.
I have given him a KONG, and Nylabones in the past, only to come home and find out that he has eaten them.

Jersey has never choked or been sick from eating rawhide, but he has been sick from eat KONGS, and Nylabones.

KONG, Nyla-bones are nice toys but Are Not Digestible.

Althought Rawhides maybe not be for every dog, I will not take the chance of giving Jersey anything that is not digestible if no one is home to supervise him.

[ScottieDog]

Just want to put in my about rawhide. Last summer, Mac needed some extractions and a deep tooth cleaning. I picked up some special rawhide strips at the vet's office thinking they would help keep his mouth clean. They had an enzymatic coating that helps clean teeth. He never shown much interest in these and will lick them, carry them around for a while grunting and then "bury" them under a towel, rug or table. One night I gave him a large strip. I noticed he was actually chewing on this one which was odd. About thirty minutes later I heard him make an odd coughing noise. I immediately noticed the chew was gone. I grabbed him, pried open his mouth and saw the end of the chew strip in the back of his throat. I had no idea how he had eaten this thing so quickly. I reached in and could barely grab the end. I pulled the entire, limp slimy thing out of his throat. He almost choked on this and was swallowing it whole. If it had not choked him it would have certainly blocked his intestines. These are dangerous. I also don't like that the package tells me to wash my hands after handling. If I need to wash my hands after touching it, should my dog put it in his mouth?

[Chris21711]

They can cause dogs to choke to death. A friend of ours Bulldog choked to death on one about three years ago. At the shelter one of the dogs almost did, luckily enough one of the shelter workers happened to be walking by his kennel at the same time and managed to save him. Since then they have discontued their use as a treat.

[kaylie]

Hi I also have a puppy called Maggie who is a pure GSD ! good choice on name there i am thinking!

We introduced raw hide chews to her when she was about 14 weeks, not intentionally but that is a different story! They keep her quiet for a while and are good for their teeth. I never let her have a chew which is any smaller than about 10 inches long and 2-3inches wide as they can be dangerous, i leave her with them if they are new and VERY well wrapped together, (some have tight seams some dont) Once she gets a piece off i am a big spoil sport and take it off her to chuck away! She LOVES her RHC!!

[Chris21711]

Originally Posted by kaylie

Hi I also have a puppy called Maggie who is a pure GSD ! good choice on name there i am thinking!

We introduced raw hide chews to her when she was about 14 weeks, not intentionally but that is a different story! They keep her quiet for a while and are good for their teeth. I never let her have a chew which is any smaller than about 10 inches long and 2-3inches wide as they can be dangerous, i leave her with them if they are new and VERY well wrapped together, (some have tight seams some dont) Once she gets a piece off i am a big spoil sport and take it off her to chuck away! She LOVES her RHC!!

It is the larger ones that can cause the most trauma.