Rawhide Bones

[Gary_and_Karen]

Started a seperate topic for rawhide bones with a multiple choice poll question on the topic.

 

Pro or con or undecided, what is your view and why ?

[YankeeDoodle]

Yankee chews everything up really good, he only tried to eat a 'chip' once that wasn't chewed well. So we moved up to the rolled ones and haven't had a problem since he only gets then once a month if even that just as a treat. He gets raw bones for his chompers.

[mrenee]

I don't have a dog yet so I can't really vote but at the dog hotel I work at we don't allow dogs to have any kind of rawhide because small pieces can break off and the dogs can get choked on them if they aren't being supervised.

[Kassidy]

We only give them to Chloe once in a while because her gums usually bleed when she eats them. Does anyone else have a problem with that? Is it normal, or something more serious? Chloe hasn't had a rawhide since she got her teeth cleaned at the vet a few weeks ago, so we will see if its any better or worse now...

[WildFlower]

Just want to stipulate that I buy american beef hide rawhide and the dogs only chew when I am able to monitor. Otherwise the rawhides are put away.

[Liz P]

American made only. Supervised chewing. Once or twice a week.

[Gary_and_Karen]

I am so glad you brought that up, we also now just use american beef hide rawhide bones because there seems to be very good reasons why it is much better than imported types.

 

(and yes, we also are careful to only allow her to chew on the rawhide bone when we are able to monitor her while she is chewing, it is put completely out of reach and out of sight at other times)

 

Here is some info I found searching online about a week ago:

 

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U.S.A. rawhide bones are healthier for dogs that most imported rawhide chews. That's because fresh U.S.A. hides dont need to be processed with harsh, potentially dangerous chemicals.

 

Also, cheaper imported bones are made with much thinner rawhide so it doesn't last as long as well as being unhealther due to possible harmful chemical processing.

 

Look at the thickness of the hide itself (thicker is better, because it will take longer for a dog to chew) and its color. Extremely white hides are unnatural; they have to be bleached and/or painted to appear so white. Natural or lightly bleached rawhides are a light tan, like a manila folder. These less-processed hides retain more of the natural flavor and aroma of the hide. “Basted,” smoked, and decoratively tinted products might be any color (or odor) underneath the coating of (often artificial) dyes and flavors, and so I avoid them.

 

Don’t buy any rawhide products that have small or intricate pieces. I examine “knotted” products carefully; the best ones are made from a single sheet of rolled and knotted rawhide, whereas inferior products are made with separate, smaller pieces of rawhide forming the knots on the end of a rawhide “roll.” After just a few minutes of chewing, the knots loosen and separate from the roll; these small pieces can be swallowed whole, presenting a serious choking hazard.

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.....we have been buying "Pet Factory" brand 100% American Beefhide medium bones (7 to 8 inches) from Walmart, but they only sell them individually for $5.49 each, but I found a place online that offers the same bones but at a good discount when bought in packs of 12, we wasn't planning on ordering for a couple weeks but a 12 pack averages out to $3.45 each and there is no shipping charge.

 

I still want to research more about rawhide bones in the meantime.

 

 

 

Just want to stipulate that I buy american beef hide rawhide and the dogs only chew when I am able to monitor. Otherwise the rawhides are put away.

[Gary_and_Karen]

......yes, good point, American made only as in "United States" made, be careful to watch for packages that might say "American beef hide" but are not actually made in the United States, but imported from a South American country that might process with harmful chemicals but can still claim it is "American" beef hide, but simply not specify "South" American beef hide.

 

American made only. Supervised chewing. Once or twice a week.

[Liz P]

Mine say "made in the USA with ingredients sourced in the USA." I buy in bulk at wholesale price. Works out to be about $1 per 10 inch roll.

[bcnewe2]

I had a dog and knew of a different dog that almost died from eating them. It was long ago but I still don't do it.

 

plus they are way to guarded or prized. Antlers for us! All mine love them and they don't guard them as bad.

[Tommy Coyote]

I don't give these. Too afraid of choking. And I heard they are soaked in formaldehyde - don't know if that is true or not.

 

I just give my dogs hard cooked treats for their teeth. No bones. Tommy broke off the top of one of her back teeth chewing on a raw bone.

[rushdoggie]

When my now 3 year old was a youngster he was a chewing MANIAC. I used to use the thick dried out bully sticks for my previous Border Collie and he would eat an inch or two at a time...Argos consumed the whole bully in 5 minutes, once even rotating it in his mouth so 6 inches or so slid down his gullet. Tracheas? gone in 5 minutes.

 

He would not touch the hard bones (antlers, nylabones) and I could not afford to keep him in bully sticks (a $15 2 foot long jumbo gone in 5 minutes). So I got some safe rolled rawhides from my local pet shop (also expensive) and they took an hour or two. They were thick enough he couldn't swallow it whole and had to chew more, and that worked.

 

Still I always gave them when I was home and paying some attention and tossed them when they got small.

 

Luckily he matured and whole he can still decimate a bully stick in 5 minutes he usually doesn't and has grown past that need to chew everything stage. He still likes the rawhides too.

[Gary_and_Karen]

That is wise to make sure not only is it made in the USA but that also the ingredients are from the USA.

 

When you say 10 inch roll are you talking about the bone shaped or the ones that look like long sticks ?

 

Mine say "made in the USA with ingredients sourced in the USA." I buy in bulk at wholesale price. Works out to be about $1 per 10 inch roll.

 

 

We have never tried antlers, are dog owners divided in opinions about their safety also ?

 

I had a dog and knew of a different dog that almost died from eating them. It was long ago but I still don't do it.

 

plus they are way to guarded or prized. Antlers for us! All mine love them and they don't guard them as bad.

 

 

From what I read it is the non-USA ones that might be soaked in formaldehyde, that is why it I got in the habit of really checking out the labels of stuff before buying it, and if the labels are not clear enough I'll research the company online for customer reviews pro or con as well as if the source of origin is the USA or not.

 

I have not tried raw bones but I see there is concern about if they are safe also.

 

I don't give these. Too afraid of choking. And I heard they are soaked in formaldehyde - don't know if that is true or not.

 

I just give my dogs hard cooked treats for their teeth. No bones. Tommy broke off the top of one of her back teeth chewing on a raw bone.

[Gary_and_Karen]

I have never tried bully sticks, but I agree, if your dog is an agressive chewer like ours is right now it would be too expensive if each stick didn't last that long.

 

We are hoping that as Xena gets a little older she won't be as agressive as a chewer and will chew more causally if she still feels the need to chew at all. Our previous dog Angel matured out of the chewing phase to where she would just lick soft dog treats off of rawhide bones after I smashed them into the ends of them.

 

When my now 3 year old was a youngster he was a chewing MANIAC. I used to use the thick dried out bully sticks for my previous Border Collie and he would eat an inch or two at a time...Argos consumed the whole bully in 5 minutes, once even rotating it in his mouth so 6 inches or so slid down his gullet. Tracheas? gone in 5 minutes.

 

He would not touch the hard bones (antlers, nylabones) and I could not afford to keep him in bully sticks (a $15 2 foot long jumbo gone in 5 minutes). So I got some safe rolled rawhides from my local pet shop (also expensive) and they took an hour or two. They were thick enough he couldn't swallow it whole and had to chew more, and that worked.

 

Still I always gave them when I was home and paying some attention and tossed them when they got small.

 

Luckily he matured and whole he can still decimate a bully stick in 5 minutes he usually doesn't and has grown past that need to chew everything stage. He still likes the rawhides too.

[Fargo]

We dont give rawhide...to afraid of chemicals used to process them, and the potential for blockages. I rotate antlers, and rubber food stuffable toys to keep mine entertained.

[WildFlower]

These are the ones that I use:

 

http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/598411-wholesome-hide-rawhide-retriever-rolls.html

 

My dogs get rawhide once or twice a week for maybe 1/2 hour to an hour at a time. They don't get through chewing more than about an inch in that time frame. Probably because those rolls are pretty thick. Smaller rolls they chew through much quicker.

 

They also all love nyla-bones and nyla-rings. They have a few "rubber" type bones but tend to not chew them as much.

 

They get a kong daily - stuffed with water soaked kibble and peanut butter as a bonus once and a while.

 

Bully sticks are destroyed immediately so I don't get them too often. I look at them as almost like a treat. Way too expensive.

[Gary_and_Karen]

We started allowing Xena to chew rawhide bones about 2 weeks ago, but only under very close supervision.

 

We let her chew them in the evening on the bed with us pretty much daily because so far it is the only thing that keeps her occupied for a good long while, otherwise she would have to go in her crate a lot sooner because she would not sit still for 2 minutes without the rawhide bone but would dig at the sheets, jump around, find stuff to chew on she shouldn't, ect. so the rawhide bone acts like a pacifier so she can spend more evening time with us.

 

......we will be glad when she gets to where she can be content to just relax with us on the bed without having to constantly be chewing on something.

 

This could change at a later date if we find there might be a better option we can afford that would hold Xena's interest.

 

In the meantime there seems to be no reason for concern as long as there is very close supervision AND you use only USA beef hide bones actually made in the USA with beef hide from the USA.

 

Right now so far there seems to be more owners that allow supervised rawhide chewing than not, but with as with anything, care must be taken.

[terrecar]

It seems there are risks to just about anything, some more than others. There is a pretty startling photo on an ER Vet clinic's FB page of an antler extraction. Rawhide is not digestible and can get quite slippery, hence a choking hazard. Choo Hooves can cause a problem. Bully sticks are digestible, but they don't last long, and I'm sure there is some level of risk to them as well. I used to give rawhide, but only pressed rawhide. Then I switched to bully sticks when I could afford them. Lately I've given Choo Hooves (supervised). There is always the trusty Kong. I do stuff them and use them, but they don't provide much in the way of chewing, really--at least not for my dogs.

 

 

ETA: A caveat: Choo Hooves are extremely painful to step on in your bare feet

ETA2: Also, I am not implying that you should not weigh the [comparative] risks. In fact, that is exactly what I do. I do feel most comfortable with Bully Sticks and have bought them in bulk.

[Kelleybean]

I'll give raw bones, and an occasional pigs ear.

[Olivia]

Made in the USA only, supervised chewing only. Every other week or so.

 

Everything has risks and ups and downs. Antlers are so darn hard I hate to hear my dogs sound like they are cracking them. Raw bones are good but hard to find and expensive to get. Bully sticks are pointless, will be gone in 5 minutes. Chew hooves are okay but my dogs aren't crazy about them, I hate the smell and it's hard to find the non-stinky ones.

 

Rawhide it is for us!

[Maralynn]

Nylabones here. My dogs chew HARD.

[Beach BCs]

Nylabones, antlers and bully sticks at our house. The bully sticks are maybe once a week. Although, my littlest BC can put a hurting on the antlers.

[Falon's Mom]

Sage gets the rolled kind about once a month for about an hour. Though he gets fresh beef bones from local beef once a week. The bones help keep his teeth off the furniture and the rawhide is strictly just a treat.

[Tommy Coyote]

I hate the smell of hooves, too.

[Gary_and_Karen]

Question to those of you who do allow your dog to chew rawhide bones -

 

As you are monitoring your dog's chewing, do you just watch for large chunks that come loose (or are ready to come loose) but are not concerned if your dog swallows small (fingernail size or less) pieces or do you also try to keep your dog from swallowing even the very small pieces ?

 

We use scissors to cut off even small pieces that look like they are close to being chewed off, even though she has occasionally managed to swallow really small pieces, but I was just wandering if anyone had any concern about the small (fingernail size or less) pieces being swallowed.