Are Rawhide Chews Bad ???

Am I a bad dog owner for giving my dog rawhide chews? I worry about that.... I've heard horror stories, but have never know if they are rare occurences, or more frequent than we would like. I give Rusty rawhide pieces that I buy in bulk at Petco.... and being that they are supposedly a reputable pet store, I thought I was doing an okay thing. He really seems to like them now and then; they give him an outlet for his need to chew. But I don't want to do anything to put the little guy in danger, and I would be devistated if anything bad ever happened to him because of something I gave him. Does anyone know the bottom line answer? I try to always keep any eye on him when he's chewing, but I don't know if it's okay for him or not.

 

what horror stories are they? fill me in. only thing ive heard is that sometimes dogs will swallow them whole and they end up poopin out bits of rawhide. im sure if they are pieces and he chews them thoroughly there should be no problem.

 

not really horror I don't guess but my Buttons tried to swallow one almost whole once and almost choked to death ,I don't give them to the small dogs anymore ,to the larger dogs I do though.I use now for the small ones CET strips and the chew chicken flavored sticks .No you are not a bad pet owner .i just worry about my Maltipoos and don't give them the chews anymore cause of what happened to Buttons .

 

I give both of my dogs rawhide bones. I don't give rawhides to them when I'm not around to supervise just in case. They get this treat about twice a week. They have never had a problem with choking or digestion.

I'm a firm believer in NOT giving dogs COOKED meat bones, (steak bones.) Rawhide bones gives in to their need to chew, plus cleans their teeth.

There are synthetic chews on the market (nylon) but I'm not real crazy about my dogs chewing on synthetic plastic.

In my opinon, rawhides are fine if supervised.

 

I havent heard any horror stories about them...but why do they have a bad reputation? I cant get my dogs to chew on anything else so I'm wondering why we are told not to feed them and under what circumstances is that? For fear of splintering? Or what?

 

I never really understood the whole argument against rawhide either-- I guess because I have a dog that chews everything, so to me giving her an object made to be chewed by a dog is better than her eating a shoe or something like that! Anyway, I think that it is all a matter of how your dog handles rawhide. My Cameron, for example, often swallows chunks of rawhide, though we try to take away any big pieces so this doesn't happen-- anyway, we have never had a problem with it even when she does swallow them. She always passes them through, and there is never a problem. Malipoos' dog, however, choked on one, so her dog probably can't handle them as well. I think it all depends on the dog, so if you are currently giving your dog rawhide and they are not having any problems with it, I don't see any reason to stop. It is usually a good idea to only give them rawhide when you're around, though- just in case.

 

I give one to Zoe once or twice a week. She LOVES them. I do agree with loves-da-pits on not giving ANY dog cooked bones of any kind. Chicken wings are the worst. A friends boston terrier choked on a chicken wing bone and died a couple years ago. It was horrible.

 

Thanks for all of the input.... I guess what had me worried is the stories I hear sometimes of dogs choking to death on them....not that I hear that a lot, but it just worried me that I do hear it. But then I guess in reality, pretty much anything that is chewed on is a hazard for choking. Okay, so I guess I don't feel quite as worried..... I guess it might be that I've just never had a dog quite as small as Rusty and I guess I worry that might make him more of a risk to choke. I try to watch him very closely so I guess unless any problems come up, I'll let him keep having them when I am around to keep an eye on him. He really does like them.... sort of like his pacifier sometimes, or something. He'll settle right down and get really wrapped up in chewing. ANyway thanks again :y_the_best:

 

I feed my dogs raw hide. Natural, not the pressed chips or what I like to call the imitation ones.