# Is it bad to give a dog Rawhide?



## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

we use rawhide occasionally, but the thinking is that it doesn't digest well. we've never had a problem-but Layla isn't a big chewer. her absolute favorite are bully sticks. DH can't stand when I bring them home & refuses to touch them (he's such a girl) but they are easy to digest, low in fat, & she goes crazy for them. (hubby says I am destroying her innocence by letting her chew on "that"!, what a nut!)


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

If you give it to them make sure you are watching closely. THey can swallow chucks of it and it can obstruct the disgestive tract.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

Mine get raw hides once in a while, they just finished the ones from SS thanks Carol, I heard that raw hides swell in their belly, don't know if that's true or not



















 It's a Girl, *Cheyenne Opal









**Spice and Peanut playing at the bridge
*


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

I don't give mine rawhides at all. They scare me too much.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

I do give rawhides but prefer them unbleached and pressed. Bully sticks, cow ears and raw beef bones are also good options.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

I don't give rawhide to my Golden and probably never will. I feel it's a choking hazard and also many rawhides are laced with toxins from the process they go through to be made into a rawhide bone. 

My brother has had to stick his hand into Cooper's throat because he was choking on the remains of a bully stick. Also as a teenager we had a Schnauzer puppy. At just over 1 year old and in perfect health she collapsed in the backyard one afternoon about 20 minutes after eating a pigs ear. We rushed her to the emerg vet and she spent the next 5 days there on IV. Her body was so laden with toxins as her liver was shutting down that the vets could not believe she was still alive. Her skin was yellow with jaundice. She didn't make it. The autopsy came back indicating severe pancreatitis but could not rule out poisoning. We always wonder if it was something in the pigs ear. I just decided no rawhides because our dogs love their Nylabones and I occasionally buy raw beef marrow bones for them. 

Here is a quote from the book "Golden Retrievers for Dummies" by Nona Kilgore Bauer: 

"A newer type of molded rawhide is extra hard and safe and most dogs love it. The melting process in the new ones also sterilizes the material." 

_The book goes on to say rawhide is a choking hazard, can upset tummies and some basted bones can stain carpets.

_"If you decide to give your Golden rawhides, buy only rawhide products made in the United States. In the U.S., rawhide is considered a food by product, and the processing is government controlled. That's not so in other countries where the chemical processing of rawhide materials is not regulated and the preservatives may contain formaldehyde, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals. My own dogs have become ill after munching on imported rawhides."


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## vrocco1 (Feb 25, 2006)

If you have to use rwahides, make sure they are made in the USA.


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## FranH (May 8, 2005)

Used to give them rawhides. Holly became way too possesive and would devour the whole thing really fast.......then throw up large chunks. Just not worth the risk of choking or blockage.


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## gold'nchocolate (May 31, 2005)

Raw hide gives my dogs loose poops. Raw marrow bones from the meat section of the grocery store are good and the dogs love them. Just make sure that their jaw can't fit through the hole. Another thing that my dogs *love* is cow hooves. I buy the biggest ones that also have very thick side walls, otherwise they tend to bite off the thin pieces of hoof and throw them up later on. Petsmart carries a bag of 10 hooves for $10 bucks. That is a pretty good deal. Agway sells them separately.


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

i dont give rawhides and the one time Sam did chew on a rawhide bone at my friend's house, he started throwing up foamy chunks of it soon after, which just affirmed my decision not to give them to him. he chews raw bones all the time though, beef knuckles are his fave and usually last him quite a while (a few hours atleast.. lol)


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