# Greenies



## twogoldens324 (May 19, 2005)

What are some opinions on the dog chews called Greenies. I do not give raw hide or any thing like that because my dogs will try to swallow it as soon as they get it wet. Are Greenies safer? Karen


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## GoldenFrost (May 27, 2005)

twogoldens324 said:


> What are some opinions on the dog chews called Greenies. I do not give raw hide or any thing like that because my dogs will try to swallow it as soon as they get it wet. Are Greenies safer? Karen


Tara does the same thing...swallows them whole as soon as they get soggy :doh:


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## Jude's Mom (May 19, 2005)

Greenies are great! My other dog usually has bad breath, and these take care of it.


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## molmotta (May 22, 2005)

:greenboun Ditto! I give my boys greenies too. Take care of the bad breath!!


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## mojosmum (May 20, 2005)

Where do you get these "Greenies"?


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

You can get "Greenies" and 'greenies look-alikes' at most pet stores and in just about all pet supply catalogs.

As far as rawhides are concerned... you gotta give them something hard to chew on to properly 'set' their molars... and its gotta be something they will chew on for long periods of time. Greenies go way too fast to be of much use, as well as pigs ears and the like. We found chew hooves to be the best alternative to rawhide, EXCEPT they can stain carpets and furniture and they smell like... well, let's just say some people (my wife) find the odor offensive and others (like me) actually like it, in fact sometimes it will make me a little hungry... but just remember your dog's breath will smell like hoof for hours after gnawing on one. Chew hooves do last a long time but eventually do get whittled down and, like rawhides and marrow bones, should then be taken away and disposed of. We have also used rawhide chews but we buy the biggest ones that can still fit in his mouth comfortably and never let him take it outside and it gets thrown away the moment it gets wet or he chews off a little piece. He also gets marrow bones to chew on until too many little chunks start coming off then its thrown out.

Today, Sidney is almost 14months old and we no longer give him rawhides or hooves... between sticks and tennis balls, he has all he can chew on... but from puppy-hood to until his last molars are finally full 'set' (maybe about a year of age), your Golden will need something hard to chew on and if you don't want that to be the leg of your coffee table or your lava rock mulch then you got few other choices. (BTW, soft rubber toys, fleece toys, etc. just don't 'get it'... you get it?)

Wow, did I go way off-topic or what?


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## Joe (Apr 9, 2005)

Both of our dogs loves them. Especially Kia, she finds them delicious.
This is the picture of greenie shape she loves the most:


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## goldenspirits (Jun 3, 2005)

I give my dogs 1 - 2 greenies a week. They are quite expensive, compared to other chews, but they really work. My 7 year old lab has the most beautiful teeth, pearl white. The vet comments on them all the time. I never brush their teeth, so I think it's the greenies.


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## kjburgstede (Jul 13, 2005)

You can buy Greenies off Ebay in "bulk" quantities so they are cheaper. They are the same thing, packaged in the same package you buy at the store and all.


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## angelica_hugo (Aug 27, 2005)

Has anyone had the problem of diarrhea after dogs chew on the green dental bones? I think I have narrowed it down to the greenies he eats - - but wonder if it's just my dog with this problem. 

I couldn't deal with the diarrhea so I stopped giving him his 'greenies' every other day and now....I can't stand the doggie breath!! It's so yucky!! 

I wonder if anyone has come across this.


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## kjburgstede (Jul 13, 2005)

I only give our dog greenies as a treat once a week with no problems. 
As far as the breath problem, Merrick makes a little mint breath treat.
There is also dental care liquid in mint flavor. Just add a few drips to their water. Good luck.


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## i_love_golden's_93 (Jan 22, 2006)

my dog likes them but there are alot next allowance im buying them thanks my dogs breath is horrible


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie loves greenies...I have always bought the large ones...since i was afraid she would try and swallow the end of it whole....


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

Quite the opposite of the diarrhea. They constipate our dogs, but they love them!


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## DEE (Jan 17, 2006)

We Gave Our 8 Year Old Greenies That Looked Like A Huge Peanut And He Loved Them (r.i.p. Rocky)- My Son Brought Home Some Really Little Ones For The 9 Week Old Pup- Is That Too Young To Give Them Greenies? Heads Up- The Vet Said Rawhide Is Bad For The Dogs. We'll Have To Find An Alternative.


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## DEE (Jan 17, 2006)

:doh: We Gave Our 8 Year Old Greenies That Looked Like A Huge Peanut And He Loved Them (r.i.p. Rocky)- My Son Brought Home Some Really Little Ones For The 9 Week Old Pup- Is That Too Young To Give Them Greenies? Heads Up- The Vet Said Rawhide Is Bad For The Dogs. We'll Have To Find An Alternative.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

I've never seen Greenies....or at least I don't think so.....we'll have to look for them next time out....

Rick


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## krbshappy71 (Dec 30, 2005)

They had an online offer where you could try them for free, so I ordered one, it never arrived. THEN they spammed my email, not to mention asking me how I liked the greenie. I wrote back that I'd never received it, (still haven't) and they continued to send me email advertisements wihtout sending the greenie, happened to about 3 of my friends, also. I'm boycotting greenies now, HA! Silly but true.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Gotta love that spam.....


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## sam (May 21, 2005)

I have three dogs currently, and have had a total of four. My experiences are as follows:
Each of my three goldens enabled my vet to pay his mortgage payment each month due to the recurring bloody diarhea that each consistently suffered from after the dreaded rawhide bone...regardless of type!

Greenies are OK; however, I have heard of some tales of choking, tho.

I use those bones that have been cleaned and sterilized. I order them on line. They come in two sizes. Absolutlely NO problems with them!

;-)


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## Miss Daisy's Mom (Jun 29, 2005)

All of my dogs adore Greenies!


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

Mine LOVE Greenies. I bought the petite size so they didn't get too much at one time, but now I'm afraid to use them because if they swallow large chunks they apparently don't break down and they can block the intestines. I've noticed whole chunks in their poop -- which was enough for me to stop giving them.


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## goldencrazy (Dec 15, 2005)

To all of you feeding Greenies, please take a moment and investigate the following link:
http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/15008

It seems there is always an opposing view to everything!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Those are some gross pictures.....


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I don't mean to put a damper on things, but i have read some bad stories of dogs having to have surger to removed chunks of Greenies. One family has a lawsuit--not so much for money but to get word out. I believe their dog died. The greenies are advertised as 100% digestable, but in fact are not. I can't remember the figure, but was something like 85% digestable. It seems to me that it is one end that is causing most of the problems. Let me see what I can find. I had been thinking of using them for my dogs, but after reading some of the thngs--no way. Mayvbe i am just paranoid after losing hunter to ProHeart and KayCee having a reaction to her 2ed set of annuals.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

This is one i just found on the net. I have read other reports on this dog also. I will see what else i can find.
December 19, 2005


It is the nation's top-selling dog treat, with $315 million in domestic retail sales last year.

It is so beloved by dogs that amused owners have a nickname for it - doggie crack.

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And it is the reason, contend Michael Eastwood and Jennifer Reiff of Manhattan, that their miniature dachshund, Burt, is no longer alive.

On July 22, as she'd done regularly for the past year and a half, Reiff gave the 4-year-old rescue dog his Greenies treat. The next day, Burt was on an operating table, where vets removed three feet of necrotic intestine and what looked like a soft foamy green mass.

Two days later, Burt was dead.

The couple says S&M NuTec of North Kansas City, Mo., the manufacturer of Greenies, sent an e-mail expressing sadness for their loss, and offered to pay the almost $6,600 in medical bills as well as $2,000, the estimated purchase price for a mini-dachsie like Burt. In return, Eastwood and Reiff would have to sign a confidentiality agreement and agree not to pursue legal action.

"That incensed us even more," says Eastwood, who along with Reiff has filed a 

$5 million lawsuit, charging that Greenies are "unsafe, inadequately labeled" and ultimately caused Burt's death.

Invented by a couple plagued by their dog's chronic bad breath, toothbrush-shaped Greenies are marketed as "multifunctional dental treats" that, when used daily, reduce tartar by 62 percent and gingivitis by 33 percent. The company stresses that owners feed the correct size Greenies for their dog's weight and follow the feeding guidelines, which say the treats should not be fed to dogs who "gulp."

(For toy breeds, young puppies and the chew-averse, the company developed Greenies Lil' Bits. It also recently unveiled Feline Greenies for cats.)

Eastwood counters that Burt did not choke on his Greenie and was always supervised when consuming the treat. "The Greenie was a foreign object in his intestines."

S&M NuTec declined to comment on the litigation but disputes there is any problem with the treat's digestibility.

"The digestibility testing that we have with Greenies shows them to be more digestible than the average dry dog food when adequately chewed ... " reads the company's e-mailed statement. "If a dog swallows a large piece of Greenies, or a whole treat, the digestion process will be extended because of the decrease of treat surface area to digestive liquids and stomach action."

Veterinarian Brendan McKiernan of Wheat Ridge, Colo., a board-certified internist, disagrees. "They don't dissolve in the stomach," he says. "When we take them out, they're not digested. And they are causing both esophageal and intestinal problems in dogs to an extent that is concerning."

S&M NuTec says Greenies obstructions are "rare," with most caused by improperly following feeding instructions.

But McKiernan believes incidents are underreported. Earlier this year, at a meeting of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, a group of gastroenterologists discussed obstructions caused by "compressed vegetable chew treats" such as Greenies. By an informal show of hands, he says, "a significant number said, 'Hey, we have problems.'"

Concerned about such cases in his own practice, McKiernan set out to study reports of obstructions from 1999 to 2004 in the Veterinary Medical Database, which records cases from two dozen vet schools. 

The results, outlined in a multi-authored article soon to be submitted to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, found that, after bones and fish hooks, compressed vegetable chew treats were the third-most-common culprit in obstructions.

McKiernan notes that the cases mostly involved small dogs.

But big dogs have their issues with compressed vegetable chew treats, too. Elaine Gewirtz of Westlake Village, Calif., says she fed Greenies to her Dalmatians and "never had problems" - until Jimmy went to live with her daughter and started getting more than his usual ration.

The 5-year-old Dal had three bouts of unexplained vomiting. As Gerwirtz walked him outside the vet's office that last time, "he vomited, and there was all this green stuff.

"I really think it's hit or miss," Gerwirtz says, noting that voracious chewers like Jimmy may be prone to problems. Still, she no longer gives her dogs Greenies.

It's a decision that Eastwood wishes he had been given the opportunity to make.

"We always felt if this product had fair warning and fair labeling," he concludes, "we would never have put our dog in harm's way."


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Okay, here is a site to check out. Hope this helps.

http://www.optimumchoices.com/Greenies.htm


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

Thanks for being so thorough with the information you provided! I have a huge bag of Petite Greenies that, according to what I read, would probably be okay to use. But I'm not going to risk it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I caused one of my babies pain, suffering or worse.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I did not have a home computer until last summer. I had never used one until Hunter died, and then I would use one at the tiny library here (when I could get one), and occasionlly at my son's over in Corpus. So until then I didn't even know about dog boards, etc. I knew you could research stuff, but had never done so until Hunter died.

I did the research AFTER his death and found all that tons of info and stories. I joined a lot of dog boards, including several all breed and then 2 baords devoted strictly to health. One was started by Jean T, who lost her chocolate lab to rimadyl s few years ago but it has grown to cover all the NSAIDs, ProHeart6, vax, and stuff like the greenies. It is a yahoo group, doghealth2 and has over 1000 members. The other group was started by Laurryn S. who almost lost her pug to PH6 and was devoted to PH6. But now it also includes the NSAIDs, etc. Jean and Laurryn work together between their two boards and I get a lot of info there.

But the thing is, so many dogs have died in the past because of lack of information. I just want to pass on what info I have and maybe save a dog or two be it from vax, PH6, NSAIDs, unsafe kennels or greenies or other treats. This is waht makes the forums so great--information can be spread. I stopped giving mine rawhide a couple of years back and KayCee started "hacking" up big chunks of real soft rawhide that she had just swallowed. Poor things on get like milkbone treats now, and even then I only get the tiny ones and they get 1 a day at bed time.


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

I don't think Greenies are bad for all dogs, I think alot of it depends on your dog and the type of chewer it is. Nothing is 100 percent digestable.

I think the important thing is too feed the correct size, know your dogs chewing habits, and supervision. There are many dogs out there today that have done fine with them and not noted any problems. I think it just depends on the dog. This is why some will say my dog choked on this or that, while others will say...mine do fine. There all different, and what works for one just simply may not work for the other.


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

I have heard mostly bad things about Greenies. There may be some weight to the stories and claims of death because the makers of Greenies have just come out with a new version. They are regular MilkBone type biscuit,but with small rice sized chips of Greenies. The ad said something about being ALMOST completely digestable.
We will just keep brushing their teeth and leave the expensive killer chew sticks to others.
Shane


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## Brinkleysmom (Dec 17, 2005)

Its interesting that you bring that up. We just recently had this on the local news. One of our local vets technicians was giving her dog the greenies. The dog got very ill. To make a long story short, the dog ended up having major surgery. There was something about that particular chewey, the "greenie" that has something in it. Anyway, they warned us not to let our dogs have them. I have never given mine any.


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

ANY chew toy is dangerous if your dog isn't supervised ...


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## Miss Daisy's Mom (Jun 29, 2005)

katieanddusty said:


> ANY chew toy is dangerous if your dog isn't supervised ...


Exactly. I give my dogs Greenies on a fairly regular basis. I watch closely that they're not "gulping" big honkin' pieces, and they do just fine. The rocks your dog finds out in the garden and eats could kill him, too; or the sock that fell on the floor and he swallowed, or the rope he pulls off of his rope toy can ball up in his stomach and intestines and kill him. Should we just abolish all dog toys and treats?
Sorry, I guess I'm feeling a bit "testy" tonight.


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## MaddyB (Dec 27, 2005)

I have to say...... We gave Harvey one of these "greenies" and he spent the entire night after throwing up. So.... obviously they don't agree with him. I felt very guilty for giving it to him, but.... I guess you don't know how they'll react until they've tried something


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## PerfectlyGolden (Apr 23, 2007)

I perfer GREENIES but they are so pricey!! My mom only gets them when on sale! Where can i get coupons?


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## PerfectlyGolden (Apr 23, 2007)

*thanks*



Brinkleysmom said:


> Its interesting that you bring that up. We just recently had this on the local news. One of our local vets technicians was giving her dog the greenies. The dog got very ill. To make a long story short, the dog ended up having major surgery. There was something about that particular chewey, the "greenie" that has something in it. Anyway, they warned us not to let our dogs have them. I have never given mine any.


Wow I didn't hear about that! Thanks for the info!!


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