Rawhide - yay or nay?

I work at a petstore and rawhide is one of the most commen thing people buy. i dont think there is anything wrong with it when i had a dog my mom use to buy it and nothing was ever wrong. when i have costmers ask me which is best i recoment that because it is most popular. i also depends on the dog if it is a smaller dog i would give him/ her a smaller piece but not to small to choke on. mainly it depends on the person.

While there are better chew things for your dog, I feel that rawhide is okay depending on your dog's chewing habbits. I light to medium chewer will usually do okay with it. Heavy chewers are usually the ones who get sick from it and get the blockages. You know your dog best, so the choice is really up to you. My dog gets them occassionally, but he prefers nylabons, pig ears, hooves, real bones filled with yummy treats, and kongs. About the microorganisms...they can grow anywhere. I would not give my dog a rawhide that lasted more than a week, and I would only give it to him while I was home. Nylabones and kongs are great chew toys for when you are away. It's also better to not give your dogs rawhide while they are pups. Edible chew toys are not recommended for them, because they will never really enjoy chewing on other kinds of non-edible toys. That is why my dog only gets them as a treat. Just learn your dogs chew habbits, and rawhide may or may not be good for your dog. There is also something called bullysticks that are fairly good. There are also tendons that they sell, that I feel are probably the best in edible dog chews.

Nay. I always gave my dogs rawhide, because they LOVE it! Then one fateful night I had one of my dachshunds get very sick, throwing up and blood in her stool. I rushed her to the vet, he checked her from head to toe and started asking all the millions of questions they ask. after 30 minutes or so he figured it out, it was the rawhide. Yes dogs love it and most of the time it is safe, but there is always that small percent that their digestive can no longer digest it and it causes lots of problems. She had been chewing rawhide for years, but this one time cost me over $100.00 so no more rawhide in my house. LOL

We give our fur babies rawhides. We limit the amount that we give them each week. They usually get them as treats on Friday night. They have plenty of other toys that they can play with. I do keep an eye on them while they are chewing them. The vet has never said not to give them and we have asked.

Yes, my dogs get them as a special treat. They really seem to enjoy them and have never had a problem. I also give them dried pig ears, which is their absoloute favorite. Santa never forgets.