Dog Greenies and Rawhide

[SummerRiot]

I was just wondering who here actually feeds their dogs these products?

I have vowed that Riot will never ever touch those products in his lifetime.
Both are non-digestable and dangerous(greenies more then rawhide)

Just wondering what everyones opinions of them are.

[finn's mom]

I don't feed either of them. :)

[Vela]

I don't feed either of them, nor pigs ears, etc etc. Mine get bully sticks (the real ones) and raw meaty knuckle bones for chews. The others just arent' worth the risk, however small it may be, when there are better alternatives.

[lv4dogs]

I still have a couple greenies left over from x-mas. That was before all this was really known about them and I bought a LOT of BIG bags. lol
Once I am done with what I have I won't be feeding them anymore. They will just get RMB's.

But personally I think any food is dangerous. I know of dogs who have choked to death on regular kibble. You just have to consider how your dog eats & watch them closely.

[ashleycat]

so what do they chew on? I give Charlie those big hides in knots. Are those bad?

[.sarah]

I don't feed my dogs anything commercial. They get raw food and dehydrated raw food as treats, and I make those myself. :)

If I did feed commercial treats though, they wouldn't get either.

[finn's mom]

so what do they chew on? I give Charlie those big hides in knots. Are those bad?

Finn chews on kong toys. :) As for chewing on food, I feed him a pork roast sometimes on the bone, and, I'll watch him while he chews on the bone. But, for the most part, his chewing comes from toys. And, they have to be virtually indestructable, or he destroys them quickly.

And, I don't know that the rawhides are bad, I just personally don't like them. I think they're nasty and kinda gross. The idea that they're for chewing, but, completely edible, I don't know why that bothers me, but, it always has. Just watch your dog with them, and, don't leave him unsupervised. :)

[buttercup132]

Greenies ARE digestable...
but most dogs gulp them and thats when they become bad.

[JenBKR]

Roscoe doesn't like greenies, but he LOVES rawhide. Personally I don't see a problem with them. He is not allowed to have them when we are not at home though, I make sure to sit in the room with him.

[sammy101]

they get both.not often,but they get both.Rawhides more than greenies because greenies are so darn expensive.They are both supervised while eating them,so i dont see a problem really.Any food/treat is dangerous.

[lute]

i gave my dogs greenies and rawhides until i found out how dangerous they were for them. i now give them beef knuckles, pig's feet, lamb ears, ets. they get a rawhide every once in a while when i don't have anything else.

[Muddy4paws]

The reason my dogs dont get greenies is because basically they are pigs with food and would try and beat each other in eating them, I got a few free greenies at crufts but I never used them.

My dogs normally get Bonios and some beef jerky or some pedigree treats like scmacos etc but never bones or rawhide because they will literatly fight over each others :rolleyes:

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

Bailey gets raw buffalo and beef bones to chew on. :D

[bckrazy]

Gonzo LOVES Greenies! I think he would be in ecstacy if his diet consisted completely of Greenies, it's like giving candy to a kid. =P At one point, he got a Greenie every other day or so, with not a single side affect except for clean, shiney teeth! He still gets about 1 a week, but they are ridunculously expensive so I limit him. Ribs and marrow bones clean his teeth well, but Greenies work just as well.

As for rawhide, I mostly do not feed it because Gonzo doesn't like plain ol rawhide. I never feed anything rawhide-like from out of the USA. He does get a variety of the Merrick chewies, because we sell every single variety at the feed store I work at! He likes bully stix, lamb ears, and dried sausage chews the best. He also loves Texas Toothpicks, which are cow tails so they're basically rawhide.

[binka_nugget]

My boys don't get them anymore. Greenies are too expensive to give regularly and raw hide is far from natural. They get RMBs daily and bully sticks occasionally.

[Vela]

For those who feed rawhides, just some info: They are not digestible and can cause an obstruction if a piece gets caught, since it won't digest. Larger pieces can also sit in the gut and not pass through for several days leading to bacterial infections in the intestines. Dogs can eat things like meat left out for a day and not get sick because it passes so quickly, but if any rawhide gets in the belly it can sit for days, not digest, and proliferate bacteria. Also, most rawhides are soaked in and treated with really harsh chemicals to remove the hair, incuding formaldehyde (embalming fluid), and I don't want my dogs ingesting those products. I have also had a friend's dog die from having as piece stuck in his throat, it was not slippery enough to get down, but too slippery to pull back up. Just doesn't seem worth the risk. ANY chews and toys should be given to dogs under supervision, but some are more risky to give than others.

[cloverfdx]

We have fed both in the past with no problems. Not so much Greenie because they are a rip off here ;).

[shihtzulover850]

Snuggles has had rawhide. The smalller bones for small dogs. not anymore though. She chews on toys. She doesn't have many though she destroyed them all. you wouldn't think so cause she is really small lol :rolleyes:

[IRescue452]

Autumn gets rawhides because they grind down with the teeth, I've never seen a rawhide fall into little chunks, except the very end pieces. I don't give her greenies because they stain things and they are expensive. I'm not afraid of greenies though. I watch my dogs. Pepper has choked on cow hooves and rawhides but we were there to take them away. Autumn can't have meaty bones because she gets big chunks off of them. She can't chew on kong toys either because she gets pieces off too. I won't give bully sticks or ears because of the smell and I'd assume they can choke on them just as well.

[anna_66]

I've given them both in the past but don't feed either now. The greenies are outrageous in price and the rawhide Bon tries to swallow when it gets soft.

We have Steralized Bones (http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444180 6068&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302026203&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&bmUID=1147995472624&itemNo=0&Ntt=steralized+bones&In=All&previousText=steralized+bones&N=2) for them to chew on and then they ocassionally get a bully stick.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

They occasioanlly get rawhide, but not often. Maybe about once a year, usually at Christmas because a friend of ours gets rawhides for them. They get raw bones 3-4 times weekly.

[tessa_s212]

My dogs will never again touch a rawhide, and they will NEVER ever get their mouths on any greenies.

[Rio and Me]

Mine have only ever had 1 greenie each, they have only just come over here, and they are very expensive and not very big and they didnt go mad for them so i wont get them again.
They get raw hide chews regularly iv never had proplems with them, but there best treat and teeth cleaning comes from regular free whole raw legs of cow free from our local slaughter house! they go mad for them and best of all no running poo's!

although rio has to have them cut into smaller bits because she only has 1 K9 left and 3 bottom insissors but can still manage them!

Ky

[Mo Mo's Mum]

I Quite often give Molly a Rawhide " Bone" but she is never not under supervision although she does love to bury them

She hates greenies though and won't touch them thank goodness they are so expensive

I used to give her smoked beef bones from the pet shop but after two bouts of Colitis sp ? and being on rice and chicken for 10 days no more

[shihtzulover850]

Snuggles can't have any kind of bone because she gets mean when you try to take it away from here. She growls and snaps and threatens to bite.

[jackie]

My dogs get both rawhides and greenie. :)