Dog Greenies and Rawhide

**finn's mom** · 05-17-2006, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by ashleycat

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** · 05-17-2006, 03:53 PM

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

**JenBKR** · 05-17-2006, 03:54 PM

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** · 05-17-2006, 04:03 PM

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** · 05-17-2006, 04:06 PM

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** · 05-17-2006, 04:15 PM

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

**Crazy-Cat-Lover** · 05-17-2006, 04:16 PM

Bailey gets raw buffalo and beef bones to chew on.

**bckrazy** · 05-18-2006, 01:25 AM

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** · 05-18-2006, 02:15 AM

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** · 05-18-2006, 09:26 AM

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.

**shihtzulover850** · 05-18-2006, 10:02 AM

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

**Tollers-n-Dobes** · 05-18-2006, 06:45 PM

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.