Rawhide and chew toys???

[Jylly18]

Hi, I am pretty new to this board and am looking for suggestions. My husband and I adopted Toscsa, our first basenji and my first dog ever in February from an animal shelter. Its been quite a learning experience, and one thing I am still trying to figure out is what I can give her to chew. She loves to chew, although since we have gotten her she has done better with not chewing inappropriate things (when we first got her she chewed through our laptop cord!). I have heard how dangerous rawhide can be, and I was wondering, how many people give their dogs rawhide? Have you had any problems with it? Being a new dog owner, I was dumb and put it in the crate with her the first few days we had her (She is crated while we work during the day). Well, after learning about the choking hazards, we now only let her have it when we are around, thank goodness because she actually started choking once! Now I always take away any small pieces, and she is ok.
Anyway, what i was wondering is, what are everyone's experiences with rawhide, and does anyone know of any other long-lasting chewing things out there? She does have a kong ball, but has gotten very good about getting the treat out quickly, so it loses her attention fast. She also has a nyla bone, which she likes but only for short bursts of time.
Thanks for any help:)

[Vanessa]

Our pup loves pig ears but we have to keep a really close eye on him because when it gets to a small piece, he will try to swallow the whole thing and choke! I've also tried one of those bull sticks but they smell awful!
Petsmart carries generic pig ears which are pressed smoked bacon and shaped into a pig ear. They are not as hard and our little guy will eat one up in less than 10 min but the best part is that they break down so fast that I don't have to take it away from him when it gets too small.
I've tried nyla bones too but he only spends about 2 min on it and then moves on to the shoes, cords or cat
Try carrots. mine loves em!

[Jylly18]

Carrots? Thats interesting, it doesn't upset their stomachs? Do you give him the whole carrot at once?

[nomrbddgs]

They will chew the carrots,for some strange reason. If you've only tried hard treats in the kong try a little bit of peanut butter or cheese whiz. I also found some hard nylabone-like balls with nubbies on it. They're bacon flavoured and the B's love them.

Personally I don't use rawhide, I've known a few people whose dogs have had very unpleasant surgeries from ingesting rawhide.

[Quercus]

I use compressed rawhide…the kind that is rolled into flat sheets, and then cut and pressed back into shapes. And I remove it when the pieces get about 3 inches long. But I never use white or knotted rawhide. I have found that with the compressed rawhide, some of it comes apart very easily, and sometimes I will dump a whole bag of it in the trash, if it seems too ingestible. I also have one dog that will eat a whole 7 inch bone in an hour...that is just too much, so she only gets to chew on it for 20 minutes or so, then I take it away.

Everything has some risk..you just have to decide what you are comfortable with...

[tanza]

I use bully sticks… or compressed rawhide and like Andrea take it away when they get small... I really like the bully sticks best and they come in a lot of different sizes... here is one link but they are sold all over... many pet stores have them also... I use the longest ones I can find.. ggg
http://www.dogtreatwarehouse.com/bullsticks1.html

[Vanessa]

@tanza:

I use bully sticks… or compressed rawhide and like Andrea take it away when they get small... I really like the bully sticks best and they come in a lot of different sizes... here is one link but they are sold all over... many pet stores have them also... I use the longest ones I can find.. ggg
http://www.dogtreatwarehouse.com/bullsticks1.html

Pat,
Do you know of any bully sticks that don't have that god awful smell???? Man they makes my stomach turn for some reason.

[vstripe]

I give my dog a rawhide bone only about once every two weeks (I heard its tough on the stomach when given to often) and just toss it when the piece gets to small. I have never had a problem with rawhide and if you are really worried about choking on large sharp pieces then compressed rawhide is the way to go like Quercus said it just breaks apart in tiny pieces.
Also alote of the large pet retailers sell hollow natural bones that I use to stuff with some natural organic peanut butter and small treats. My boy is a big fan

[luzmery928]

I started using the rawhide against the petstore rep's advise and unfortunantly my B loves them. I say unfortunantly because he does vomit every once in a while and I think it's due to the rawhide. I tried the nylone bones but he won't look at them. I've decided to just give give the rawhide when I need to distract him. So he will only get it as a special treat. Does anyone know what the ingredients to the other stuff is as far as vegtables or if it contains soy , etc. My b is allergic to so much stuff (just found out).

[tanza]

Nope Vanessa… they all have that smell... LOL... but then I find the smell of the compressed rawhide worse then the bully sticks... and for those of you out there that have ever used the cow hoofs... talk about smell!!!!

[lowendfrequency]

I use pig ears but I cut them into thin strips. Another good option is the puppy-pops (I think thats what they call them?). It's essentially a rawhide product, but the rawhide is shredded, mixed with flavoring and then reformed into a shape… usually like a lolipop. I don't use the bully sticks. Call me a homophobe but I don't like the idea of my dog chewing on a bull penis.

[tanza]

@lowendfrequency:

Call me a homophobe but I don't like the idea of my dog chewing on a bull penis.

LOL….. well it is natural.....

[dash]

Dash only likes things he can absolutely destroy. Although he is getting better. I have several toys down all the time including rawhides and some pig ear thing. I think an advantage to haveing them down all the time is they are not that special and they don't chew on them for very long. Just getting them to that point may be a chore.

[Basenji_Boy]

We use hooves…......long lasting.

[JazzysMom]

Hooves last a while, but only hold my dogs attention for a few minutes every few days. And they do STINK.

They LOVE cow knee-caps, and some of those last for weeks, but after the "goodies" are all chewed off the dogs' interest is only sporadic.

I get beef tendons from my vet, and those are highly prized and last for several minutes.

I also give rawhide – both compressed and not. I've never had a problem with either and it lasts longer than everything except the knee-caps -- which I seem to only find at the 3-C's booth at shows.

I used to give pig ears, but they only lasted a moment with Jazz, and gave her such gosh-awful gas; it could clear the room. I also tried the pig ear strips -- thinking the gas may not be as bad if the quantity was smaller, but I was wrong. So, no more pig products for my dogs!

None of my dogs will chew nylabones, greenies, dental chews or any other "artificial" bones like that, no matter how the product is scented or flavored. Those just lie around on the floor, despite my best efforts to interest them, until I get tired of stepping on them and toss 'em. Every once in a while I'll buy a couple, just to try, but it's been two years and I have yet to see any of them chew one.

[Basenji_Boy]

@JazzysMom:

Hooves last a while, but only hold my dogs attention for a few minutes every few days. And they do STINK.

They do stink, that's a fact. Our's only get such items in the crates or outside, so they can have the stink all to themselves.:D

[tanza]

Hoofs can also cause slab fractures of the teeth, so be careful… and there is nothing worse then getting up in the middle of the night and stepping on a well chewed hoof.... NOT

[Basenji_Boy]

@tanza:

Hoofs can also cause slab fractures of the teeth, so be careful… and there is nothing worse then getting up in the middle of the night and stepping on a well chewed hoof.... NOT

I've stepped on one of those and danced around a little.:eek: