Dogs and rawhide chew sticks

[christineann]

Please watch your dogs when they are eating rawhide chew sticks. My two are obsessed with the pencil thin chew sticks (not the crunchy ones). I heard one of my dogs licking his lips a lot after eating one, and I checked his mouth and found it full of blood. My initial fear was that he had internal bleeding, and then I remembered he had eaten a chew stick earlier. Fortunately, he was breathing okay. I called an emergency clinic and took him in immediately.

Four hours later, we are home. He had a severe cut on the underside of his tongue that had to be stitched under general anesthesia. I have never given my dogs chew sticks and left them alone just in case one choked (and these are not small dogs). Overprotective? I guess not.

This was a freak accident, and it could have ended much worse than this.

Poor fellow

 

[hereyago]

Hope your pup recovers fast.

 

[christineann]

Thanks, hereyago

 

[mamamary]

Hope your baby is feeling better.

 

[pumba]

I am glad that you were cautious ..
We "USED" to give rawhides, as they always were advertised as cleaning the dogs teeth as they chewed...
We had a few episodes of them choking and getting it stuck in their throats...one time on the phone with our vet...he said open the mouth and see if you can see it...My husband reached in and pulled it out...
SO NO MORE ..

Then we started to give our dalmatian a milkbone in place of the treat at night ...and THEN our vet said...that is the equivalent of a big candy bar to us...SOOOO we now just give her a hand full of her dog food and throw it up in the air all over the living room floor and hide some in different places..YES WE ARE NUTS...but it gives her a sense of having her treat and the fun of seeking it out..
and we are over protective of our pets

 

[clutter]

Years ago, a co-worker's lab puppy died after chewing one of those pencil shaped ones. It was so sad.

 

[BunsenH]

We let our meduim sized dog chew the larger, rolled (American made) rawhides. But only for a set amount of time as he would devour 4-5" if left unattended. (That's when he's not carring it around looking for a hiding spot.)

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Please watch your dogs when they are eating rawhide chew sticks. My two are obsessed with the pencil thin chew sticks (not the crunchy ones). I heard one of my dogs licking his lips a lot after eating one, and I checked his mouth and found it full of blood. My initial fear was that he had internal bleeding, and then I remembered he had eaten a chew stick earlier. Fortunately, he was breathing okay. I called an emergency clinic and took him in immediately.

Four hours later, we are home. He had a severe cut on the underside of his tongue that had to be stitched under general anesthesia. I have never given my dogs chew sticks and left them alone just in case one choked (and these are not small dogs). Overprotective? I guess not.

This was a freak accident, and it could have ended much worse than this.

Poor fellow

If he likes the thinner chews, what about the ones that are pressed rawhide. The crumbly ones...Not the rolls?

 

[onelilspark]

We give ours Bully Sticks. He's a chewer, so we need to give him something or he'll start chewing things he's not supposed to.

The Bully Sticks are thicker and not quite as sharp. We'll let him chew for 15-30 minutes and then take it away from him. He's all of 13 pounds, we got him a 36" one and it's his favorite thing EVER

 

[luvwinnie]

I've heard too many horror stories about rawhide. I wish they would stop selling them. Glad your doggy is ok. May i suggest elk/deer antlers as an alternative? They are completely natural and do not splinter. Of course, no chew should be given unsupervised, but we're a lot more comfortable with these.

 

[ccgirl]

Please watch your dogs when they are eating rawhide chew sticks. My two are obsessed with the pencil thin chew sticks (not the crunchy ones). I heard one of my dogs licking his lips a lot after eating one, and I checked his mouth and found it full of blood. My initial fear was that he had internal bleeding, and then I remembered he had eaten a chew stick earlier. Fortunately, he was breathing okay. I called an emergency clinic and took him in immediately.

Four hours later, we are home. He had a severe cut on the underside of his tongue that had to be stitched under general anesthesia. I have never given my dogs chew sticks and left them alone just in case one choked (and these are not small dogs). Overprotective? I guess not.

This was a freak accident, and it could have ended much worse than this.

Poor fellow

Glad to hear the dog is better. Our vet does not recommend them at all. They are bad for their intestines as well. For treats, my dog gets carrots. He loves them.

 

[piglet too]

I second the elk/deer antlers as a great alternative. Due to issues with childhood dogs, we won't give our lab rawhides. She loves her deer antler though, chews on it all the time. The first one lasted over 6 months, we got one that lasted just 2 months, and the current one has been close to a year now.

 

[Feralpeg]

My golden retriever choked on a rawhide. It scared me so bad. No rawhides will ever be used in this house again!

 

[BunsenH]

Glad to hear the dog is better. Our vet does not recommend them at all. They are bad for their intestines as well. For treats, my dog gets carrots. He loves them.

Our dog loves carrots.

They are healthy and make his poop stand out among the crowd.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

My golden retriever choked on a rawhide. It scared me so bad. No rawhides will ever be used in this house again!

Same here.
DH could feel it in her throat but it was too slimey to grab and pull out, so DH had to Heimlich her and it popped right out!
NEVER again!

 

[SandrA9810]

My dog just thought I was crazy if I tossed just any dog "treat" in front of her. There were only a select few Merrick treats she would eat, mostly the jerky stuff.

There's too many bad stories with traditional "treats" that have been given to dogs for ages.

 

[Dax]

Almost lost my 15lb pug to rawhide...It is banned in my house....

 

[marie1203]

I never give any rawhide to our dogs. No matter the shape or size.

 

[ccgirl]

Our dog loves carrots.

They are healthy and make his poop stand out among the crowd.

Ha. And, it helps clean the teeth too!

 

[ilovejack02]

The rescue I foster for just lost a big boxer mix due to a well meaning but uniformed person giving dog a rawhide before dog was surrendered to us. He swallowed half of it whole and it caused intestinal blockage . while in surgery to remove , he died on table. : (

NO RAWHIDE EVER IN MY HOME !!