Are rawhide bones good or bad?

Question

If bad, what is a good alternative?

Answer 1

Depends on your dog. I have a small Boston Terrier that loves raw hides and can handle them, but my Boston Terrier mix cannot. She regurgitates it all over my house...
There are many alternatives including hooves, pigs ears and fake pigs ears. Check with your local pet store.

Answer 2

Most dogs love them. I allow them to my pit bulls, because pits have a desire, along with most other dogs, to chew as excersize for their jaw muscles, and if you don't provide chew toys, your furniture will come under attack! I have heard that some dogs can be harmed by fragments in their digestive tracts, but have NEVER seen this. I also give my dogs real bones from the butcher with the marrow inside, but these have a danger of splintering, so you should supervise this play, and remove any broken pieces as your dog is chewing. Boil the bone until the marrow turns brown, and let your dog lick and suck it out-super healthy, and it's like a buck for a couple pounds of bones. Dogs chew a lot worse than rawhide, and their systems are designed to break it down. However, if you are concerned, or you have a toy breed (i only deal with pit bulls, a sturdy working breed), then you can look in the pet section of your store and buy Dentabones, or one of the other rawhide substitutes. Lotsa hype about dogs today, but I always lean towards this: What is in the dog's nature to do? What do they do in the wild? Bone chewing provides lots of pleasure, excersize for jaws and upper body, and mental stimulation.

Answer 3

The issue is that dogs are poor generalizers - it's not that the dog is "sneaky, greedy" etc, but that they have no intrinsic sense of morality or "rightness" and so only think something is "bad" if it has bad consequences. If it has never had bad consequences except with a human in the room, then how on earth are they to know that the rules still apply with the human out of the room? You need to train in such a way that corrections and rewards occur when the dog does not think you are present - i.e. hiding around the corner. Read here https://tr.im/zLXs2

I personally owned a Labrador Retriever (read: chow hound) that could be left 6" from a hot dog in a sit-stay for half an hour and not touch it - the word was "mine" and it meant that you don't touch that, even if I am not in the room, even if whatever, you DO NOT touch that. You could leave a plate of food on the floor for hours and not only would she not touch it, she would also keep the other animals (dogs and cats) from touching it.

In all probability, these dogs studied were just not properly trained/proofed before the experiment. With "proofing" to set them up and catch them in the act to give

Answer 4

IMO, based on experience with different animals I have fostered or owned, I believe they are very bad. Many are preserved with things like formaldehyde. Dogs that tend to chew on them and take their time do better with them. Dogs that gulp and chew off and swallow big pieces often get some serious repercussions from it. Many of these are also bacteria laden garbage.
I had a dog that went through two bouts of pancreatitis and we had to drastically change her diet eliminating any and all rawhides (from all our dogs now) and any edible nylabones or other edible bones similar to that. She can chew on Nylabones that are large and inedible.
We also give her a busy bone about once every two weeks. Other than that, she gets hard healthy biscuits like Old Mother Hubbard or Bark Bars.
You can also get doggie toothpaste at a pet store or at your Vet and get a tooth brush or these finger brushes that are disposable and brush your dogs teeth.
Rawhides are often disasterous.

Answer 5

At my clinic we call them a vets best friend......we have in the past couple of months had to do 5 exploratories on dogs due to the rawhides, they get stuck in the intestinal track sometimes
petsmart sells bones that have been totally sanitized they're great. they can chew on them for hours.
Good Luck!!!!

Answer 6

it depends on the person as well as the dog. some dogs just grab huge pieces and swallow them other dogs take their time and chew it slowly but it really depends more on the person. if u give a dog a rawhide unsupervised u r bound to have problems but if u watch the dog to make sure he isnt taking huge pieces off and eating them, then he should be fine

Answer 7

My dogs (lab/shepherd mix and lab mix) have never had a problem with them. I don't give them rawhides all the time; usually a small piece once a month.

Answer 8

Well, for some dogs they're okay but some are horrible.
Bad: One of our dogs almost choked to death on one.
Good: Some dogs are okay with them like our present one. And they just know how to chew on one safely.
An alternative could be a chew toy like a tug-o-war rope or some that is not edible.
I hope that helps.

Answer 9

i give my dogs raw hides all the time. just watch that they don't eat them whole or they will choke or get really bound up from them.. i give the little pup a small piece and the 2 large dogs the skinny dental chews when i go out, they enjoy them and their teeth are very strong and clean from the chewing. as a treat or once a week to start and then you will know it they agree with your dog. you can also buy the twisted cord rope and dental sticks that are softer .

Answer 10

i have a black lab and when we get them for her she gets dihrea. it depends on what kind of dog you have. The best kind of bones for dogs are bone marrows. you can get them in a store like big y or big es or a grocey store in the meat section. All dogs seam to love them all you have to do is boil them. and they can lasts for a long time