Are rawhides bad? What safe bones and chews can I give my dog?

I do not recommend giving rawhides to dogs at all. In my opinion, they are not safe at all due the risk of GI obstruction. If your dog got a GI obstruction from one, surgery would have to be done to remove it. I know colleagues who have had to perform surgery on dogs who've gotten obstructions from rawhides, and many of them do not recommend them for this reason. I would not recommend giving them to your dog.

I never recommend antlers because they do break teeth, and rawhides pose a chocking and intestinal blockage risk. Bully sticks are fine as long as you watch your dog when he eats it, and the Nylabone Petsafe Wood Chew is fine too. I hope this helps!

I would recommend the Virbac dental chews and/or the dental diet Hills T/D bites, which work phenomenally well. The T/D diet is prescription so ask your vet to give you a card if you’re interested. I have never heard of freezing bones to kill bacteria. I wouldn’t advise that since these raw hides are meant to be consumed as is, and whatever enzymes are present on the bones is meant to be there to break down soft plaque, and shouldn’t be altered. Best wishes with your pet Otis and I hope he likes his new dental chews and/or dental diet. Take care!

Daisy is super cute! The decision to give a dog rawhide is always a tricky one. Some dogs never have any problems with rawhide while others get bad stomach upset from them. Some dogs can even swallow a piece that's too big and end up with an intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstructions are serious and require surgery to correct. I'd monitor Daisy to make sure she doesn't bite off a large piece of rawhide and swallow it as this would make her prone to intestinal obstruction. Remove the rawhide when it gets small as she may swallow it. I'd also watch to make sure she doesn't develop any vomiting or diarrhea. If you see this she should be examined by a veterinarian and rawhide should no longer be given If you want to err on the side of caution then I wouldn't give Daisy rawhide in the future. A Kong or another type of safe chew toy may be a better option for her. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and good luck with Daisy!

If he chewed them well then there is a good chance he won't get a blockage. Especially if the rawhides were labeled as easily digestible. Try offering him 1 slice of bread and a soft canned food diet for the next couple of days. Offer him plenty of water and take him on 20-30 minute brisk walks twice a day to encourage GI motility and the passage of the raw hides. Then monitor Chopper for the next 24-72 hrs for any signs of blockage which includes: excessive vomiting (even water), lack of appetite, few feces, and abdominal pain. Best case scenario is that he will just have an upset stomach (mild vomiting and/or diarrhea) that will improve with a bland diet (boiled plain chicken and rice or cottage cheese) after a few days time.

You are absolutely correct you should never give dogs cooked bones. That's because they easily splinter in the GI tract, causing perforation and obstruction. I never recommend raw bones either. I've seen too many teeth broken from dogs chewing on them, and they can cause obstruction as well. I hope this helps!

Great question! I personally recommend Hill's Prescription Diet Dental Care Chews. They are good for dogs to chew on, and have the added benefit of being beneficial to Charlie's teeth. I would also have his mouth examined by a vet. His teeth shouldn't fall out from chewing on a rawhide (it can happen but not commonly), and it could be he has severe dental disease causing his teeth to be looser than normal. He may benefit from a dental cleaning, scaling, and polishing, which the vet can preform. You can also get those dental chews from the vet's office. I would take him into the vet this week. Good luck, I hope this helps!