My puppy is teething. Is rawhide safe or are there better chews?

Poor puppy! Soak a wash cloth in cold water and freeze it. Then give it to him, but make sure to watch him closely the whole time. There are also toys you can get from the pet store that can be frozen and then given to him to help with teeth pain. Do NOT give him any human pain medications, many are toxic to puppies and can be fatal if given. Speak to his vet about prescribing him safe pain medications. I hope this helps!

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!

Teething time in puppies can be difficult! While you can play with Chloe with plush toys, I would only do so supervised as she may be able to rip open a seam and eat the stuffing/squeaker. Rubber toys are great when teething, and filling the inside of a rubber toy with peanut butter (regular peanut butter, not one with artificial sugars that may be toxic) and putting it in the freezer can be a great option for the need to chew! If Chloe likes ice, you can also mix water and low sodium chicken broth together to make chicken flavored ice cubes for her to chew on.

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!

That looks like a rawhide type which is soft enough for puppies when supervised and removed before they become small enough to try and swallow. It is important to avoid over hard toys such as real bones, antlers, nylabone while he still has baby teeth

No, not really things you should avoid but there are things you can give to help make the process easier for her. This is a link to a good article about teething: http://www.akc.org/content/dog-care/articles/puppy-teething-and-nipping/ Hope this helps. If you have more questions after reading this feel free to post again. Best wishes.

This is indeed a true fact. Some raw hides have more of a tendency to cause intestinal blockages. A quick google search can help identify which ones to stay away from as you have already done. I would recommend the ones from your vet which are usually easily digestible. I really like the Virbac or CET dental chews personally and have never seen an issue with blockages from these. I hope this helps! Take care.