Rawhide - good or bad idea for 10 pounds dogs

About six weeks ago I got my first dog - a maltese terrier mix and
weighs 10 pounds. She is a year and a half old and I got her from the
humane society.

Is rawhide good? I have heard conflicting things. I have stopped giving

Lynne...

I used to give my Shelties sticks of compressed rawhide, which were
basically small particles of rawhide formed into a stick. They devoured
them quickly, but they were safe and my dogs really enjoyed them.

Has anyone tried Bully (muscle) Sticks with their dogs? Thoughts on these?

Suja...

*snort* Why yes, I am easily amused.

Suja...

Pretty slimy and stinky. The foot long one I got my guys (braided) lasted a
few milliseconds. And they aren't even aggressive chewers. I am told I
really should be getting the 3' ones; I've seen them on ebay and been
tempted.

them to her when she ate a thin strip in 30 minutes.

She has had three rawhides.

I had bought her a bag of those thin strips of rawhide.

the.longest.username.available...

They can be good or they can be bad, generally it depends on the dog.
As with any treat or chew, there are safety issues that need to be
considered.

The main problem I have had with raw hide, and why I do not use it
often, is that most dogs I have given them to in my experience like to
tear off and swallow large strips of the rawhide. Having one dog choke
on one is pretty scarry(having a dog choke on anything for that
matter). My current dog typically doesn't do this though, so I did buy
him a giant rawhide christmas bone... mainly for the photo opportunity.

Another problem with rawhide is that it expands quite a bit when it is
rehydrated. The result is that your dog may eat a decent amount of the
rawhide before expansion and end up with a bloated stomach when it
expands. This is why I do not currently give rawhide treats very
often, and when I do I closely monitor their rate of consumption so the
dogs do not eat too much.

Another concern to take into consideration is rawhides typically have
preservatives in them that some dogs have problems with. One of my
previous cairn terriers was very allergic to most of the artificial
preservatives used in dog foods and treats so he couldn't have rawhide
for that reason.

pfoley...

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I bet your dog is cute.
I have a large size dog. My dog loves the rawhide strips. I get them at
Petco. I only buy the rawhide strips that around 1" X 5" in size and kind
of thick. I don't like to give her the rawhide that are the size of a
pencil or the pig ears. I am afraid of her choking on them. If this is
your concern, you could remove the rawhide when it gets too small and toss
it out, so your dog doesn't choke. I have not had any problem with choking
on the size that I now buy.