My B almost died last night, and I didn't know what to do…..

[JazzysMom]

How scary for you! I'm glad it worked out okay.

It's hard to know what to give them to chew.
They can choke on pieces they break off of KONG's, nylabones, They can suffer real intestinal distress from swallowed pieces of stuffed animals, or even beds!
Rawhide is not alone. I've never had/seen a dog choke on rawhide, but I did have a friend many, many years ago who gave his dogs raw bones to chew, which are often mentioned as a safe alternative to rawhide, and his lab somehow managed to get a large piece of the bone lodged sideways in his throat.
He very rapidly developed a huge "bag of blood" under his jaw as the bone had punctured several veins. He required very expensive emergency surgery!

I DO give my dogs rawhide, I also give them raw bones, I give them bones stuffed with peanut butter or cheese, I give them all sorts of things but always with the awareness that they can choke on anything.

Step One is absolutely true, but must be nearly impossible when it's your puppy! Surely most of our first reaction will be EEEEKKKKK!!!!

[gbroxon]

Live and learn. Isn't that always the way?

Dogs can choke on just about anything, as can any other living, breathing thing. I personally have a paranoia about choking, as it's happened to both my husband (M&M) and me (water, believe it or not). I believe the heimlich manuever saved both our lives.

Here's something I have posted on my fridge:

http://members.aol.com/henryhbk/dogcpr.pdf

I haven't had to use it [yet, fingers crossed], but it makes me feel better that at least I have an instant reference.

Praise be that Mick came through it all right!

[mitt]

I have found that leg bones from a cow is best.These little buggers can chew[bite] through metal I know this first hand.The cow leg bone looks funny being chewed on by a micro sized B but they have a hard time knawing a piece of it off big enough to choke on.I recently had to retrieve a pork bone from my daughters dog[Stimpson] ya my fingers bled but I was able to help the little guy out. Glad to here all is well

[tanza]

@gbroxon:

Live and learn. Isn't that always the way?

Dogs can choke on just about anything, as can any other living, breathing thing. I personally have a paranoia about choking, as it's happened to both my husband (M&M) and me (water, believe it or not). I believe the heimlich manuever saved both our lives.

Here's something I have posted on my fridge:

http://members.aol.com/henryhbk/dogcpr.pdf

I haven't had to use it [yet, fingers crossed], but it makes me feel better that at least I have an instant reference.

Praise be that Mick came through it all right!

Thanks for posting this…. and we should all have this within easy reach....

[PhocoenaGirl]

Thanks for the CPR/Choking posting. I'm printing it ASAP. I love the folks on this forum for the helpful info they all have. I am glad that Mick is doing well now as well.

[wizard]

Me too - it's printing as I type.
Glad that Mick and you are okay now.
I used to give my previous beastie rawhides and then one time (actually I think this happened twice) some time after eating the thing he starts to caterwaul something awful – apparently the rawhide didn't go down his intestinal track properly and he was having trouble passing the piece. Oh the cry they make :eek:

[sharronhurlbut]

No rawhide in our house. I don't know why stores still sell them.
IMO, they are very bad news for dogs..

[tanza]

@sharronhurlbut:

No rawhide in our house. I don't know why stores still sell them.
IMO, they are very bad news for dogs..

I don't really agree with that…. this kind of thing can happen with anything... and while rawhide can be something that would cause this faster then maybe a different bone type thing... it happens... the thing is to make sure you are there at home when they are "chewing" ... and be available if there is a problem....

I can show people scars I have from my OJ when he had part of a bully stick caught... and I had to get it out.... lots of blood, screaming (from OJ)... and me after....

[sharronhurlbut]

I have just heard more horror stories re rawhide than other treats..so, for me, I make the choice not to run that risk.
Of course, we are all adults and do what we want re our dogs.
THIS is my opinion.
If your happy with this treat, by all means, give it to your dogs…
I don't.

[tanza]

@sharronhurlbut:

I have just heard more horror stories re rawhide than other treats..so, for me, I make the choice not to run that risk.
Of course, we are all adults and do what we want re our dogs.
THIS is my opinion.
If your happy with this treat, by all means, give it to your dogs…
I don't.

And I agree… but you can just blame "choking" on just rawhides...

[Alex]

We used to give flat rawhide to Chance and Kiya under supervision. I saw Chance choking a couple of times on it and we now only give them long pressed rawhide sticks. Once they are half done with them to the point where they could put them in their mouth we throw them away.

[sharronhurlbut]

I think with any type of this "treat" and if you have another dog in the house, the b's want to keep it all to them selves…little piggies...and I don't give them any type of long chew treat, unless I can keep an eye on them.
Myself, I like the marrow bones you get from the grocery store.
They make great chews, and I have yet to see a b try to choke on them.
There is something about rawhide that makes these dogs sick..be it the item or the way the dogs treat the item when they get it.
Same will billy sticks.
But I don't find this with the marrow bones...so that is my choice.

[JazzysMom]

@tanza:

And I agree… but you can just blame "choking" on just rawhides...

I agree. As far as chews of any kind go, it seems to be largely a crap shoot.

Like I said earlier, the worst choking/injury I've ever seen was from a raw bone, and I've never had a problem or known a dog to have a problem with the rawhide – though the horror stories abound.
Jazzy choked a bit on a hunk of a KONG that she tore off the top, so I don't give those any more.
Gypsy cut her gums badly on a raw bone - the edge got a little sharp. I do still give those, but I watch carefully to make sure the edge doesn't get at all jagged.

Like Sharron said, everyone just has to give what they choose and watch them regardless.

[tanza]

@Alex:

We used to give flat rawhide to Chance and Kiya under supervision. I saw Chance choking a couple of times on it and we now only give them long pressed rawhide sticks. Once they are half done with them to the point where they could put them in their mouth we throw them away.

Those are the kind I use too… I don't use the "flat" ones either... but I prefer the bully bones to rawhide mostly...

[lvoss]

Kongs come in 4 "strengths" of rubber. They have a soft rubber for teething puppies, the red "regular strength", the black "extreme strength", and they now have blue that is supposed to be for the strongest chewers and will also show up on an x-ray if the dog does manage to chew a chunk off. At the animal shelter we have been using the blue ones with our most aggressive chewers, the ones that were destroying everything we gave them, and have had very good results with the blue ones.

I don't like rawhide because I have also had a near choking incident because it swells and becomes so gummy. I like the bully sticks but have to watch because they will still sometimes attempt to swallow to large a piece, which has never caused a choking problem but does mean that 24-48 hours later they will be barfing it back up.

Sophie is my one dog who loves to chew but she will also just lay down with a Nylabone Galileo bone and chew. She is the only dog I have that likes Nylabones.

[pufferlover]

Thank you for the link. I'm so glad your dog is ok. I have given our a lot of rawhide over the years, and I guess he's been lucky!

[youngandtired]

My B has had times when I have had to pull a piece of rawhide out of her throat. I use to give her the triangle flat ones, not anymore. I now give her the rolled ones that are shown here by another poster. She has not had any problems with those, but I still watch her whenever he is chewing rawhide. I really don't like it but she is a chewer and bully sticks can do the same thing. She does get bully sticks as well but they are so expensive and she can chew them up in record time. I give her pigs ears now and then, watch, watch with those as well. And the scream when they are having trouble getting the rawhide down is so scary, I almost panic, but I know that I have to save my dog.

[Natalplum]

Well, this really wakes ya up when it happens. That night that he choked we threw out all bones. There was nothing we could do to prevent it except not give him the bone. He was sitting right next to me when he choked. It could have been part of his blanket or play toy, anything. I just know I'm completely paranoid now and I don't know what to give him to play with. The poor thing sat outside this morning on his lead with a bowl of water, no play toys, bones, or blankets. Will I get over this? When we leave for work and he goes in his crate is it ok to give him toys in there? Probably not right???? Oh my God am I losing it or what???? HELP!

[JazzysMom]

@lvoss:

Kongs come in 4 "strengths" of rubber. They have a soft rubber for teething puppies, the red "regular strength", the black "extreme strength", and they now have blue that is supposed to be for the strongest chewers and will also show up on an x-ray if the dog does manage to chew a chunk off. At the animal shelter we have been using the blue ones with our most aggressive chewers, the ones that were destroying everything we gave them, and have had very good results with the blue ones.

Jazz is not even my serious chewer, but it was a blue KONG that she got the chunk out of.

I just don't give them anything rubber any more.

She never had any interest in the nylabones; Keoki ate them, so I don't buy those for him any more either.

[JazzysMom]

@Natalplum:

Well, this really wakes ya up when it happens. That night that he choked we threw out all bones. There was nothing we could do to prevent it except not give him the bone. He was sitting right next to me when he choked. It could have been part of his blanket or play toy, anything. I just know I'm completely paranoid now and I don't know what to give him to play with. The poor thing sat outside this morning on his lead with a bowl of water, no play toys, bones, or blankets. Will I get over this? When we leave for work and he goes in his crate is it ok to give him toys in there? Probably not right???? Oh my God am I losing it or what???? HELP!

What IS safe to leave them crated with? THAT is the $64,000 question, isn't it?

I always left mine with stuffed animals – well, usually they were already de-stuffed by the dogs -- but realize there's a risk there also. I would also give them treats to consume, like Pedigree Dentastix or Jumbones and/or other brand of similar nature. They are to be eaten but take longer than just food and I don't see a real risk of choking.

I don't give them anything food-wise now because they are crated together and would probably kill each other, LOL. Just their beds, but they just sleep anyway.

You just have to determine what you think is safest and go with that. I imagine you will "get over" this, but you will always second guess yourself and always worry a bit.