Bones & Rawhides

This comes down to your own comfort zone for risk. We advise never feeding your dog chicken, lamb, pork, or any other kinds of bones that splinter or are small enough to become lodged in your dog's mouth. Beef "knuckle" bones that the butcher gives you have bits of meat on them and dogs spend all their time getting this meat off. To be on the safe side, freeze the bones first and throw the bones away after several hours. (You don't want them to get rancid.)

As to rawhide, we sometimes give our dogs rawhide, but we watch them carefully and take away any small bits that the dog chews off. Your dog may never have a problem from eating rawhide. But we are aware of a number of dogs getting stomach obstructions because they swallow large bits of rawhide that then block their intestines. (Rawhide is not digested, but rather passes through the dog's intestines.) There is also a risk of constipation, intestinal blockage and esophageal puncture.

Either of these items can be risky for dogs. If you provide close supervision and only the occasional treat, you might be able to give your dog these items. It all depends on how much risk you are willing to take with your dog.

The item we recommend for both safety and convenience is a hard rubber toy called a Kong. Stuffing a Kong with treats or dog food will give your pet hours of safe chewing and fun. But remember even these can have small pieces torn off.

Bottom line is, nothing is 100 percent safe. So watch whatever your dog is chewing and remove it if they start tearing it up!

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