I've been researching issues with rawhide chews and if they are bad or even dangerous for dogs, possibly causing intestinal blockage. I've always given my dogs rawhide chews in various forms (Daisy and Murphy seem to really like the Dingos), and it's never resulted in a health complication.
On "teh Intrenets", I've found lots of information that supports both sides of the debate, but the one thing they do seem to agree upon are that they are bad for dogs that may have alergic reactions to beef (duh), or if the breed is prone to try swallowing things whole (Bull Terriers were mentioned as having this behavior). But I wasn't able to turn up any information that was specific to RTs.
So I spoke with my vet this morning. He thinks they are fine for small terriers. He said to watch the dog with the rawhide, and make sure that they don't try to swallow any part of it before it's softened up from chewing, as it might hurt their throats when they swallow it. The rawhide DOES get digested, and there are dental benefits from all of the chewing as well. He did recommend using "compressed rawhide" chews, and said don't buy anything that looks greasy in the packaging and to go with brands you trust. I asked about Dingos and he said they are fine.
A concern I have is that we have two dogs, and they compete for treats and will try to steal from eachother and they both get pretty aggressive, though Daisy is alpha and Murphy will usually lose. This situation causes them to hurry up and try to eat the treat or rawhide quickly, before the other dog takes it away, and I can certainly see this as a dangerous situation. We seperate the dogs when we give them dingos to avoid this.
I suppose anything a dog puts in his/her mouth has the potential to choke them, but I am going to cautiously continue with the Dingos for now, anyway. |