First off, I know that rawhides come with certain risks which is why some people choose not to give them to their dogs at all, but many people and pets do just fine when rawhides are given under supervision. Having said that, I always let Finn chew a rawhide while I'm home for my lunch break. I let him chew half of a new one then take it away and the next day he can chew the remaining half down to about 2 inches and I take it and throw it away. Never had a problem with this.

Today, however, I messed up big time. We were going through our normal lunch routine when my brother called me and I got distracted. When I hung up the phone I looked at Finn and he was just sitting there licking his lips. I looked all over hoping he had dropped the rawhide but no such luck; he ate the whole thing. I know he chews off small pieces but I'm concerned about the fact that he ate the entire rawhide (it was a fresh one, not a half of one) and he even at the last couple inches which I don't allow because I don't know how long he will chew it before just swallowing it.

Many months ago my husband had given him one of these in his crate not knowing he would eat the whole thing (it was the first time we gave him these) and during the night he got sick and had uncontrollable diarrhea in his crate and was ill several hours after. This is what made us realize was a strong chewer and needed to be watched if he's going to have them. I also wanted to get larger ones because we have tried them and he has a harder time chewing them but having just bought this bag, we were trying to use them up first. It's been working great until I screwed up today! I feel awful because I really don't want him to get sick or end up with an obstruction. Is there anything I can/should do or is it one of those wait and see situations? I really hope he passes it ok. I can't believe I did that!

The one he ate was like this:
http://www.amazon.com/PETCO-Natural-Retriever-Rawhide-Chews/dp/B001...
they're about 8" long and rolled to the width of a penny.