I have heard different people saying that it is okay to treat your dogs with rawhide, some say that it will swell and expand in the stomach and cause our dogs to have upset stomach. What is your take?

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Kiki eats A LOT of rawhide. She always has a chew-stick or chip of rawhide to eat at her leisure, and she doesn't over stuff herself. The doctors have given her x-rays and let us know that it is ok for the dog to have the rawhide, so long as it does not seem to cause any problems.

Kiki has thrown up after eating to much rawhide though, coming out in a foam...

If your dogs have never had rawhide, I recommend it for keeping them from chewing up stuff, if you have that problem, or simply treating them. Take it slow thought. :)
I have been giving my dogs rawhides since they were puppies and they've never had a problem. I think the thing is to give in moderation. With too many rawhides i've heard that it can block things inside the dog. But every once in awhile seems fine.
No rawhides in our house. It's just a personal thing for me. I think they're disgusting..lol.
When she was very small I made her toys out of really durable fabric. I tie strips of the fabric into knots over and over until i get to the end of the strip. These have been her main chew toys and she has NEVER chewed on anything else...except for a few store bought toys. I still do this for her and she seems quite satisfied with them.
We're big on pig ears and little chew sticks or the big with the sausage flavor stuff in em. but so far thats it. We allow her to have two chews hanging around the house (since she has a couple of toys they last a while). When she completely finishes one of the chews she gets the next one in rotation, if she doesn't finish it, she doesn't get a new one lol.

well ok.. if a piece is hanging around the size of your thumb and its old and gross then yes.. we just throw that away lol.
Rawhides really only get disgusting when you buy them in those long bones that are knotted at the end, or any other way where the rawhide unwinds into this nasty, wet sheet of skin!

But, the dogs love them, and if you get them in the form of tightly wound sticks, they don't unwind or leave nasty sticky bits all around. They just kinda get smaller and smaller until they disappear! :)

Also, having rawhide in a sheet form means the dog can take in a piece too large for the dog's stomach, causing digestive problems! So, the sticks are the best bet for rawhide. :)
No rawhide! It's more of a safety issue for us.

Bryson had an incident where one of the rawhide bone he was chewing on splintered, and one of the sharp fragments got lodged in his upper palate and got miserably infected... The whole right side of his face swelled up, his nose ran like a faucet and his right eye started to protrude. It was so painful all he could do was cower in a corner and tremble... it was hard to watch.

The vet said this is called retrobulbar abscess, when an infection in the mouth caused by a puncture track up the nasal passage to just behind the eye. A very hefty bill and a course of antibiotic later, he's completely recovered fortunately.

Maybe it's the specific brand of hide we used (can't remember the name, got it from Pet Club, sorry this isn't very useful), but I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy. Needless to say, no more raw hide anything in our household ever since then!
I never give my corgi rawhide. I stick with roasted or smoked pig's ears, cow hooves and pigskin treats. Pigskin are like rawhide, but not as compressed and usually just roasted or smoked, rather than treated with heat and chemicals to make them hard and dry, so they don't cause as many problems by swelling up in the dog's stomach as rawhide, but it tends to be more expensive because it can't be mass-produced in as much quantity as rawhide and is harder to find.

Spider's stomach can be a little sensitive, so I don't take any chances with something that could cause him to get sick or other, more serious digestive trouble.
Our vet says that if the dog chews the rawhide until it's soft and then bites off tiny pieces, he can have rawhides (as long as he's monitored). But if he chews off big chunks, he shouldn't have rawhides.

For a long time, I didn't like rawhides, but I recently tried giving Scout a rolled rawhide stick. He doesn't eat it too fast. He chews it until it's soft and then chews off teeny, tiny bits. Now he has rolled pigskin sticks instead because he likes it better.

But I can see what everyone means when they say they don't like to give their dogs rawhides. It's something that should be done carefully in case the dog bites off big pieces or eats too much too fast.
rufus loves rawhides and i don't mind giving them to him. he has a sensitive tummy and rawhides are some of the only edible chew toys he can take. i am careful to get the ones with the least amount of preservatives. but seriously, he goes through three big ones a week.

i have been told on more than one occasion on this site that rawhides are really bad for dogs and that you should never give them rawhides to chew. rufus really likes them and the vet said it's ok as long as he's not taking off big chunks. he only gnaws.

besides, i am glad it's the rawhides and not my carpet or furniture. i think that taking the rawhides out of rufus' life would diminish his quality of life incredibly. he loves them that much.
Oh my gosh, we can't live without rawhide chews!
Buckley is a chewing fiend! If he does not have a rawhide chew, then he will turn his jaws of steel and superdog teeth onto other more vulnerable objects....remote controls, shoes, cushions, kitty litter scoop, towels...basically anything this innovative and determined pooch can get his paws on. Besides, he LOVES them! He will carry it around the house, sleep with them between his paws, and bring it out into the yard with him. Not only do they save our possessions, Buckley enjoys them immensely...we buy the HUGE ones, and the pet store people are always shocked that we have a corgi and not a much bigger dog! He's never once had an issue with the rawhide, although we do stay away from flavoured varieties.
I've heard bad things about rawhide but haven't had too many negative experiences with it. Winston has thrown up once or twice from having too much but he seemed fine otherwise. I usually try to limit the rawhide, sometimes he has a big one chillin' around and he'll chew it on and off.

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