Author Topic: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!  (Read 4200 times)

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Offline Leo0106

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Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« on: September 07, 2017, 11:28:26 AM »
Hi all,
I am currently having a battle with myself.. and I hope you can help
Recently I posted in the behaviour and training session about the issues I have with my 10 month old spaniel. (See adolescence or aggression?)
As you will see in the post, my main cause for concern was Leo's attention seeking behaviour, I work from home and as I result I have bred a spaniel that has no idea how to occupy himself for any length of time. Leading to trouble behaviours such as biting.
I've been doing A LOT of work on teaching him to settle when we are about, I've began putting him down for sleeps when he is overtired etc and all is going beautifully so far. However, one way that I have found really helps him learn to chill in the lounge with us is by giving him rawhide.
I have never given him one in the past because I have heard bad things about choking etc and therefore have been extremely careful with introducing them to him. But my concern is.. are they ok?!?! I can't seem to find anything  else that occupies him for any length of time, he defeats frozen kongs, smart bones, bully sticks etc within a matter of minutes... trust me I've tried a lot. But are raw hides safe?
I make sure he never has a rawhide unsupervised, if he ever takes of a large chunk, I take it away and I ensure he has plenty of water available when he has one.
I'm lucky in that he takes a lot of care over chewing it, he has never taken off more than he can chew at once and just seems to love knawing it to death!
I just can't help be worried about the horror stories you read.

Many thanks  from an overworried, overcautious first time doggy mummy!

Offline ips

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2017, 12:07:07 PM »
Hi all,
I am currently having a battle with myself.. and I hope you can help
Recently I posted in the behaviour and training session about the issues I have with my 10 month old spaniel. (See adolescence or aggression?)
As you will see in the post, my main cause for concern was Leo's attention seeking behaviour, I work from home and as I result I have bred a spaniel that has no idea how to occupy himself for any length of time. Leading to trouble behaviours such as biting.
I've been doing A LOT of work on teaching him to settle when we are about, I've began putting him down for sleeps when he is overtired etc and all is going beautifully so far. However, one way that I have found really helps him learn to chill in the lounge with us is by giving him rawhide.
I have never given him one in the past because I have heard bad things about choking etc and therefore have been extremely careful with introducing them to him. But my concern is.. are they ok?!?! I can't seem to find anything  else that occupies him for any length of time, he defeats frozen kongs, smart bones, bully sticks etc within a matter of minutes... trust me I've tried a lot. But are raw hides safe?
I make sure he never has a rawhide unsupervised, if he ever takes of a large chunk, I take it away and I ensure he has plenty of water available when he has one.
I'm lucky in that he takes a lot of care over chewing it, he has never taken off more than he can chew at once and just seems to love knawing it to death!
I just can't help be worried about the horror stories you read.

Many thanks  from an overworried, overcautious first time doggy mummy!

Eze used to like a chew on a hide strip but she soon bored with them. They were ok until they were chewed down to half the size then I took it off her and replaced with a new one due to the choke issue.
Muddling along in the hope that one day it all makes sense.

Offline Emilyoliver

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2017, 01:26:46 PM »
Am not a big fan of rawhide either and giving it regularly may not be the best idea.  Have you tried cow hooves?  They last ages, and I sometimes stuff them with the harringtons food that comes in trays.  They can smell a bit grim at first, but that wears off.  My dogs love them and they keep them busy if they want to chew something.  I'd be a bit careful about always offering him something to keep him quiet as that may become as much of a habit as his attention seeking.
Michelle, Emily and Ollie

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #3 on: September 07, 2017, 02:03:10 PM »
The last point is a good one. The fact that you're at home all day does probably contribute to him not settling down by himself. We're both retired so that we were in the same situation and at first, I found myself stroking and fussing over Humphrey at every opportunity and he started to become very demanding. I now try to carry on as if he wasn't there for a lot of the day, I don't totally ignore him but I move around, go into the garden or upstairs (where he's not allowed), or  around to the neighbour's without talking to him or making eye contact, infact any departures/arrivals are kept pretty low key.  Then we have "Humphrey" times and he gets my full attention, walking, playing, training etc, but when that's over he's quite happy to just go and lie down. He gets a chew now and again, - maybe once of twice a week, usually dried tripe, hooves, ears or similar but I agree that that they need to get used to not being amused all the time.
And don't worry, - there's nothing abnormal about being over anxious or worrying, we've all gone through that (and at 65, after having brought up two kids and two previous dogs, I was the world's worst, believe me!! ;))
Best of luck!!

Offline Londongirl

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2017, 02:10:26 PM »
I'd add that this was the age I found Henry most demanding, and it was enormously frustrating. I think his age has something to do with it. All the work you put in now to helping him to settle himself will pay dividends when he gets through this adolescent phase. Henry is currently fast asleep on his 'day bed' as I type. At 10-12 months old, I thought that would never happen. I found chews absolutely invaluable at this age for settling him, and it didn't develop into a learned behaviour where he now expects a chew if I want him to settle. Henry loved rawhide but I switched to bully sticks when I heard about potential problems with the rawhide. He's not at all interested in hooves, ears or other off-cuts! Maybe keep experimenting with natural chews until you find the right one for him.

I do find that leaving him to his own devices has helped him learn to settle himself - and by leaving, I mean actually removing myself from the room. If I go upstairs (where he's not allowed) he now knows that nothing interesting will be happening for a while and will go lie down somewhere to snooze.
Rachael (me) and Henry (him)


Offline Leo0106

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2017, 02:20:04 PM »
Thanks all, Yes I'm still having a good search around to find something that lasts just as long but will be better for him... currently have a smartbone in the freezer haha.
I do feel we are coming on leaps and bounds with this, we are defiantly able to relax more in the lounge and Leo will potter around and to his own thing for a short time now. He's also choosing to go in his day bed more but for only short periods at a time. I feel lazy giving him a rawhide so that he will let us chill for a bit but I am hoping it dosnt turn into a learned behaviour as you mentioned Londongirl. I don't think it is as he's not begging for it at all and dosnt seem to expect it  just seems really happy when I produce it to him!
I may try the hoove so thankyou for suggesting that, if I'm honest I'm a little squeemish with bones/raw hides etc. So I'm certainly not going to end up relying on them haha just hope the adolescence dosnt draw out too long!

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2017, 02:28:22 PM »
Don't want to disillusion you, but be prepared......there's a "2nd" phase of adolescence which appears just when you think you're getting over the first one...... :005:
Good news is, at around 2, they really do start to settle down....... ;)

Offline hoover

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2017, 05:05:33 PM »
We found beef tendons pretty good and long lasting for Ollie but you don't always find them very readily.  We did give rawhide as he seemed to act sensibly with it rather than choke it down like some dogs and his stomach seemed fine on it.  It would horrify lots of people but we also give him roast knuckle bones because they seem to do an amazing job of cleaning all of this teeth ...but yes we acknowledge risk and consider it an acceptable trade off as he seems to consume them sensibly.  Actually cow hooves are one of the few things we wouldn't give...I don't know if we got unlucky but the ones we had had very thin, brittle rims and splintered off into very sharp shards. 

Offline Leo0106

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2017, 06:13:59 PM »
Bizzylizzy thankyou for the heads up haha I'll make sure I don't relax when he seems to be settling down now haha. I'm praying the easier stage in between happens when my partner goes away for 4 months so I'm not dealing with it all alone haha.
Hoover many thanks for the reassurance. I did have a panic last night as my partner noticed Leos stool was a very very dark colour, he said it was black but it was dark at the pub and he had a few pints in him!... I've checked today and it does look darker than usual but more of a very dark green! Sorry if anyone is eating their dinner. Panicked that the rawhide may have caused him some sort of GI issue but I know 100% that he's not eaten any large chunks so I think I will continue to observe and see what happens. He certainly isn't acting Ill at all.
Thankyou Hoover for your advice, I've never heard of beef tendons but will look it up tonight for sure,
I'm beginning to think providing he dosnt have any tummy issues then I am confident he is going to be ok with rawhide providing I keep up the same level of supervision.

Offline Archie bean

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2017, 07:18:02 PM »
Am not a big fan of rawhide either and giving it regularly may not be the best idea.  Have you tried cow hooves?  They last ages, and I sometimes stuff them with the harringtons food that comes in trays.  They can smell a bit grim at first, but that wears off.  My dogs love them and they keep them busy if they want to chew something.  I'd be a bit careful about always offering him something to keep him quiet as that may become as much of a habit as his attention seeking.

Be careful with cow hooves as they can splinter. I had a nightmare with Archie after giving him one. He spent a week throwing up shards of it every morning. He was fine in himself but obviously he just couldn't digest it. The vet said to keep an eye on him in case one of the pieces (which were quite big and fairly sharp) caused any internal damage. He settled down eventually and no lasting harm was done but I wouldn't give them again. I've never found anything that really lasted except a good old fashioned raw bone. He used to quite like bull pizzle but won't touch it now!

Offline James+Carly

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2017, 09:38:29 PM »
Have you tried fish skins? Lily's Kitchen do a bag of 5 (I think) they are a bit smelly, but keeps Oscar occupied for a good half hour if it's a tough one, but these are a treat more than a routine thing. Or a snuffle mat? (Those brightly colour fabric mats, hide a few treats in there for pup to find).

Offline Archie bean

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2017, 08:27:36 PM »
Have you tried fish skins? Lily's Kitchen do a bag of 5 (I think) they are a bit smelly, but keeps Oscar occupied for a good half hour if it's a tough one, but these are a treat more than a routine thing. Or a snuffle mat? (Those brightly colour fabric mats, hide a few treats in there for pup to find).

Archie has fish skins. I get the knotted ones from PAH. They last all of 30......seconds!!!!  :005: :005: He loves them though.

Offline Mudmagnets

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #12 on: September 13, 2017, 09:24:02 PM »
For those who like fish skins for their dogs, or would like to try them, have you seen the ones from Fish4Dogs, not sure how they compare to PAH or other suppliers, cost wise, postage is free on all orders.

https://www.fish4dogs.com/Categories/dog-shop/treats.aspx
Remembering Smudge 23/11/2006 - 3/8/2013, and Branston 30/8/14 - 28/10/22 both now at the Bridge.

Offline Archie bean

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2017, 10:44:04 AM »
For those who like fish skins for their dogs, or would like to try them, have you seen the ones from Fish4Dogs, not sure how they compare to PAH or other suppliers, cost wise, postage is free on all orders.

https://www.fish4dogs.com/Categories/dog-shop/treats.aspx

They are excellent but on the pricey side. Since I shop there regularly (it's next door to Tesco so I don't have to make a special trip!) I get these ones from PAH. 
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/packnpride-cod-skin-knotted-bone-dog-treat-113g?i=90&orderBy=1#

Offline Mudmagnets

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Re: Rawhide.. Yes or no?!
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2017, 02:29:13 PM »
For those who like fish skins for their dogs, or would like to try them, have you seen the ones from Fish4Dogs, not sure how they compare to PAH or other suppliers, cost wise, postage is free on all orders.

https://www.fish4dogs.com/Categories/dog-shop/treats.aspx

They are excellent but on the pricey side. Since I shop there regularly (it's next door to Tesco so I don't have to make a special trip!) I get these ones from PAH. 
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/packnpride-cod-skin-knotted-bone-dog-treat-113g?i=90&orderBy=1#

Very good prices, will certainly be fishing them out, thanks
Remembering Smudge 23/11/2006 - 3/8/2013, and Branston 30/8/14 - 28/10/22 both now at the Bridge.