We use pork twists, which are pig skin and much more digestible than rawhide (which is beef/cow). The cow version isn't broken down very well in the digestive system meaning there is a slight risk of a blockage but I'm honestly not sure of how much of a risk it is in absolute terms. Probably something I would not give an old dog, who will have a slower and less robust digestive system. With the cow rawhide I'd say it might be best to go for the ones that are kind of pressed into a solid bone shape, not the ones that are just the rawhide rolled into a tube and knotted at each end. With the solid bone shape ones dogs tend to bite off smaller bits rather than great big pieces. With the knotted kind some dogs seem to bite off bigger chunks and that might be a choking issue if the dog hadn't softened up the rawhide with saliva first. Guess you'd have to see what kind of approach your dog uses to eating a rawhide chew eg if your dog is a power chewer who rips off and gulps big chunks versus a nibbler.
We use the rawhide strips and they have been very handy for my chewey Mole! Have progressed onto the pressed bones now but the strips worked well when he was younger as well as the Orozyme rawhide chews from Amazon. Sam and Mole
I use rawhide bones and started using them once Molly had her adult teeth(up to then I used rice bones.) They don't cause Molly any digestive upsets, whereas my last Lab couldn't tolerate them. So if I were you I'd give one a try and see what happens.
Saba has marrow half bones from Waitrose (99p each). I keep them in the freezer, and then one will give him at least an hours non-stop amusement with the added bonus that the marrow is good for him and he'll play with the remaining bone for a couple of days. I thought I read somewhere that rawhide goes through many chemical processes to get it to the white colour, and I just didn't like the idea of him eating something like that. He's not spoilt - honest!
Charlie got small 'cigars' of rawhide when he was a puppy, and loved them. I did my best to find ones that seemed to be from a reputable supplier, because I was also worried about quality. As he got a bit older they gave him runny poo so I stopped using them. He did love them though!
I've given Bailey a rice bone, which he loved, and kept him entertained during the 4 plus hours car journey when we went to my dad's recently - his first long car ride.
Not stupid at all, I hadn't heard of them until I saw them mentioned on here, and then had to order some for delivery to France just so Juno could try them. Smart Bones are a "No rawhide" alterative to well, rawhide http://www.smartbones.com/ I do buy these for Juno although I do think they are very expensive. I usually order online with Amazon or Pets at Home and prefer the "bones" to the "rolls".
I don't give Jake the rawhide treats any more. He typically gets natural marrow bones. They can keep hi, busy and happy for a while.
Molly is happily munching on a trachea at the moment, I think that's the grossest thing I've come across so far! Assume it's a cow, it's massive!
I can't bring myself to buy a trachea, though I think they'd be a really good chew (safe, tasty etc).
She's had it on and off for the last 5 hours! Been buried and dug up a few times and there's still about half left
We give Tilly and Cooper rawhide chews, both the rolls and knotted ones. They go through them fairly quickly if they are bored. We tried the compressed rawhide, and they disappear so fast they might has well be just dog treats.
