I'm curious, what the opinions here are on rawhide. My last husky really wasn't "mine." Hence, I wasn't as crazy as I am with Amber. She ate rawhide all the time with no issues.

I came over to my inlaws house the other day to find they gave her a rawhide bone. She loved it, finished it, and I was livid. I have heard the downsides. Amber seems to be fine so I was curious, whats the concencous here?

It's going to be a personal decision, you'll have to weigh the pros and cons and ultimately decide if it's worth it to you. I know a lot of people won't use them and I respect that. Personally, I know the risks and still give my dogs rawhide and I've never had an issue even when my sibe has eaten whole 12 inch rolls in one sitting (yes, he's done that on multiple occasions!).

I've lived thru or I should say Mylo lived through the down side of rawhide. They are notorious for causing intestinal blockages. Mylo, ate a rawhide bone obviously blocked him up to where I thought he was going to blow up. At that time I had no idea about the dangers of rawhide. He belly got hard as a rock but finally about 2AM lucky for him not me he blew it all out of his butt on the kitchen floor. I've refused 100% of the time since then on allowing anybody to give my dogs rawhide in any shape or form. Never will relent on my no rawhide rule.

We used to give our first dog rawhide, but she was not a crazy chewer and so one 12 inch bone could last her a long time. Sabaka has had rawhide but it gave him horrendous gas (I think all beef products mess up his system). After reading more about rawhide, we believe that pig hide rolls are a better option. They are marketed as being easily digestible. We buy them in twists about the size of a small bully stick. They are more expensive than beef rawhide but less expensive than bully sticks. We always supervise him with them.

Sabaka also enjoys SPLIT elk antlers. He's not a fan of Nylabones and most of his toys are not considered to be fun unless he can quickly and easily destroy them.

Wow! Honestly, I had no idea that there was any danger to rawhide. I've been giving them to Keimo for years and I probably still will, but I'll watch him and Isabella closer from now on just in case. Thanks for asking that question, otherwise I never would have known.

I give mine them, but i always watch them when they have them

iI've always gave dogs rawhide I dont give it to Neo because he rips it to pieces and they stick in the rug. If you are worried about it, see if any farriers in your area can save horse hoof for you. Never had a dog refuse those.

Mickey had them when he was younger until I came home one day to a pregnant looking Mickey. Hard as a rock. Tummy about the size of a basketball. Haven't had them in the house since. I do bullysticks and hooves.

No rawhide here either, just zuke bones. Kale doesn't get much treats come to think about it lol rawhide gives Kale the runs; learned it the hard way

We originally gave rawhide to ours, until Dakota had a very nasty episode on the kitchen floor. Since then we stick to the baked pork skin bones and we haven't had any issues since. We also don't leave them alone with them.

Both our girls got sick from rawhide last week. Ghost wound up pooping ALL over the training room at PetSmart, and then Lulu wound up vomiting all over the carpet in the middle of the night. We are now looking for good alternates to rawhide, and I think I may wind up looking into Zukes bones since you guys all speak so highly of them.

My breeders told me that she is against rawhide as well - seeing as when whole pieces are swallowed they just stick to the stomach and the bowels... Luka's diarrhoea has been on and off and just 2 seconds ago i took his raw hide away. He won't be happy. But i'm curious to see if his stools improve! If i notice a change, ill stop with rawhide as well and stick to knuckles once his stomach settles!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Of course my inlaws, being the great listners they are, got her a rawhide bone for christmas.

Since having it she has been lethargic. Not sure if I'm just looking for a reason to not like rawhide, but it's noticeable. My wife and I are so torn on it. She can go through rawhide much faster than our last husky, Amber polished off a full 12" bone on christmas in about 4 or 5 hours. I like how it keeps her busy but i just worry if it is making her feel ill. Its hard to tell with her because she can be so lazy at times and then just mass amounts of uncontrolable energy at others.

I'm also a firm believer of no rawhide. I know people that give it and never have problems, but to me it's just not worth the risk. I knew a gentleman that gave his dog rawhide throughout his life with no problems, then one day he started acting strange. Lethargic, wouldn't eat, etc. He also noticed his stomach was hard and he had blood in his stool. Long story short, the vet found undigested rawhide all in his stomach that had actually lacerated his insides bad enough that he ended up dying. He blamed himself for years and never truly got over it. I could never feed my dogs something that would have the chance, no matter how small, of hurting them like that. Or hurting them at all, for that matter.

Edit: As an alternative to rawhide, I occasionally give Drogo bully sticks which keep him occupied for at least an hour. I also have a handful of femur bones thrown around the house for both Drogo and Navi. Providing you take them away if they start getting big chunks off, they are a safer option. I've had Drogo for 9 months and I've only had to take 1 away from him.

A great alternative in my opinion to rawhides are these:

http://www.qtdog.com/antlerz.htm

They are a great source of joint supplements and minerals plus even the strongest chewers can only wear them down in small pieces. I guard against watching them get too sharp though. I have never had issues with rawhides other than diarrhea when they eat too much.