Rawhide Toys for Dogs Information

Chewing is a large part of a dog's diet and instincts, and it often will chew items in your house to satisfy these urges. To teach your dog not to chew, replace what it is chewing on with a toy, such as a rawhide chew, and soon it will start searching out the rawhide rather than your belongings. There are some problems with rawhide chews, however, due to swallowing rawhide pieces.

Materials

Rawhide is made out of dried leather and is shaped into bones or twists, or left as large squares for your dog to chew on.

Safe chewing

You should be present when your dog chews on rawhide toys to make sure it does not swallow large pieces of the rawhide.

Intestine obstruction

A risk of using rawhide chews as toys is intestine obstruction caused by the rawhide pieces balling up in the dog's stomach.

Arsenic

Buy rawhide chews only from reputable pet supply stores; cheaper rawhide chews may have been preserved with arsenic.

Disposal

When your dog's rawhide chew has been chewed into pieces smaller than the width of its mouth, the pieces need to be thrown away to prevent choking.

References

• Dog Bible; Kristin Mehus-Roe; 2005.
• Rawhide chews