Dear Friends, please don’t stuff your pup’s stocking with those naughty rawhide Christmas dog treats!!!
It’s that jolly time of year. Malls are overwhelmed with Carols (set on repeat). You’re tidying up the guest rooms, decorating throughout the house and of course, dealing with the barrages of rawhide dog treats that seem to magically pop up during these festive months. There are so many fun healthy Christmas dog treats on the market. Rawhides are dangerous and potentially lethal. If you love your dog as much as I know you do, please stay away from rawhides – for Good!.
“They’re most definitely NOT on the Santa Paws list!” – Halle
The most common rawhide Christmas dog treats this time of year come in traditional seasonal shapes. The most popular are sugar canes, Christmas wreaths, grandpa’s slippers, stockings, tree baubles, stars and of course the typical dog bone, decked out with colorful fluffy ribbons and bows. It’s so tempting just to grab a few as bonus dog gifts but so wrong. Yes your dog will love ‘em because of their intrinsic flavor but your pup doesn’t know any better.
When our Halle was just a pup she got terribly sick on a piece of rawhide she was chewing while watching a hockey playoff game with the family. She got so ill and weak so fast, we honestly thought we were going to lose our precious little girl that weekend. Since that scary incident, we did our research on rawhide dog bones and it’s not very pretty!
For those who aren’t familiar with rawhide dog treats, let me fill you in. I’m almost sure you’ve seen them. In fact your dog might be hiding one in your closet somewhere. They’re generally off-white or beige-ish in color, available everywhere including most pet shops, grocery stores and your local dollar store. (many depicted in our post pic above)
Rawhides or cowhides are the dried skin of a food animal – generally a cow. Not only does your dog risk getting a rawhide dog bone lodged in his digestive tract but these treats are extremely dangerous toxic foods for dogs. They carry a host of risky bacteria, arsenic, insecticides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, lead, traces of dead animal remains and who knows what else!
Rawhide holiday dog treats can seriously poison your dog and instead of spending a nice peaceful holiday with your fam you’ll be spending your energy caring for your sick dog and your money on dog vet bills. Not so joyful!
If you have a mental image and you know exactly what I’m talking about then excellent – you get four paws way up!
“Hey, do they have casting calls to be an official Santa Reindeer? I’m In!” – Halle
These dog Christmas treats are so affordable, you can buy a dozen rawhide dog chews for roughly $2 and your dog gets hours of peaceful chewing time. That’s pretty cheap. If only they weren’t laden with a cocktail of poisons!
There are many other healthy dog treats and natural raw bones you can give your dog that stimulate his natural chewing needs. You can also sharpen your cooking skills and bake your dog some tasty homemade doggy treats that I’m sure he’ll love. There are plenty of fun wonderful healthy recipes online.
Don’t innocently believe that rawhides will clean your dog’s teeth, they won’t! Have you ever seen the state of the rawhide bone once your dog has chewed on it a bit? It looks like a gooey sticky wet piece of thick cardboard resembling papier-mâché. Not tough enough for dog teeth cleaning.
Please do your dog a huge favor and don’t add any rawhide holiday treats to his diet. Look for healthier options or cook up a fresh batch of homemade dog treats. I promise you’ll love it and your dog will feel your loving energy in them.
Have you ever experienced any problems with rawhide Christmas dog treats before? Are they generally part of your dog’s Christmas list? I always love hearing your stories, please leave your comments and thoughts down below.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I hear you. I found it interesting when FDA banned real bones for dogs while recommending ‘safe bone-like products’ by which I imagine they most likely meant rawhide chews.
That’s so interesting, thanks Jana!
I really like your idea of taking the time to make so good homemade dog treats for your pooch. I think there is something special about going that extra step for your dog.
Best,
Omar
Thanks Omar … plus when you give your dogs home made treats they can feel and smell your energy and all the love you’ve put into making those tasty snacks.
Omar what kinda dog (s), name and breed do you have?
We make treats for our guys, they love it. So much so that they won’t accept anything else which is source of lot of laughs at the vets’. Yesterday her chiropractor kept trying to give her liver treats. She took it a threw it several feet. This became a game as she did that 17 times!! Her main vet is also convinced that one of these days she’ll accept it. (sold as natural dehydrated beef liver but doesn’t look, smell or taste like one).
We just laugh at their attempts. Why would she take that crap? LOL
Problem is trying to make chews at home. Nothing we tried lasted more than 2 minutes so far.
Jana that’s so adorable … what a hoot! Jasmin wants nothing to do with liver treats? LOL
What kinda home made treats do you make for your guys?
Do they eat mostly home made treats or do you mix it up?
Chews as in recreational chews or chewy treats?
I mostly make for our guys crunchies and cookies, store them in the fridge and take a few out as we need.
Next I will be experimenting with softer treats and see how that turns out :)
Also what’s your general take on rawhides?
Are there any safe and healthy “natural” raw hides? Or are they all bad? I seem to remember seeing some sold at our natural pet food store. Maybe I saw something else.
Compressed chips/strips are slightly “better” choice than the solid bones and shaped/molded rawhide chews. Some people suggest looking for “American-made” rawhides, in order to avoid the rawhide containing the toxic chemicals mentioned in this post. The difficult thing is finding them. Even if it says “100% American Beefhide” you still have to read the rest of the label- most rawhides are still processed in South American locations, which means they have still been treated with things you don’t want your dog ingesting, like arsenic, etc… So, if you can find an American-made, American processed/treated, chemical-free option… and your dogs are the kinds of dogs that are good about making that variety last and making use of it as an actual CHEW, it might be something to consider. There was one brand I switched to for a while, after the grocery-store variety got lodged in the roof of my dogs’ mouths one too many times, but when I realized it was still being outsourced to South America for processing, I quit buying it. I liked that particular brand because the rawhide had the lightness and texture of a rice cake, it broke apart easily, and didn’t become sticky, tacky and hazardous. Trouble was, one of my dogs preferred to break off and ingest big chunks, rather than settling in for a nice, long chew. The day he promptly threw up several pieces and his morning meal when I was already running late for work was the last straw. We switched to deer or elk antlers and they like those just as much.
Asia, yeah, it was so funny! :-) Of course they don’t even try offering biscuits any more LOL
We make jerky treats. They get only the home-made, Jasmine wouldn’t touch anything else, plus there are very popular with all dogs who get to try that.
By chews I meant chew stick sort of idea. Whatever we tried just doesn’t last any longer than a regular food would.
I am not a fan of rawhides. I think bullwrinkles are much better, but those don’t last very long either.
Thanks for this article. I have always given our pup those rawhide chews and never realized they could be dangerous. I will stop using them immediately.