Are rawhides safe for dogs?

Rawhides are everywhere and many dogs eat them and seem okay, however, they are not safe. I never recommend them as treats and will not give them to my dogs, despite never personally having had an issue. Better to be safe than sorry. Just google raw hides and you'll find lots of info. To each their own, but not worth the risk to me. Easy enough to just avoid and not have to worry.

Besides the risk of added chemicals, there is a high risk of bowel obstructions associated with rawhides. My dog ate a rawhide and got a bowel obstruction as a result. We were able to clear up his problem with laxatives but he was very close to needing a very risky, expensive but lifesaving surgery. As for me, I will never give my dog a rawhide ever again and I always especially warn against giving rawhides to overly-active chewers.

No, there are a lot of dangerous chemicals that go into rawhides throughout the entire making process.

" Producing rawhide begins with the splitting of an animal hide, usually from cattle. The top grain is generally tanned and made into leather products, while the inner portion, in its “raw” state, goes to the dogs. Removing the hair from hides often involves a highly toxic recipe: sodium sulphide liming. A standard practice is to procure rawhide in the “split lime state” as by-products from tanneries, facilities that top the list of U.S. Superfund sites. In the post-tannery stage, hides are washed and whitened using a solution of hydrogen peroxide. And that’s just one step. Other poisonous residues that may show up in rawhide include arsenic and formaldehyde. Even dog skin is a possibility. An ongoing investigation of the fur trade by Humane Society International, an arm of the HSUS, resulted in this information, as listed on their website: “In a particularly grisly twist, the skins of brutally slaughtered dogs in Thailand are mixed with other bits of skin to produce rawhide chew toys for pet dogs. Manufacturers told investigators that these chew toys are regularly exported to and sold in U.S. stores.”

I agree with the posters above. Rawhide is very bad for dogs. But I get very dismayed, especially when I go down the pet food aisle in practically every store (including Petco)..except the small pet stores....because they all have these terrible rawhide bones. They really shouldn't be selling them, but they do because customers ask for them.

The Rover blog actually had a post about this recently. Here it is: https://www.rover.com/blog/rawhide-da...

Depending on the dog, they can be a choking hazard and/or get lodged in their digestive tract, creating blockage. This is mostly a problem with dogs that eat their food & treats quickly, swallowing whole or only partially chewed. Definitely keep a close watch on any dog with a rawhide or Greenie type treat.