[ttownjayne]

I was warned off rawhide by both our vet and our trainer as well. I found a "No Hide" chew at our groomers and trainer from earth animal which Joonie absolutely loves: Chews & Treats - Earth Animal . They come in different sizes/flavours; the medium ones might be a bit too big for a toy but the small "stix" are about the perfect size I think for their smaller mouths.

Anyone else try these? It starts off stiff and hard much like regular chews, but softens as he goes and so nothing he swallows is a choke hazard. Yak chews also seem like a good second option, but my Joonie doesn't like those as much.

We LOVE the No Hide chews at our house. They can get pricey if you need the big ones. My boy unfortunately will demolish one in about 20 minutes. However my girl will get lots of mileage out of a large one. She'll parade it around and chew on that thing until it looks like a sad scrap of old dish rag. I've ordered them on Amazon. And about 1x a year the independent pet shops around me (tacoma) will will run specials. A friend swears by the multivitamin made by the company.

 

[wingsandpaws]

OKAY BAD NEWS; Mia liked the ear chew so much that she growled like Ive never seen her do. So I immediatelty snapped into training mode to stop the resource guarding behaviour and touched the chew while rewarding her for not growling and taking and giving it back to show that I wouldn’t take it away from her forever. That crap scared me oof. She is now doing better after the quick training I did because let me tell you I will not tolerate growling in this house.

 

[wingsandpaws]

She isn’t growling when I take it from her momentarily or when I touch it now, so that’s good. But she is still anxious she’ll lose it if she stops playing with it. So she has been chewing on the ear for nearly an hour I think.

 

[wingsandpaws]

Screw this, I’m never giving her lamb ears again. She still has NOT let go of the ears. She never used to do this with other stuff. I’ll risk the rawhide if it means I wont have to deal with resource guarding and anxious behaviour.

 

[wingsandpaws]

The ears are now in thrash and Mia is back to normal. Never again.

 

[Ava.]

?? hope you dont end up with a dead dog because you are unwilling to train your dog

 

[wingsandpaws]

Dramatic much? There isn’t even any rawhide at hour house anymore, I got rid of them as soon as I learned about their danger. I was just shocked at Mia’s behaviour and even though I stopped the severe growling with a quick training session I just needed time to process. There are more ear chews in the pack I bought, but I’m going to wait a few days before I give her the chews again. Maybe a smaller amount next time so she doesn’t spend nearly two hours on it.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

?? hope you dont end up with a dead dog because you are unwilling to train your dog

Not necessary, @Ava.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I understand what you’re feeling, @wingsandpaws. Peggy growled at me over a raw chicken wing and it was such a shock, they were immediately removed from her menu. Best to take a breath, make a plan, and work your way up slowly from lower value items.

Have you ever managed resource guarding before?

 

[wingsandpaws]

Resource guarding isn’t a completely new thing, but Mia must have been overwhelmed by the sudden delicious treat haha. I have worked with her on trading toys with treats and she never had problems. I could touch her food bowl with no problems either. That growling was probably the first actual resource guarding episode she had. I now realize I shouldn’t have given her a high value treat that quick. I’ll probably cut it into pieces and give her small amounts first. As I said, last night I could stop her from growling at me when I touched the chew so at least she takes to training quickly. I hope with training+time she’ll see there is no need to protect the chews from me. The reason I was so panicked was because my child cousin was also here and when she approached Mia, she growled as if she was going to snap and that was just icing on the cake. Mia is now cuddling with me, no trace of the growling from last night. As you said @PeggyTheParti, I probably need to work my way up from lower value treats. I also saw the thread about Peggy growling when the jerky you traded her for a christmas decoration was tried to be taken away.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I also saw the thread about Peggy growling when the jerky you traded her for a christmas decoration was tried to be taken away.

Oh jeez. Yeah. That was over a year ago now.

If I recall correctly, I somehow hit one of the lights on the Christmas tree, breaking it and scattering shards on the floor. Puppy Peggy picked up one of the pieces, but traded willingly for a piece of chicken jerky. In my panicked state, when I told my husband what happened, he mistakenly thought she still had a piece of broken lightbulb.

Uh oh.

Now panicking himself, he reached into her mouth and grabbed the jerky out. Peggy was shocked, but didn’t put up a fight. She was about 6 months old at the time.

When my husband realized his mistake, he gave her the jerky back and she retreated to her dark pen. My husband felt bad and reached over the side of the pen to pet her. That’s when she growled, I can only assume because she thought he was about to yank the jerky away again.

Such an unfortunate situation, and one that absolutely fuelled later resource guarding episodes. I wish it had never happened.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

With Mia now, I would probably leave her alone to peacefully enjoy her chews, but occasionally walk past (not so close that you trigger guarding) and toss something even yummier. Eventually, she should look up excitedly when she sees you coming.

In the future, I would also keep kids away from her when she’s eating or chewing. That’s something we should do regardless of whether or not our dog has shown signs of being a resource guarder.

 

[wingsandpaws]

Dropping treats is a good idea. Unfortunately I have little to no control over my little cousin because she gets offended easily and her mother has even blamed us for liking Mia more than her but that is a story for another day lol. Even though we warn her to be gentler with Mia she still whips out toys from her mouth with no warning and I’m glad Mia is such a patient dog otherwise...

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Dropping treats is a good idea. Unfortunately I have little to no control over my little cousin because she gets offended easily and her mother has even blamed us for liking Mia more than her but that is a story for another day lol. Even though we warn her to be gentler with Mia she still whips out toys from her mouth with no warning and I’m glad Mia is such a patient dog otherwise...

Uh oh. That could go very bad, very quickly. I hope you can explain to her mother how dangerous that is. Mia’s learning not to trust little humans around her cherished possessions. Maybe put the toys away.

 

[wingsandpaws]

I wish I could. Mia has growled at my cousin several times because she played with her too rough or etc. She does not seem to care, and continues the behaviour. If I spoke to her mother I guarantee she would be offended and would pout behind our back like a child. And another baby cousin is on the way. For now our best bet is to give Mia a safe place like her crate. If I were an adult I think my cousin would take me more seriously. Wish me luck lol. Also, thank you for all the advice. I’m grateful.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I wish I could. Mia has growled at my cousin several times because she played with her too rough or etc. She does not seem to care, and continues the behaviour. If I spoke to her mother I guarantee she would be offended and would pout behind our back like a child. And another baby cousin is on the way. For now our best bet is to give Mia a safe place like her crate. If I were an adult I think my cousin would take me more seriously. Wish me luck lol. Also, thank you for all the advice. I’m grateful.

For what it’s worth, I’m an adult and I still struggled to get one family member to take me seriously when Peggy was a puppy. Some people believe you should be able to play rough with dogs with no consequences. It’s hard.

I think giving Mia a place to escape to is a very good idea.

 

[Cricket’s Schnauzers]

Mia LOVES rawhide sticks. I tried giving her flavored nylon bones like Tastybone, but she didn’t really like them. I tried dipping them in her food, still no budge. I’m not keen on bullysticks because theyre REALLY expensive and they smell. I cant find any antlers or elk that ship to where I live either. I am about to try a Kong toy, but we’ll see. My question: Are rawhides really that bad? I supervise her while she’s chewing, don’t give her crazy amounts and she has not had any health problems. I want to keep giving her rawhide bones and such but I’m worried. She gulps down things like jerky in seconds. Opinions?

I give my dogs a chewy that is 1/2 a cow hoof! It’s been dried so no smell! My dogs chew on them fir months! When they start getting to small i pick them up! I raise Schnauzers so I wash the small pieces and give them to my puppies when they start to chew! I’m sending a pic in the wrapper so you can see what to look for! One thing.... look through them, and pick out the ones with both sides thick! One side tends to be a little thin.
don’t get the stuffed ones! Yuk!

I get these at Tractor Supply! I have also found them at PetSmart!
I would never give rawhide! It is not digestible, and they can get pieces off and swallow them! Then it takes surgery to get it out! It can be deadly too! I have one boy that is much bigger and Han my other dogs and he has a powerful jaw.... I don’t give him these cow hoofs. He can break them into pieces! He is 16 lbs of muscle!
I’m assuming you’re dog is small. My schnauzers are from 4 to 13 lbs!

 

[PandasMom]

Mia LOVES rawhide sticks. I tried giving her flavored nylon bones like Tastybone, but she didn’t really like them. I tried dipping them in her food, still no budge. I’m not keen on bullysticks because theyre REALLY expensive and they smell. I cant find any antlers or elk that ship to where I live either. I am about to try a Kong toy, but we’ll see. My question: Are rawhides really that bad? I supervise her while she’s chewing, don’t give her crazy amounts and she has not had any health problems. I want to keep giving her rawhide bones and such but I’m worried. She gulps down things like jerky in seconds. Opinions?

Well I’ve known 3 friends that have had to have surgery on their dogs because the raw hide stayed in their stomachs undigested. They suddenly quit eating and began vomiting bring nothing up. I wouldn’t ever give rawhide.

 

[reraven123]

Zephyr gets a Virbac chew once a day. It looks and chews (and tastes?) like rawhide, but is digestible, with the added benefit of enzymes for dental health. He loves it!

 

[wingsandpaws]

The hooves and the Virbac chews sound great! Maybe I could find hooves, I’m not sure about the Virbac chews though. I think petsmart doesn’t ship internationally so-
But I did see something called Bow Wow Beef Minis Chews available near me, I’ll have to take a look at that.