Rawhide PSA

What is rawhide??

It’s processed animal skin. Mostly from cows and horses. Picture your leather sofa, leather car seats and leather shoes… that’s the outer layer of skin. The inner layer of skin is rawhide. Leather is a popular material because of its durability. But as you can imagine, durability doesn’t equal digestible! Rawhide is popular because it’s cheap. It’s cheap because it is scraps from other manufacturing plants. It’s processed with harsh chemicals to break it down, process it and preserve it long enough to make it into our homes We all want affordable, convenient and entertaining dog chew treats. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of healthy and safe treats. Dogs are at risk for contamination, digestive distress, choking hazard, and intestinal blockage when eating rawhides.

Please consider these options next time you want to offer your dog a chew treat

Bully sticks = high protein beef muscle

Yak cheese = salt, lime juice, and Yak milk. Low fat and high protein.

Marrow bones (ask your local butcher). Be cautious with heavy chewers and large dogs. Splintering or breakage is possible and the circular bone could get stuck on lower jaw.

Antlers and cow hooves can make good chew treats too but are best suited for gentle chewers. They can be dangerous when they break or splinter.