Lets Talk: Rawhide Dog Treats
What actually is rawhide?
Rawhide is a treat that many people buy for their dogs, nearly all food or pet shops sell some sort of rawhide. It is advertised in various ways, for example, due to Christmas approaching they dye it different Christmas colours. But many people do not actually know how it is made.
What is rawhide made from?
Rawhide is made from dried animal skin, is is created from waste products from the meat industry. There are a few steps that go into creating the end products.
- They separate the layers of leather with various different chemicals.
- They then bleach the leather and cover it in chemicals to preserve it.
- Some rawhide is left white, and others are dyed different colours.
- The end step is using glue to form it into a shape. Lots of rawhide is glued to represent a bone shape.
Rawhide is made to ‘not be ingested’ and only chewed, but we all know are pooches will not just stop when they have chewed it. As that is what the manufacturers say Rawhide is not actually considered a food item meaning it is not covered by labeling or processing laws.
What could happen if a dog ingests a rawhide treat?
Unfortunately, rawhide can be deadly if ingested. It can swell up in a dogs stomach by up to 4x its orignial size. This can cause deadly blockages. Rawhide can also be very sharp, these sharp edges can cause rips in a dogs stomach lining.
What alternative could I buy?
There are a number of brilliant alternatives to rawhide, some of which being:
- carrots
- bully sticks
- yak chews
- dental chews (my favorites being Lillys Kitchen)
- And natural chews (e.g. hooves, rabbit ears, fish skins, antlers, etc)