At the risk of being an overly opinionated Dog Mom, I am writing this article. I honestly cannot believe the stuff (nice words right?) that they allow to be sold on shelves for pets! One of the WORST is the rawhide bones.

Rawhide bones practically give me nightmares. Yes, nightmares! Here’s the thing: SO many pet parents feed them because they are on the shelf! That being said, I’m writing this article in hopes that we can spread awareness about the dangers of feeding rawhides treats to our dogs as well as I’ll tell you what I DO allow our pups to have a bone treats!

Okay, so why is it awful?! Firstly, they douse the cow hide wit sodium sulfide to separate it. Remember, this is pieces of hide already deemed unworthy to be leather. Then they BLEACH (Yupp – bleach!) and use chemical preservatives to keep the hide. Then they add colored flavoring (that’s good right?!) before they GLUE and cut/roll it up into a shape for Fido.

So, not only are you putting a ton of chemicals and substances in your dog; they cannot digest the hide! So on top of that, you risk blockage in the intestines due to these bones too! All in all, it’s just NOT OK to be feeding to dogs.

When I had just my one dog, our angel Layla, I 100% bought and fed rawhides. I didn’t know better! Now with four dogs, and the launch of Pippin Tails in 2016, I’ve learned so much and I have changed my dogs diets, including their treats and bones since 2009 when my adult dog ownership began. So, what do our dogs get to chew on?!

1. Bully sticks/Beef Bladders/Beef Gullets etc. – there are a ton of these “organ” bones I call them. Items that come from the animal, have no chemicals, flavors or preservatives and have a good chew time.

2. Natural Bones – these are the knuckles, knees and round bones in the store. I will do the “marrow” bones as well. If your dog is power chewer I do not recommend these as they could break a tooth.

3. Pigs ears/cow hooves/chicken feet- the smelly good stuff is this category! – these are more snacks and need a bit more monitoring but these are another great option!

There’s a ton of options instead of rawhide and many stores no carry “No-Rawhide” bones. Check the ingredients of course if you choose those but also check out the items listed above in your local stores. These are the “whole” dog bones in my opinion and are a much safer option.