Whilst browsing round my local pet store I was flicking through a book about the Labrador and got to a section that mentioned grapes and raisins were toxic. It said that 200g of dark chocolate was enough to kill a Labrador (I knew that one) but it also said "never give one of those large bone shaped raw hide chews that you get from the pet shop to your dog". Now I realise that you're not supposed to leave them unsupervised with things like that but what it said was that there have been quite a few incidents where a Labrador (it was a lab book so it didn't say dogs in general) have swallowed these bones whole. The bones then absorb all the moisture out of the stomach, swell up making it virtually impossible for the vet to remove it and the dog dies. It didn't say how many had died and I realise you can be over cautious like I am with my 5 year old son (not that I give him raw hide of course) but I wondered if anyone had heard or encountered this before because they don't come with a warning.

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We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals

Hello.
When i first got my border terrier Smudge, to make him feel at home i went out and bought him a rawhide bone to chew, i left him outside with it and i heard im wreching, when i went out he had coughed up a massive piece that he had tryed to swallow. Now i just thought it was because he was a pup and didnt realise how big the piece was, and iv never given him it again, but iv never heard of a dog dying from it, but it wouldn't suprise me after what happened with Smudge.
Thanks for the info -x-

Sounds like a load of rubbish to me! Doesn't really make much sense. What book was it??

At least they got the chocolate bit right!

We have had some near misses with Daisy in the past attempting to sallow chews far too big for her on 2 occasions she swallowed raw hide chews about 5 inches long and about as thick as 2 fingers , luckily it came through the other end with little problem but as a result we dont give them raw hide chews any more . Instead they have raw carrot and about twice a month my lovely butcher gives me 2 massive knuckle end bones that keeps them amused for days .

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Unfortunately it is very true hence we dont give ours rawhide and it is not just labradors if we feed treats I either make them myself or stick to good old spillers shapes

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It's true that they absorb all the moisture from the stomach and expand???

yep there have actually been deaths from rawhide that I have heard of so dont take any chances

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Dogs have died from rawhide expanding in the stomach from absorbing moisture or dogs have died from choking on rawhide?

both I think we have never actually given ours them as a vet that used to inject the horses many years ago told us about a dog that had died as a result of swallowing rawhide

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Oh right I wouldn't have thought that would happen, I would have thought it would be digested, it would just take a while!