[spilledpatchouli]

I hear that puppies aren't supposed to have rawhides, but can chew on pigs ears and anything thats not made of rawhide...but sometimes I'll catch my 11 week old pup chewing on my housemates dog's rawhide. How harmful is this for a puppy at his age? And when is he allowed to start eating rawhides?

[BoxMeIn21]

No dog, regardless of age, should have rawhides. Not only are they packed with carcinogenic chemicals, they are a HUGE choking risk.

Here are a few articles for you to read.
http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm
http://www.k911.biz/Petsafety/RawhideandChewyTreats.htm

Instead I might find a local butcher who can sell you large recreational bones for your pup to chew on.

[Lovin'Dawgs]

Yeah, what BoxMeIn21 said. No dogs should have rawhide. And if you don't agree with that, perhaps it would at least be best to not have rawhides for your older dog till the pup is grown.

[Purplex15]

since you seem to already know and are actively trying to stop it, i wont lecture you about the actual consumption of RAWHIDE.

what i do encourage you to do is do some research and print out some info from a reputable site that explains the dangers of rawhide. give them to your roommate. tell him you have made the decision to not give your dog rawhide b/c of the many dangers related to it. if he wants to read the info, greAT, and great for the dog. if he still insists on being ignorant, then just ask him to keep his dogs toys/treats out of the communal area and to pick them up if he does.

[briteday]

Maybe you could buy some raw bones, bully sticks, and other acceptable treats, for both of the dogs. And if your room mate insists on giving HIS/HER dog rawhides, to keep them out of common areas, as mentioned above.

[Pai]

I'd try to convert your roomate to using Bully Sticks. They last a long time, and are far more safe.

[Regi]

Can anyone show me a pic of a bully stick? Thank u

[spilledpatchouli]

wow i didnt know how unhealthy and harmul rawhides could be! im so glad i asked! actually, this morning my puppy woke up and immediately started whinning...which has happened before but only coz he had to use the restroom really bad...but this time i got up really fast and picked him up to take him outside, and when i picked him up he started screaming and whinning in pain! then when outside, he just sat down like nothing happened, and didnt go to the bathroom... im wondering if the rawhide he had last night before bed had anything to do with that...if it caused gas or an upset stomache or something along those lines, but after that hes seemed just fine, which is a bit odd.

ok now i know, no more rawhides and pig ears!