Bad Cairn mommy here made a bad mistake!

[toomanypaws]

I'm a bit embarassed to post my stupidity. Having had large dogs most of my life, I've always given them an occassional pig ear, always American made. I never give them rawhides due to so many horror stories my dh has experienced w/ them, they just don't digest well. With my cairn girls, I found some pig ear strips that I thought were great for them and small enough not to worry about gaining weight if they had one once or twice a week. My older two, Kiara and Abbey have had them several times w/o a problem. I should have consulted my dh about giving one to our 14 wk old pup, Hannah. I had given her one before in her playpen away from the other two so she wouldn't feel rushed to chow it down and she did great w/ it. Well, I gave all the dogs a strip so we could sit down and enjoy pizza, which we did. As I was cleaning up, Hannah started choking followed by the most dreadful cry and right away dh grabbed her to check her throat and she again yelped dreadfully. He knew she was obstructed. A piece was lodged in her throat and I thought I was losing her. Dh first offered her some water to see if she could slide the piece down and then quickly stuck his finger down her throat to dislodge the piece and offered her more water to clear her airway which it did. I felt SO bad for using such poor judgement and am only sharing this so that no one here makes the same mistake.

Please beware of rawhides, pigears, pigear strips and cow hooves that can chip off and possibly lodge in your precious cairn's throat. I'm still hanging my head in shame that I didn't have more common sense with my precious Hannah. Now, even pig ear strips are banned in our home. The dogs are getting baby carrots instead and seem fine w/ that.

[wheezie23]

Toomanypaws, how scary that must've been for you! Don't beat yourself up about it. How could you know, when you've never had a problem with your older girls eating pig ears? I'm just so glad that your dh was quick thinking and that all Hannah has to deal with is a sore throat right now. Give her extra hugs from me, too!!

[Eliz222]

That must have been so scary! I'm glad your DH was able to get it out of little Hannah's throat and that she is going to be ok. I have given Scout some baby carrots that I tucked inside a toy that hold treats (can't remember the name of it...it's purple and looks like a dumbell). She always ate this on her back, with her paws holding the toy. It looked so cute, but one day a carrot went right down her throat! She was able to cough it out, but it scared me to death, and I don't use this toy to hold her carrots anymore.

[Dizzy]

You really have to watch the quality of the chews you give your Carin always and only USA crappy rawhide is bad. Quality rawhide is good. Thick american rawhide doesn't come apart and your dog won't pull off big chuncks and won't choke. Remember rawhide is collagen and turns into gelatin in your dogs stomach. You just can't let them chew on it nonstop and ingest alot. Always watch your dogs when you give them any treats.

[kayharley]

OMG...I'm so glad everything turned out okay. Reading your post gave me the chills. I give my girls baby carrots too. Winnie chews hers, Madison devours her and one time she started a very minor choking incident. Now I cut them up and give her small pieces. The only bones I use are the Nylabones.

Don't blame yourself, tmp's (may I call you that? ) I think there are things we've all done or let happen that wish we didn't and learn from it.

[Guest osuvicki]

I am really confused now what might be safe as a chew. A dear friend grabbed the nylabones I had and threw them away saying little shreds of nylon come off and go undigested in the dogs stomach and don't always pass through .....and he has had dogs for years and years...so I trust his judgment........

[Eliz222]

I've heard stories of dogs choking on Nyla bones, without good outcomes. They scare me now! I give our dogs rawhide bones to chew, but only when I am watching them. They chew the compressed ones. It's hard with Cairn's...my two pick up almost anything off the floor to sniff and "taste", especially the puppy! I always throw the bones away when they are half gone. It's the small pieces that they may choke on.

[MikeC]

I'm so happy that your girl is ok. I know how scary these situations are. I've been there. Don't beat yourself up over it, just consider it another one of lifes lessions learned. I give Duffy the compressed rawhides also, and he only gets them when we can watch him. When they get small enough to be able to do any damage I take them away from him and he gets a new one. I guess there are no set rules regarding these things. Again toomanypaws, I am so happy that your girl is ok!

MikeC

[CallisMom]

I'm so glad Hannah is okay!! Don't beat yourself up! She did fine before and your older dogs have always done well before.

Actually BradL and CathyAnn turned me on to bully sticks - but not just any bully sticks. Brad gets his 12" "macho" sticks from sitstay.com(taken from a previous thread). I get the 12" ones from waggintails.com

Calli LOVES them! They last a long time and are from a USDA inspected lab. They don't break off into little pieces - Calli's certainly hasn't. Calli has had one for a couple of months and is just at the end of her first one. She loves them. We tried the nylabones but Calli doesn't like them. The ONLY thing she likes chewing on other than shoes (a big no no) is her bully stick (and a fake leather chair that we had to get rid of - it was either Calli or this old chair). I think she likes chewing on the leathery like things!

[fancypants]

My Emma loves little cherry tomatoes - she chases them for half an hour before eating them and seems to have so much fun. She also loves her Kong - with peanut butter or cheese whiz inside - and will chew on it for days after the treat is gone!

[toomanypaws]

Thanks to everyone understanding, you're a great group that I'm glad I met.

Fancypants, I did buy a Kong toy which Hannah plays with but I'm going to try it w/ peanut butter and see it that keeps her attention longer. I don't want to buy cheese whiz because she'll only need a dab for the Kong and then the rest of the jar will haunt me until I break down and indulge.

[Eliz222]

I have not tried this, but I have heard of people filling their kongs with peanut butter and then freezing it. It takes the dog much longer to lick all the peanut butter out!

[Toto times 2]

I've used the sterilized bones and the kongs filled with cheese or peanut butter. I never thought of freezing them wiht the peanut butter inside. Would that make the bone brittle. We have bones that we have had for 3-4 years and they do wear a bit but have never splintered. They love their carrots, too

One of my cairns will scarf up just about anything from the street. A couple of years ago my husband came in from walking Smokey and it was ovious that he was in serious distress. He had swallowed a piece of bone and it was stuck in his esophagus. My vet is a miracle worker. He managed to push the bone into the stomach and was then able to remove it. If he couldn't have gotten it into the stomach we would have had to make a rush trip to the verinary college at the University of Guelph.

Moral of the story. If your cairn is prone to eating things from the street keep an eagle eye on him.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I have had many of the experiences that all of you have elaborated on - - - I have found that pig ears upset Riley's stomach - - they actually make him very sick - - but he has "liver shunts" so his system is very sensitive! The two things that I have discovered that he enjoys and can tolerate are: 1) the bully sticks - - expensive but long-lasting and not bad for the dog - - - and - - 2) kongs filled with peanut butter, cream cheese or liverwurst - - - I freeze them and it keeps Riley occupied for several minutes - - he loves them and has just one in the evening.

[Milopup]

I have tried the bully sticks, but alas I find them to be really stinky. And my pup is able to chew hunks off of it.

[kayharley]

I bought 2 bully sticks the other day because I've never tried them. It took Madison 1 hour to demolish a 7" stick! Then she went and stole Winnies. Wouldn't have minded but they were like $4 a piece.

[CallisMom]

Sandy - you might want to try one of the 12" ones from either sitnstay.com or waggintails.com. They are soooooo much bigger than the regular ones. Over an inch in girth. They definitely last longer than the rest. They are expensive but they are worth it.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I am thinking that whatever works for your dog is the way to go - - - - some bones work - - - some don't. I have found the combo that makes Riley happy without jeopardizing his health. Each dog is different - - - sometimes it is just "trial and error" until we find the right solution!!