Unscientific Poll: Who has had bad experiences with.....

Rawhides - Charlie's actually not too big on them

Greenies - He only had them once and immediately puked green stuff everything

Pig ears - No problems, except his poop gets a little soft afterward from the grease

RMB - all good

Bully sticks - all good

 Since my dogs never get most of those treats, I'll just relate client experiences and tales of woe from my vet tech friends:

• Rawhides - dogs choke on the small pieces, better to use the compressed rawhide if you're going to feed them at all
  
• Greenies - same thing - choke hazard
  
• Pig ears - digestive upset, dogs fighting over them or guarding them against humans, children bitten, etc.
  
• Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc.- same as for pig ears, cracked teeth
  
• RMB (raw meaty bones) - some dental fractures, diarrhea (usually because owners didn't introduce slowly - marrow is rich)
  
• Bully Sticks - haven't heard any tales of woe other than guarding, as with any "special" object
  

Rawhides  - I have had a bad experience with these, had to reach into Ripley's throat and pull a piece out when he was choking.

Greenies - never used

Pig ears - only used once, no bad experience, don't last long enough

Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc. - no bad experience, I feed these fairly often.

RMB (raw meaty bones) - no bad experience, I feed these often too

Bully Sticks - used once or twice, my dogs swallow them when they get short too, which makes me nervous, and they don't last long enough

Rawhides: Gross Poops and breath
Greenies: Gross Poops
Pig ears : Gross Poops and breath
Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc.: Gross Poops, can't digest hooves and will vomit bits up the next day
RMB (raw meaty bones): No problems
Bully Sticks: No problems

Rawhides:  Never completely chewed them before swallowing.  Was always concerned about everything passing through.

Greenies: Haven't used

Pig ears :  Explosive diarrhea

Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc.: Explosive diarrhea

RMB (raw meaty bones): No problems

Bully Sticks: No problems

• Rawhides - stay away for fear that Monroe (lab) wil swallow large pieces that won't digest
• Greenies - Green poop, a very rare treat that I don't think has any merit, they don't last long enough
• Pig ears - never tried them, could they have the same problems as pig ears?
• Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc. - ditto on the pig ears
• RMB (raw meaty bones) - My favourite thing to give them, seems healthy and safe to me.  Hours of entertainment ensues...
• Bully Sticks - haven't tried them either

I guess I'm not very experimental but I don't have to be, I think.  We have a great butcher that has met the dogs and cuts special bones for them.  RMB are a rare treat though because they are very rich.  I mostly used stuffed kongs for everyday things like crate time.

Rawhides - I give regularly, the dogs love 'em and no problems except a little resource guarding between dogs

Greenies - Have only given these a couple of times, no problems

Pig ears - No experience

Cow hooves, etc - Don't give these because I can't stand the smell

RMB - No problems, took a little while for interest in them to develop though

Bully sticks - they LOVE these, no problems but husband can't take the smell so I've cut back

Rawhides - once had a dog that would get them wet and swallow whole; then she was so constipated she cried when trying to poop.  We had to help her by pulling poop from her rectum.  Never gave again, ever, to her or any other dogs I've had

Greenies - used once or twice long ago, thought the bits that broke off were sort of plastic-like and unsafe, never gave again

Pig ears - never tried

Cow hooves - gave once, couldn't stand the smell or stepping on the darn things (OUCH)

RMB - no problems

Bully sticks - never tried until Bear; he likes them but gets diarrhea from them, so he doesn't get them any more. 

Rawhide is the only one I've had a problem with. One got stuck in Cara's throat and I went in after it.

I tossed the cow hooves when I realized how hard they were. So, I still give rawhide under supervision, and all the rest occasionally, but no cow hooves. Don't forget horse hooves (clippings). Those I give.

Rawhides - Casey could care less - unless they are chicken basted. That's the only way he'll eat them.

Greenies - Never gave - heard too many bad things.

Pig ears - I've only given "Better than Ears" and Casey just wasn't too big a fan of those.

Cow hooves, etc - Those are the only things he'll always chew. I dog sat and the people brought a few over. That's the only time he's had any though.

RMB - never gave.

Bully sticks - Never gave. Casey's not a big chewer.

Only ones I have experience with are rawhide and bully sticks.  With the rawhide I went through a lot of different shapes/types before I settled on one to use for Kirby.  I didn't like the way a lot of them would break apart when eating, even though Kirby likes to really chew something before swallowing.  Eventually I settled on the long stick ones that are about the same length and width as bully sticks.  One will last him for many days, and he slowly chews in a way that he never gets any big bites off.  I throw the ends when they get to about 1 inch.  Never had any problems/side effects with them.

 With bully sticks I like to get them between 7"-12" in length.  The only part I worry about is when he gets it down to about 1"-1/2"  Normally I throw it away around then, but every once in a while I won't be paying attention and he will swallow the end piece.  He usually likes to chew it down really small and then work on the end piece a lot before swallowing, but I still don't like to take the risk of a potential blockage or chocking accident.  Still never had any problems with them except maybe slightly softer poop the first few times he had one.

 I think it is important to mention I only feed rawhides and bully sticks when I am with him to supervise.

 

 Rascal tried to swallow the last 1.5" or so of a bully stick, sort of choked on it, and then spent 20 minutes trying to puke it back up. I rushed him to the e-vet, who took x-rays and wanted to operate. I declined and opted to watch him like a hawk instead, hoping that it would be digested. About a week and a half later he finally pooped it out, in stringy, digested-y form.

I don't think I'll feed them again, unless we go for the reaaaally big ones. 

Rawhides: occasional puking

Greenies: no experience

Pig ears: no problems

Cow hooves, smoked knuckle bones, etc.: no problems with cow hooves, no experience with smoked knuckles

RMB (raw meaty bones): 2 dogs broke teeth (both requiring surgery) on marrow bones. Knuckles, necks and ribs haven't given us any problems.

Bully Sticks: digestive upset

• Rawhides - never had a problem
• Greenies - bought them once, dogs gobbled them up in under thirty seconds, looked at the price tag and ingredients and said what a rip off.
• Pig ears - buy them occasionally, never had a problem
• Cow hooves- bought once, dogs had zero interest
• smoked knuckle bones - given for xmas, fed it, dogs puked up bone shards all over the floor during the night
  
• RMB (raw meaty bones) - fed regularly, never had a problem
• Bully Sticks - buy rarely due to price, but never had a problem