More bad news on GREENIES. Received this today.

[BrklynLiberal]

Dog treat danger

I have a warning to pass on...

On the way back from the Dobe National this year, I was walking one of
the dogs at the airport waiting for the owner to return our rental car when the dog decided to throw up.....I was shocked to see a mass of green rubber-like material and immediately called the owner. The mass looked like something you would see in the pad under a carpet. I was assured the dog did not shred
anything...and that the only thing the dog had been given to eat
recently was a "Greenie"...one of those formed green dog treats that look like a toothbrush.....I couldn't believe one of those pressed dog treats would reconstitute into what looked like a mass of foam rubber pieces!

Well, after getting home my friend did an experiment....cut up one of
those things and soaked it in water overnight....low and behold a mass of foam rubber crap! Certainly NOT digestible! We both made a note to never feed those things again...and then last night in the Seattle area the newscast did a piece on...you guessed it GREENIES! A whole story about how dogs are DYING from blockages after eating those stupid things! Here is a link to the article....turns
out they are NOT 100% digestible....DUH!

http://www.kirotv.com/investigations/5325021/detail.html

SO PLEASE pass this info on....permission to cross post!!

Elaine Hopper
Starlaine Dobermans &Whippets

[CornField]

1. I gave Belle a greenie once...

The next day she was acting really weird. I took her to the vet and he said she looked to be "stuffed up" -- we helped her do her business and were reintroduced to the greenie. I'll never give one to an animal again after that.

[IndyOp]

2. How is Belle doing? On Edit: I found your update in the other thread

and responded to it....

I saw her beautiful picture in another thread and read what happened to her a few days ago -- :(

[SiouxJ]

3. I would be willing to be that nothing you give your dog to chew on

is 100% safe. I used to have a dog who threw up every single time he ate a real bone. I would be willing to bet an equal number of dogs die each year from real bone obstructions. I know someone whose dog ate a tennis ball and got an obstruction as well. Then there's rawhide - I'm sure we all know the danger of rawhide. My Border Collie Boris' former owner used to give him two smoked rawhide flips every single day (well, he gave one to him and one to his sister but Boris ate them both as she wasn't interested). This went on for 18 months, until I took the dogs. I knew of the dangers of rawhide, so I switched him to one petite Greenie every day. He loves them and they have always passed no problem. He has had one Greenie per day for almost 2 years now btw. I've watched him eat them and he tends to nibble off little pieces though, as opposed to gulping them down whole. Of course this is a big issue in the news right now but I haven't stopped giving them as I don't have an alternative right now and he'll just start chewing on shoes etc. (also not good for him and can cause a blockage) if I don't give him something when I go out. I really would be interested to see what the statistics are for deaths from other blockages (real bones, rawhide, tennis balls, plastic toys etc.) so I can make an educated decision on this. He's going to end up chewing up something so it is a big concern for me. He's a chewer; there's no stopping him.

As a side note, I'll mention that my last dog (the one who would always throw up real bones) used to eat about one plastic toy per week, and he also ate rags. He loved to chew on my sheets so I used to give him a rag to keep him from doing that. I would find long strips of rag and pieces of plastic toys in his poop every day (we used to call his multi-colored poo "Disney-poo"). The dog lived to be almost 18, so it's hard for me to be too concerned about Greenies. He could not eat what you would think would be safe for a dog (real bones) yet he had no problem passing plastic and fabric. He was also part Border Collie and I always gave him lots of exercise. I would be interested to see stats on blockages (of any sort) vs breed of dog. Also, I wonder if exercise (or lack of it) plays any sort of role in the number of blockages. I am not poo-pooing this or any of the recent posts, I just wonder if it is becoming a point of hysteria or if it a legitimate concern. I doubt the stats are out there but it would be interesting to see what other items cause similar numbers of blockages to Greenies. I'm trying to make an educated choice of what to allow my chewer to chew and it's not easy with the limited information that seems to be out there. If anyone can provide some more insight or ideas of what I can give him, I would appreciate it.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. I give my GSD raw carrots. He loves them. So far so good. No problems.

He gnaws at them, and they keep his teeth clean. His poops tend to have some bright orange areas in them, but that appears to be the only drawback...but on the other hand it makes them easier to spot so I can clean up after him.

[SiouxJ]

5. I suppose I can try that. He tends to eat just about anything

so it might work. Thanks!

[SiouxJ]

7. The carrots didn't go over too well

maybe they'll change their minds :shrug: .

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Try cutting themup into slices and putting them into kongs or some other

toy that you fill with treats. Make it a challenge to get them.

[SiouxJ]

11. I'll try to get creative this weekend

but yesterday they thought I was crazy. I left the carrots for them anyway and went down to my office for a couple of hours. When I returned the carrots were still sitting there untouched.

Poor Boris, first I take away those rawhide flips (which he LOVED) and now his Greenies. He gives me this "WTF?" look when he doesn't get his beloved treat.

Thanks for the tips!

[livetohike]

9. My dogs love raw carrots!

They come running into the kitchen if they hear me scraping them :-).

[SiouxJ]

12. You're lucky.

Unfortunately, because someone else raised mine from pups, I fear their earliest "treats" have spoiled their appetites for healthy ones now.

[EmmaP]

10. Baby carrots

My pooch LOVES baby carrots! She'll also maul you for an apple, a raspberry, a strawberry, or a pretzel! We don't give her Greenies any more...not after she threw up and the Greenie was still almost whole.

[Jane Austin]

6. I won't sell Greenies or Booda Bones at our store

or on our website.

At a trade show, the Greenie People assured me there had been no reports of trouble.

When I got home, though, I posted on a couple of Golden Retriever lists I belong to and got a deluge of reports of everything from feeling bad to surgery and death.

So . . . we don't sell 'em and I don't recommend them.