Greenies pet treats

Don't know how many of you guys give your pet greenies treats(the treat that is shaped like a toothbrush)but this treat is starting to kill some dogs. It made the Atlanta news and now Newsday paper


Greenies safe or deadly treat?--Newsday.com

After spending Saturday with Jill at the emer vet with her Jack Russell, use with caution. Fortunately he was ok but did pass a "green hunk".

OK Working Woman, it is time that I get serious for a change. I sell Greenies in my store and we sell a ton of them every year. I mean that in all seriousness.... over 2000 pounds worth. We have never had any problem with any of the customers dogs that have eaten Greenies. Having said that, I do acknowledge that some dogs are such aggressive eaters, that they can and do not chew the product completely and will swallow a large hunk at one time. This is a problem with the particular dog, not the product. I remember once when my mother was choking on a piece of steak, and she had to reach down her throat to remove it. I also know of similar situations as a retired EMS person where other people had choked to death. That doesn't mean that steak is dangerous, but just that if it isn't fully chewed, that it can cause problems, and sometimes those problems can be fatal. Dogs as a general rule don't chew there food any more than is necessary to get it down there throats, but even then, some don't even do this. In my experience selling Greenies since introduction, and my professional opinion, Greenies are a safe product to give most pets. Aggressive eaters shouldn't have anything that they will just swallow hole. As the packages are clearly marked

Caution: As with any edible product, monitor your dog to ensure the treat is adequately chewed. Gulping any item can be harmful or even fatal to a dog.

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It is also important that the size of the product be properly sized for the dog.

Greenies® Jumbo for dogs over 100 lbs/45 kg
Greenies® Large for dogs 50 to 100 lbs/22-45 kg
Greenies® Regular for dogs 25 to 50 lbs/11-22 kg
Greenies® Petite for dogs 15 to 25 lbs/7-11 kg
Greenies® Teenie™ for dogs 5 to 15 lbs/2-7 kg
Lil’Bits™* for toy breed dogs under 5 pounds, puppies less than 6 months old or dogs that “gulp.” Lil’ Bits™ can also be used as a training treat or to encourage consumption of dog food (sprinkle it on their food) for dogs that refuse to eat.

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Junkman said:

Aggressive eaters shouldn't have anything that they will just swallow hole.

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Damn! I'm out then.

Have you ever fallen asleep when eating one just to wake in the morning with it stuck in your hair?! That's no fun, I'm tellin' ya.

"Aggressive eaters shouldn't have anything that they will just swallow hole."

Which brings me to a story about my Lab/Weimaraner Cross when we lived in Florida. It was a hot day and the dogs were panting away in the back of the truck so I stopped by a store to get some ice cream for myself and got a few extra for them. All the store had was Ice Cream on a stick so I got a few and threw them in the back of the truck and headed down the road. Got home and went to pick up the sticks and one was missing. At the time, I just figured it fell through the big gap in the tailgate.

The next day I was out scooping the poop and I found a poop on a stick (think corn dog). The dog had eaten the popsicle stick and passed it whole! I've been much more aware of what I give that dog since then. He has eaten some amazing things: large decorative wax candles and whole bags of dried split peas. All of which made for interesting poop scoops the following days.

I can't give him anything rawhide or else he just gases up the house:

Great cleanup dog though. He'll eat just about any vegetables you give him. I think he actually likes carrot sticks.

Our Golden will eat the big Greenie in about 2 minutes. It takes the Yorkie about 2 days to get his miniature one chewed up. They both love carrots--rattle the carrot bag and they come runnin'. Sonny, the Golden, has eaten and passed some wicked stuff.

Junkman said:

It is also important that the size of the product be properly sized for the dog.

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As I had a vet visit scheduled this morning for one of our critters, I took the opportunity to ask him "If he had heard anything negative about the Greenies brand treats?" His response was basically the same as Junks, saying that since they are available in different sizes, it is important to feed the appropriate one to your dog. He has no objections to the quality of the product, and feeds them to his own dog.

He did ask me if I used Diamond brand dog food though (I don't).

My little puppy (well, not so little, 25 pounds now) loves the little greenies. However, in the past, I've had my dog get terribly ill from eating a pig ear. My vet highly recommended to not ever feed my dogs pig ears. He said if it weren't for the flavoring added, no dog would naturally eat a pig's ear. Dargo got really sick and was crapping everywhere when he wasn't puking. So far, no issues with greenies but he has only had one or two in his life.

My dogs LOVE them but they end up getting in fights over them so I stopped giving them treats like that.

OK Junkman I have never fully read the back of the package of the greenies till now, and how many of us do? That would be like reading instructions for Petes sake! I do know of two dogs by two different owners that get the runs every time they were give a greenie. Probably rare cases
I admit I do give my dogs greenis once a week (sunday special treat day in my house)Neither one of my dogs are aggresive chewers and not had any problems with the treats. After three peole contacting me on this I was debating if I should stop giving them the treats. Now I know

As for the pig ears, one of my dogs got severly sick as well. Vet said no to the ears as well.

Pigs ears used to be big sellers, but they are loaded with fat, which is not good for the dogs. The ears are baked or smoked, and the dogs love them. The biggest seller this year has been the bully sticks. They come from bulls and I will leave the rest to your imagination. We have them in all sizes from the smallest to 36" long. The smaller ones are the larger once cut into pieces. They come in braided rings also. Ouch.... that hurts just thinking about it.....

36' bully stick! Man, what a studly bull!

Junk, any idea if they are actually good for the dogs?

Doc said:

36' bully stick! Man, what a studly bull!

Junk, any idea if they are actually good for the dogs?

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" means inches......... ' indicates feet.....

I don't think that they have any real long term benefits other than satisfying the dogs urge to chew. They are similar to rawhide in the fact that they are mostly protein and have a little amount of fat. They do take the dog a long time to chew, so that is good, but they are also on the expensive side costing about $3.00 (three dollars ) for a 9" (thats nine inches ) piece... Junk

think I should get one of these for my own personal use!