Greenies?

[comfycorpse]

Hey everyone,

OK, so I brush Dakota's teeth, but a lot of the time it's a fight over whether I can get the toothpaste on her teeth before she licks it all off the toothbrush. So, today I got a package of Greenies for her, so they could also help with her tartar and keep her teeth clean as well. Well, I decided to google the Greenies when I got back, and I found this article saying that they aren't really digestible and that they can actually KILL your dog because of blockages. Is this true?

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/greenies.asp

[bubbatd]

Yup !!! Stay away from them !!!

[lizzybeth727]

Not necessarily, Comfycorpse.

That article was written in 2005. Sometime around late 2006 or early 2007, the company came out with a different formula for their greenies, which is more digestable and less dangerous.

It's very important to remember that ANYTHING we give our dogs could be potentially dangerous, especially chews. Nylabones aren't good for dogs to eat because they're plastic; rawhide isn't good for some dogs because it doesn't digest and it could also cause a chocking hazard; natural bones aren't good because occasionally they can splinter and cause huge problems; kongs can be eaten; stuffing and squeakers in plush toys can be eaten; and the list goes on and on. The important thing is, we have to educate ourselves on the pros and cons of such products, make a judgement call concerning our personal individual dog and our individual needs, and then supervise our dogs when we give them new things until we are confident they will be safe. I give my dog greenies, because she likes them and I know they don't cause any major problems for her. I also give her rawhides, natural bones, kongs, and plush toys; it's my judgement call and so far we've been fine.

[comfycorpse]

OK, thank you guys. I had been planning on giving them to her daily or once every other day, but I think I'll give them to her maybe twice a week.

[lizzybeth727]

Yeah, I'd recommend once or maybe twice a week, since they ARE full of empty calories.

You can also use natural bones for teeth cleaning. My dog chews on knuckle bones (the big beef bones from the pet stores), and that chewing action does a pretty good job of keeping her teeth clean.

[comfycorpse]

Thanks.

[mrose_s]

I decided not to buy them on purpose, but a while ago I made an order to a website, when they were checking their payments they missed mine and thought I hadn't paid,eventually a week later we contacted one another, they checked again and apoligised for missing it (actually I really like them, they handled it well and future orders have gone great)
But when it arrived, I had a pack of greenies in there.

I give them to Mac and Buster occasionally, Sophie and Harry would swallow them whole but Mac and Buster like to chew things into tiny peices, I figure this minimizes any risk.

[Dekka]

They might be more safe.. but I would hesitate to feed that much 'junk' to my dog on a regular basis. And I have never noticed much a difference in my friend's dog when she started feeding greenies.

IMO raw meaty bones are much more effective at cleaning teeth and are better for the dog in general.

[bubbatd]

Agree !

[comfycorpse]

When I gave her one, she chewed it into really tiny pieces-I plan on getting her some knuckle bones and/or other meaty bones.