Dangerous Toys and Treats for your Dog
Friday, February 21, 2020 09:34:00 AM America/Los_Angeles
Toys are a wonderful source of enjoyment and fun for your dog. Additionally, keeping your dog busy will help her remain healthy and may help prevent her from developing problematic behaviors such as barking, continuous crying, and destructive chewing.
Importance of Dog Toys and Treats
Provide Dogs with Tools for Exercise
Throwing a ball for your dog and playing with her is a nice way to help her keep fit. Dogs can easily become obese and vulnerable to illnesses if they do not stay active. Obesity should be avoided because it can lead to diabetes and organ damage.
Toys Promote Dental Health for Pets
You should ensure that your dog has clean teeth, because poor dental hygiene can cause infections and bad breath. A good way of improving your pet's dental hygiene is to invest in quality chew toys and other toys that are designed to clean a dog's teeth.
Reduces Boredom
Pets require stimulation because they can become easily bored. When bored, dogs sometimes resort to wildness and could be disobedient or destructive.
Toys are an Excellent Way to Keep your Dog Entertained.
Other pet toys like toys that give treats when the dog does a certain action can be a good way to stimulate your dog's mind and encourage it to use its problem-solving skills.
Treats and Playtime Help the Emotional Development of Pets
Dogs are a pack animal by nature. This means that they need to bond with others and feel loved. Therefore spending as much time playing with the dog as you can is a great way to keep them happy.
Dangerous Dog Toys and Dangerous Treats for Dogs
While toys and treats are important for the health of your dog, some of them are also risky. For instance, some dangerous dog toys such as a rawhide chew, rubber chew toys, and bones are a choking hazard for your dog. You should therefore avoid them or supervise your dog when playing with them to avoid serious injury or death. If your dog swallows bit of any of these toys, it may be a good idea to set up an indoor potty so you can monitor their poos.
Below are some of the most common, dangerous dog toys and treats.
Raw Hide Chews
Dogs and puppies love to chew, and they often never grow out of the habit. Thus, to save your furniture and other belongings, pet owners often give their dogs chew toys.
One such chew toy is the rawhide. The rawhide consists of a roll of leathery strips made in the form of a bone. This shape makes it attractive and appealing to dogs and can help eliminate chewing problems.
However, rawhide dog toys can pose a risk of choking, making them dangerous treats for dogs. As the dog chews on the rawhide, large pieces of the material can break off and get stuck in the dog's esophagus, which can lead to choking and suffocation.
The rawhide toy is made of resilient and durable material. If the dog swallows huge chunks of the material, it does not break down in the stomach, which is why these are dangerous treats for dogs. If your dog swallows large chunks of rawhide, they may need surgery to remove the indigestible material from their stomach.
Bones
Dog owners may give a bone to their pet to chew on because they think it is natural for dogs. The problem is that if the dog breaks the bones, they may swallow huge pieces of the bone, which may become wedged in the intestines. This can require surgery to remove, making bones dangerous treats for dogs.
Bones can also disintegrate in the mouth resulting in injury in the mouth, throat, and intestines. Removing such pieces may require an emergency surgery. Bones can also ruin the dog's teeth by wearing down the enamel. The tooth fragments may also cause mouth and digestive puncture, which is why they can be dangerous dog toys.
If an injury like this happens to your pet, they are likely to suffer from infection and mouth pain that can prevents them from eating.
Other bone related problems may include leakage of intestinal contents, which can cause difficulties with potty training.
Rubber Chew Toys
Pet owners love to buy rubber chew toys for their dogs because they can be colorful, fun, and easy on the wallet. Some rubber chew toys have hollowed- out areas where the owner can place treats for their dog to find.
Despite the above benefits, rubber chew toys are not completely safe. For instance, dogs can have their tongue or jaw stuck in the hollowed-out toys as they attempt to remove the treats. This can lead to distressing injury and hurried trips to the vets, making them potentially dangerous dog toys.
You should ensure that the rubber toy is the correct size for your dog. Giving your dog too small of a toy could result in choking. Too big of a toy, on the other hand, could cause excessive strain and severe damage to the jaw muscles.
Steps to Take if you Suspect your Pet Swallowed a Foreign Object
When a dog swallows a piece of bone, rawhide or a rubber toy, it takes about 15-24 hours for the object to move through the digestive system. However, some objects may take longer and can stay in the stomach for months.
The foreign object may also be too huge to pass through the digestive system. When this happens, the objects cause obstruction, and the dog may suffer.
Signs that your Pet has Swallowed a Foreign Object Include:
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Lack of Appetite
Abdominal Tenderness
Behavioral Changes such as Growling or Biting when Picked Up
Lethargy
If you suspect that your dog has swallowed a foreign object, observe your dog's potty pads to ensure that your dog has passed It. You may need to set up an indoor dog potty to make sure that your dog does not go outdoors for its bathroom needs and you miss the foreign object. You should see a vet if nothing comes out or if you notice a change in the behavior of your dog.
However, there is still the likelihood that passing the object may be painful, especially if it is a sharp bone. In such cases, you may want to seek a veterinary assistance. Never attempt to pull a foreign body that is protruding from your pet's rectum because this can cause severe damage to the pet’s internal tissues.