[Zumie05]

You know, I would think that rawhides are safer for puppies than for adult dogs. Puppies don't have as strong of jaws as an adult does, and therefore wouldn't be able to knaw off large chunks as easily. Gary has rolled rawhide, not compressed, and at 6months still hasn't been able to even open it up. He is a light chewer though and gets bored of his chew toys in 10 - 20 mins.

However, puppies are more prone to try to swallow things that they shouldn't, so IF one did manage to bite off a chunk, he would most likely try to swallow it and cause a blockage. Rawhides are dangerous because when swallowed in a larger chunk, it swells inside the dog and is more likely to cause a blockage than other chew toys.

So overall, the feeding of rawhide really should depend on what type of chewer your dog is. If you have a power chewer, definately do not feed anything rawhide. If you have a light chewer, then rawhides should be okay as long as the dog is supervised during the chew.