Beware of Merrick Natural Stuffed Twin Hoofers Dog Treats

[solidbeef]

http://www.chewy.com/dog/merrick-natural-stuffed-twin-hoofers/dp/37504

I gave my 1 year old English Mastiff one of these on Sunday. He ate it and broke it in several pieces but not small enough where they were stuck in his small intestines. He was not able to pass them naturally. Yesterday he went into surgery to remove the blockage. They found 7 pieces in his stomach around the size of half of a credit card. Poor guy. I feel so terrible I gave it to him. Thank God I have pet insurance to help with the costs of surgery. He comes home tomorrow.

He is in the stage where he is eating anything he can get his mouth on. Socks, underwear, toys, he has been able to pass them or throw them up before just not these hoof pieces. Does anyone give hoofs to their dogs? Should I risk giving him any other bones in the future?

 

[ruthcatrin]

That is a risk anytime you give something chewable to a dog, and frankly has nothing to do with the product itself, so please don't use scare tactics on specific products.

I do give a variety of bones and hooves and chews to both my dogs, however both my dogs are good about chewing things properly, and I remove them once they start getting small enough to swallow whole just to be safe.

 

[solidbeef]

your right. I guess it doesnt matter what you give him, its the risk you have to take if you decide to give him any treats. My problem is how do you teach him to only swallow smaller pieces???? Just really frustrated that this happened.

 

[ruthcatrin]

It requires supervision, and some dogs never get it and simply can't be given such.

Basically if you're giving him something that has the potential to be broken down to bits to be swallowed (and that isn't supposed to be eaten in large quantities, bully sticks for example) you have to supervise closely and be prepared to remove pieces or the entire thing from the dog. That assumes that you've trained the dog to allow you to take things out of his mouth, and I highly recommend always trading for it, a treat or another toy makes such things go much smoother.

 

[solidbeef]

Yes, I do try to trade since he has shown that he resource guards. I have been working on that. Are bully sticks dangerous? He seems to break those down before he swallows them but that is one thing that he loves so much that he guards it. I have two other dogs where he might feel he is always in competition for treats. I also have 2 young kids and need to make sure they are always safe when they go near him

 

[ruthcatrin]

bully sticks aren't generally dangerous, though I suppose if he swallowed it whole it might cause a problem. If nessecary make sure he only gets those in his crate till you're sure you have the guarding problem taken care of.

 

[DennasMom]

DH got Denna a 3 foot long bully stick... after he let her work on it for a good hour, he decided to take it away and save the rest for later... he ended up pulling about 2 feet up out of her gullet... she had chewed it nice and soft, but was swallowing the thing without breaking off pieces. This is basically how she eats dinner too (chews only enough to be able to swallow it) - and one reason she gets chunks of meat and not whole roasts at a time. LOL.

Our past dogs have all done well with hooves (haven't tried the newer 'stuffed' varieties). Denna tends to do more crunch & swallow on those, though, too... so, no hooves for her. Sorry your guy had to have surgery, I dread the day we end up in that same location because I was "nice" and gave her a treat that she decides not to chew.

Since Denna's raw fed, she gets raw bones to chew on (pork/beef ribs for the most part) - as long as she doesn't get too many at once, they digest fine. Otherwise, she's stuck with her kong and busy budy toys, along with a large antler and some ropes (although, she's now decided to ingest rope threads too... which can't be good. Argh.)

Any treat or toy can be dangerous - depending on the dog... we're finding more things are dangerous for our mastiff, since she prefers swallowing over gnawing on things... and it's not due to resource guarding, no canine competition in the house. We can take anything from her at any time without a problem... I guess she just likes to consume things. sigh.

 

[kfpmarko]

My bullmastiff had nearly an identical experience with this exact product last spring. While I understand all chew toys/bones are potential hazards, I can say with confidence that I will never ever ever purchase the twin hoofs again- they are extremely dangerous!!!!

 

[Louies Mom]

Similar situation except mine had a double hoof that had the bone inside..he swallowed the bone so fast He too had surgery to remove it on Tuesday. These things happen so fast, but we've learned there isn't much we can give him to chew on. Rawhides, bully sticks are out as are most bones. Hard to find something he likes and will keep him entertained. Solid beef, I hope your pup is healing well.

 

[ruthcatrin]

My bullmastiff had nearly an identical experience with this exact product last spring. While I understand all chew toys/bones are potential hazards, I can say with confidence that I will never ever ever purchase the twin hoofs again- they are extremely dangerous!!!!

Hope you never buy single hooves or most other chews either then, they're all just as dangerous if the dog is inclined to chew things that way.

 

[Hector]

I gave my dogs hooves one day and they ate it and then 2 days later, one of my dogs threw up a piece of undigested hoof with bile. After that, no more hooves. I give them the little rawhide twists or cow ears. Bully sticks costs too much and they be gone in 15 minutes

 

[Hector]

What about giving your dog a large or even jumbo antler chew? Reasonable prices on ebay. Buy the big thick ones

 

[solidbeef]

My boy Banner comes home today. Poor guy has to wear the cone of shame since he has been licking his stiches. I feel so stupid for giving him the hoofs. I guess I need to stick to his kong and large antlers. What about those large 2 feet femur bones?? does anyone have experience with those? Do they break easy? I just want something to keep him entertained for longer than 5 minutes at a time.

 

[solidbeef]

What sucks is that he does well with rawhides and bully sticks. Now I am scared to give them to him in the future. Totally my fault with the hoofs. I saw him eat it and thought he could digest them. Boy was I really wrong. Hope your boy recovers well too Louies Mom.

 

[Iymala]

I have had big chewers and marrow bones always worked for us. He could not get big chunks of the bone off, but I would still recommend supervision. You could always stuff the kongs with a frozen mix or smear peanut butter or cheese spread inside to make them more interesting.