# GREENIE ALERT!



## janiebabes (Mar 30, 2004)

This dog's name was Ch Jocal DblKim Stars N Stripes....call name Flag.... He was bred by me, went to Texas where he finished his championship and at the age of 3 yrs was killed by a piece of greenie lodged in his esophagus.

I personally don't use, nor recommend anything that is man-made that won't dissolve easily. Best chews for cleaning teeth I have found is a raw beef rib bone, large enough it can't be swallowed. My guys & gals love these starting out with the raw meat on them for them to enjoy and then they chew on the bones for weeks. And the animal's can digest small pieces they might manage to chew off. Stomach juices are more powerful than ours.

I found a minimal need for scaling teeth after going to the raw bones for them..... They scale the teeth pretty well and have a blast doing so.

Jo Hunt



Here's a copy of the letter I sent to greenies when it first happened. I'm thinking I should write to The Whole Dog Journal and tell them what happened. I just got a new issue, and there was an article about all the common things that can kill dogs, like chocolate, grapes, raisins, etc. A new one on me was xylitol, which apparently is very toxic for some dogs and can be fatal. It's a low-calorie sugar found in some chewing gums, some candy (for diabetics), and as a sugar substitute. 


Dear Greenies people,

I am writing to let you know of an incident that resulted in my champion 3-yr-old Long Coat Chihuahua's death. I am a retired veterinarian and physician, and I had believed that Greenies were a safe and nutritious treat. I have been afraid of rawhide for years and never give rawhide chews to my dogs. 

What happened was that the Greenie material became impacted in the dog's esophagus, and an esophageal rupture and pneumothorax resulted. He suffered cardiac arrest during the endocscopy and was brought back, but the damage was such that the decision was made not to attempt repair of the esophagus with the complications of the chest tube and the sternotomy that was done when he arrested.

The veterinary specialist in Internal Medicine who treated my dog stated that she had seen numerous cases of esophageal impactions due to Greenies since she has been practicing in Austin, Texas, in the last 3.5 yrs. I breed and show Chihuahuas and I will be letting everyone that I know about the dangers of Greenies. And most everyone I know does give Greenies to their dogs. We all thought that we were giving the best and safest treat available to our dogs. I found out differently in the hardest, saddest way possible. My dog who died was my first Chihuahua and my first AKC champion. He was a very special little boy, and he will be greatly missed. 

I have no idea of the incidence of esophageal impaction from Greenies, other than the statement by the Internal Medicine specialist. However, I would suggest that you consider reformulating your product to prevent similar such accidents. I wonder if the presence of glycerin, gluten, and cellulose contributed to the melding and impacting effects. My dog weighed 8 lb, 14 oz and had free access to water. Unfortunately, I was not at home when the incident occurred.

I would also suggest that you place a warning, similar to the Black Box warning on certain medications, that esophageal impaction, rupture, and death may result from feeding Greenies and that dogs should never be left alone and unobserved with these treats. I would put this warning in BIG BLACK LETTERS!!!


----------



## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

*Thanks and some questions?*

Thanks for the post. I thought that all bones were bad for dogs and could get chipped and splinter in their throats? I gave my doberman a beef rib bone about 12 years ago and it ended up lodged in the roof of his mouth and had to be removed. I think I am to the point where I am scared of anything and everything. I was in fact giving Yoshi greenies and now I will stop that as well. Do you have any idea of any other type of chew treat that may not be very dangerous. I know that the Gallileah (spelling?) bone is invincible and it takes years to chew these things up if ever. Have you heard of these, are they ok?


----------



## janiebabes (Mar 30, 2004)

No, The only thing now I give my chis is the milk bones IF a beef bones they are speaking of are a great deal larger than their mothes I will allow them to have that under my supervision. I inspect their beef bones if it get to small. I chuck them


----------



## Vala (Jul 8, 2004)

:? Sad. I'm just careful that I am AT HOME when I feed them greenies and watching them until is gone. All dogs are different mine past them like water and I've never have a problem. Sorry for her loss. 

P.S. also teaching your chis how to not gobble the thing in a second or inhale it as some say helps lots. :wink:


----------



## goldie (Jun 22, 2005)

Vala said:


> P.S. also teaching your chis how to not gobble the thing in a second or inhale it as some say helps lots. :wink:


how do you teach that! Tico eats his kibble fine (as in he actually chews it), but if he gets any treats larger than a tiny bit (which he seems to chew), it gets swallowed whole!


----------



## luv4mygirls (Feb 20, 2005)

goldie said:


> Vala said:
> 
> 
> > P.S. also teaching your chis how to not gobble the thing in a second or inhale it as some say helps lots. :wink:
> ...


for me when they get at a certain size i throw them away. from day one, i held bones while they chew on them. so if i noticed one was small i have confidence that i can reach down and take it away from them without worry that i will lose a finger in the process.


----------



## Vala (Jul 8, 2004)

goldie said:


> Vala said:
> 
> 
> > P.S. also teaching your chis how to not gobble the thing in a second or inhale it as some say helps lots. :wink:
> ...


You hold the treat in your hand (make sure you have a good grip on it) and offer it to the puppy/dog...if he starts trying to eat your hand whole take it away and say NO! offer the treat again and do the same over and over...eventually he will realize the treat is not going anywhere and he can relax and chew slow (only let it have it until the piece is so small you're grabbing it with fingernails)...we read it in a book..but I can't remember which one..is supposed to prevent food fights and choking. :wink: Hope that helps.


----------



## goldie (Jun 22, 2005)

he is actually really good with larger treats that I'm holding. But if it slips away from me, he will gulp down the whole thing! Mostly with the meaty treats - buscuits he will chew up. But something like doggy jerky, if he has a 1" long piece - he will swallow it whole. If he gets a tiny piece of it, he will chew on it.
Also, dental bones & greenies he chews until there is just a chunk left and then gives the 'leftovers' to me.


----------



## Jen (Sep 13, 2005)

Thank you! Do you think Nylabones are dangerous as well?


----------



## Alli (Jul 21, 2005)

I would think nylabones would be okay because it would be very hard for a chi to bite off a large chunk. Although I'm sure there are lots of negative reports about those as well. I just think you shouldn't give them anything without supervision just to be on the safe side. I give Diego greenies a couple times a week and he does fine but he's a real chewer, and I wouldn't give him one if he gulped things down, but I always throw away the ends. Has anyone given theirs Pedigree dentastix? I gave one to Diego and he liked it but it was much softer than the greenies and he ate it up quite quickly. I couldn't find anything negative about them.


----------



## Gadget's Mom (Jan 14, 2005)

Gadget only gets his CET chews, chicken jerky (made with real pieces of chicken), puparoni sticks.... only if I am sitting there, and his milk bones.. but it takes him a weeks to eat one milk bone because he carries it aroudn the house burring it under everything he can find.. and then hours later he goes and gets it and varries it around some more and burries it somewhere else....


----------



## chimom (Apr 1, 2005)

Gadget's Mom said:


> Gadget only gets his CET chews, chicken jerky (made with real pieces of chicken), puparoni sticks.... only if I am sitting there, and his milk bones.. but it takes him a weeks to eat one milk bone because he carries it aroudn the house burring it under everything he can find.. and then hours later he goes and gets it and varries it around some more and burries it somewhere else....


Dori, that sounds like Jazzy with the milk bones! :lol: I'm still on the original box of milk bones I bought when I first brought her home.


----------



## chichime (Jan 30, 2005)

I am so sorry about your chi. We in the medical field do our research and try to do what we feel is safe and healthy for our pets. It is so sad when a tragedy like yours happens. I have always given greenies because I believed them to be safe, but after reading your letter, no more. I will try the bones, that sounds like a good alternative. I feed my chi Royal Canin, and I worry about the tiny pieces of food, sometimes she hacks and I do worry about aspiration. In your personal opinion, what do you think is a good food and size pebble for tiny dogs?


----------



## Chico's Mama (May 22, 2005)

I'm so sorry about your chi  

I'm so paranoid when I give Chico any kind of chewie. I watch him like a hawk until it's gone.


----------



## Katie (Apr 9, 2005)

so sorry for your loss. im starting to be a lot more cautious about the treats and chewies i give to my babys now. i would have neevr knew anything about how bad the rawhides are if i didnt read it here. i was confused about beefhide and pighide...is that still considered rawhide and as dangerous? cuz ive been using pig ears now and some natural rib bones and knee bones from petsmart.


----------



## my3angels (Apr 15, 2004)

omg how sad. I am so sorry. I have always been scared to give my pups greenies and I too will watch them the intire time they are eating them. After this story though I will never feed them a greenie again. I think I will give them the rib bones since they work so well. Again i am sorry for ur loss and thank u for sharing ur story so that we can all learn from it.


----------



## arizonaalum (Aug 10, 2005)

Hi guys! 

I was given a greenie sample by one of the workers at the vets office and was told Bella would love them. She also told me just to give her half, so i did. She ate 1/2 today. Then as i was browsing around the website tonight i see these things can make them sick! when will i know if she will get blockage..................or diarreha? it has been about 12 hrs, and she went twosies about 2 hours ago and it was normal consistency. I am just a little nervous.


----------



## Vala (Jul 8, 2004)

arizonaalum said:


> Hi guys!
> 
> I was given a greenie sample by one of the workers at the vets office and was told Bella would love them. She also told me just to give her half, so i did. She ate 1/2 today. Then as i was browsing around the website tonight i see these things can make them sick! when will i know if she will get blockage..................or diarreha? it has been about 12 hrs, and she went twosies about 2 hours ago and it was normal consistency. I am just a little nervous.


 :wink: lol, yes, I'm sure your puppy is not in any peril....

:wink: See, i hate when this happens...somebody comes with a story that as sad as it is...is one case in thousands of users and scares the pants off people...IMHO, just watch what your dog eats..I'm pretty sure EVERY SINGLE food out there is totally dangerous for one animal or another. :wink: First off it wouldn't even be on the market if it was THAT bad.


----------



## McKague (Sep 18, 2005)

I am soooo sorry about what happened to your dog. Did you send a copy of the vet report also? The reason I say this is that they might not believe you unless you have proof, another thing is that if you put that he was a champion quote:I am writing to let you know of an incident that resulted in my champion 3-yr-old Long Coat Chihuahua's death.
And then later on you put that he weighed 8 lb. 14oz. Well I really don't think that they will believe you because anyone who breeds and shows dogs know that they have to be between 3-6 lbs. to even qualify to be shown unless he was very overweight. If I were you I think I would reword it and send proof or they might not take it serious. Again I am sorry to here about what happened and I do not give greenies to my dogs they get nylabones or raw bones.


----------



## Cooper (Jun 15, 2005)

I'm so sorry about your dog.

I have given Cooper a greenie every day for the last 2 1/2 years and, after seeing no problems with them from my own experience, I will continue to give them to him. I firmly believe that there is risk in just about everything these days and, although what happened to your dog is unfortunate, it could might have happened with a milkbone, a rawhide, or anything else you gave him.

I think the one thing everyone should learn from your experience is to watch your dog (and children and cats and grandma) with everything you give them and to never take for granted the fact they haven't had problems with whatever it is in the past.

Again, I'm sorry about the death of your dog. I do believe you are doing the right thing by contacting the Greenies people though - there have been many stories like yours and perhaps they need to reevaluate the bones and create one that has less of a choking risk for those dogs that like to bite off bigger pieces.


----------



## Cooper (Jun 15, 2005)

I'd also like to post this from the Greenies website under Feeding Guidelines:

Greenies® is recommended for dogs over six (6) months of age and over five (5) pounds (Greenies® Lil’Bits™ are ideally suited for toy breeds, puppies and dogs known to “gulp” their food). Feed the correct size Greenies® for your dog’s weight, as indicated above, one to two times daily as a treat. Greenies® are not intended to be complete and balanced and therefore should not exceed 25% of your dog’s daily diet. A greenish color in the dog’s stool is a normal and harmless result of consuming chlorophyll. As with any treat, always offer water after feeding. If obesity is a concern, reduce food intake. If you have any questions, call 1-866-GREENIES (1-866-473-3643) or email [email protected]. *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.*


----------

