Are the dogs treats Greenies bad for dogs?

Question

We give our dogs one Greenie every morning. This woman who owns a pet store told me that they stopped selling Greenies because of the aritficial colors in them and she told me to stop giving the dogs Greenies. Are Greenies really bad for dogs?

Answer 1

This is a very controversial subject.  

There are many people on both sides of this argument.  I have used greenies at times and had no problems.  I think the complaint was a risk of choking, not the color.  

Are they bad?

Your guess is as good as mine.

They are very popular with the many people who believe they are fine.

How could they be so bad if they have so many people buying and using them???  Makes no sense to me.  -!-

Answer 2

I used to give them to my dog. I stopped. There was a risk of intestinal blockage. Maybe the company fixed the problem but why take the risk?

Answer 3

it is not the coloring of the greenies that are bad for dog it is the fact that the material that makes the Gennie is not digestible..that is why if you read on the NEW packaging it states alow your dog to drink water after feeding them a greenie..this will alow the dog to flush it through the asofigus and not get blocked up..see a few yrs back when i worked for a feed stor they were recalled as two many little dogs wer sufficating from eating geenies so they had to recall all of them and redo the packaging to alow owners know and understand that the subastance is not a diagestable substance...we didnt carry them for about two weeks..the best way to make sure is to not alow your dog to gulp the greenie but make sure he/she is chewing it properly..

Answer 4

I heard when they first came out in stores, people were giving them to their dogs un-supervised and the dogs were choking on pieces.  Since then the companies have changed the way they are made, and they are suppose to be safer.  We do not give them to our dog.

Answer 5

It tears their stomach. So, I don't give them to my dogs anymore.

Answer 6

I have also heard they are bad but not because of the color.  Because of the composition of the product, it can sometimes cause an impaction in the dog's bowels resulting in surgery.

Answer 7

If your dog(s) chew them really fast, you could have a problem with large chunks in their stomach/intestines that may cause a blockage.  It isn't the color, as it is mainly chlorophyll, used to freshen breath.

We had one dog die from retching enough to cause an embolus that shut down blood flow ONLY to her stomach.  At necropsy, her stomach was completely dead, and she had recently thrown up Greenie chunks.

We still give Greenies to the dogs that chew as though they had some manners.

Answer 8

A lot of people have stopped using them because of reports that some dogs have trouble digesting them, which can lead to very serious problems.  I use more soluble treats like Bright Bites instead.  They do a great job of cleaning my dog's teeth but are more digestible.  

http://brightbites.com/