Safety information from the Founder of Sancho & Lola's Closet, Lynette Cano
"All of our chews are 100% natural and digestible. They will never contain any rawhide. Thus, the main concern when a pup swallows any of our chews like bully sticks, tendons, or ears, would be if it blocks his airway. This can also happen with a piece of jerky, a baby carrot, a squeaker from a toy, or any object they find on the floor. So, we recommend monitoring your pup when you notice they are chewing on anything. One of my dogs has a bad habit of counter-surfing and stealing wine corks, pens, mouthguards, etc. He gets monitored a lot more closely than the others.
If a piece of bully or tendon becomes an obstruction, it will be very noticeable that he/she is having trouble breathing. This is when you want to take him to your veterinarian immediately.
Some dogs, like Sancho, get a gag reflex if they swallow a chew. It gets thrown up immediately. Other dogs, it goes out the other end and may cause their stool to be loose or even runny. Runny stools are no cause for concern unless accompanied by G.I. discomfort. This is rare but can happen to a dog with a sensitive tummy. Therefore, if your pup swallows a chew and there are no obvious signs of obstruction, you may still want to monitor them over the next 24 hours. Call your vet if your dog refuses to eat or has trouble defecating.
* Loose stools from bully sticks and tendons are common for dogs that eat the same food every day. Especially bully sticks since they are high in protein. Old-school veterinarians advise feeding your dog the same food. Holistic vets and nutritionists recommend rotating kibble flavors to mix things up. My favorite proteins to rotate are salmon, turkey, kangaroo, bison, and venison. Since my dogs are part of SNL’s quality control / new product development team, I top off their kibble with a generous tablespoon of canned pumpkin mixed with chia seeds. Both are known to firm up a dog’s stool."
Mine do not have any GI issues with any of our chews other than yak sticks. Lola who is 14 years old has zero issues. The other 3 all barf up a piece of yak stick the next morning if they consume a chunk. Thus, I only feed them yak sticks when I receive samples from a new supplier we are considering.
