The freshness factor alone is a good reason to try to buy American-made rawhide chews for your dog. But itโs also true that itโs less likely that illegal or toxic chemicals are used in the productsโ manufacturing if the products are made in the United States. Lead, arsenic, mercury, chromium salts, formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals have been detected in low-quality hides.
Read that label carefully, by the way. The pet product manufacturers are aware that many pet owners see โMade in Chinaโ or other indications of foreign manufacture as a red flag, and they are ingenious at finding ways to make their products look as if they were domestically produced. Iโve seen products with American flags on the label that were made overseas. Even the phrases like โmade in Americaโ or โmade from American beefโ are abused; sometimes, the fine print will reveal that whatโs meant is Mexico, or South or Central America. There is a difference!
Some companies have made a case for the use of South American (especially Brazilian) beef hides. They say that cattle there are raised on grass, with fewer hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics, resulting in a healthier, more natural rawhide. Their competitors in the U.S. counter that cattle raised in warm, equatorial climates are thinner skinned -resulting in thinner, less chewy chews -and that foreign manufacturing can be dicey. Both arguments have some merit, which is why I donโt use country of origin as my sole (or even the most important) selection criterion when shopping for dog chews.
Instead, I look at the thickness of the hide itself (thicker is better, because it will take longer for a dog to chew) and its color. Extremely white hides are unnatural; they have to be bleached and/or painted to appear so white. Natural or lightly bleached rawhides are a light tan, like a manila folder. These less-processed hides retain more of the natural flavor and aroma of the hide. โBasted,โ smoked, and decoratively tinted products might be any color (or odor) underneath the coating of (often artificial) dyes and flavors, and so I avoid them.
Speaking of odor: It stands to reason that the dried skin of an animal would naturally present some aroma. However, a rawhide chew really shouldnโt smell rotten or putrid; such an odor could indicate a high bacterial load. On the other hand, neither should a rawhide chew be completely odor-free! This would indicate that the product had been subject to extreme bleaching and chemical treatment.
For more information on chew toys for your dog, purchase Destructive Chewing, an ebook from Whole Dog Journal.
