Fastest Fingers In The South

Foxy Lady. My thirteen year old Shepherd. In her vintage hat, ready for spring. But tonight it is cool and dark and all the dogs were chewing rawhide. What is it with rawhide and Foxy? She chews on her bone and the next minute I hear her hacking away, it has gotten stuck in her throat. I have stayed away from rawhide because of her. But with six dogs a yapping, I thought I'd try again.  So this week I bit the bullet and bought rawhide bones. Five for the bigger dogs and Chloe the Chi has a dental bone. Every dog was just chomping away, happy with their big ole bone,I was on the computer and then, argh, I heard this horrible gasping sound and turned around, Foxy was choking on her rawhide. A big old glomp of it in her throat. Her head was down and she was gagging. The rawhide was stuck and she was trying to get it out. This happened to her years ago and I vowed not to let her near rawhide again. I ran over, opened her mouth and with two fingers was deep into her throat and jerked it out. After my total panic and then the happy moment she was fine, I remembered that all those years ago I was forever doing this to her. My husband told me I had the fastest fingers in the south. Couldn't believe how quickly I could snatch something out of her throat. From rawhide to the worms in the yard and other things I dare not mention.A sweet memory tonight after a total panic on my part. So, no more rawhide for the dogs. Back to letting them chew on my furniture. I'd rather replace a chair than a dog. If anyone has some thoughts on treats for dogs that take time to chew and are safe, please explain to me! You would think after all my years with dogs I'd get this right!

Widow Lesson Learned: It is better to put up with the racket and chewing on chairs from six dogs than to have one dog hacking away choking on her toy.