Kim,

If your dog ingested a good sized piece of the greenie it wil not pass through her at all, she will become sick. If small enough peices were eaten, they will pass through with the next bowel movement she has.

These are not made of highly digestable ingredients in the first place, no matter how much the dogs may like them, they are not nutritional in any way and a raw meaty bone is much better and safer for removing plaque from the dog's teeth.

If you will type in greenies in the seach by keyword box on the right hand side of the page here, you will find many, more article and comments on Greenies.

Hope you will visit us often now that you have found us here at Whole Dog News!

We just rushed our German Spitz to emergency vet last Friday. My dog is a therapy dog and a gentle eater. He usually took his treat, went to his his bed and chew any treats I gave him. He was vomiting and very lethargic. The x-ray showed a piece of greenies stucked inside his intestine. It costs us hundreds of dollar to find out and scared us to death of the tought of losing him

A friend told us about Greenies, and we have been giving them to our dog for a few weeks now. She loves them. For some reason, I just happened to "Google" Greenies today and am in shock to find out that they are potentially very harmful. Well, the Greenie she had this morning will be her last, as I don't want to take any changes. I do have a question, though. How long will it take to get these Greenies out of her system? I am worried sick about this and wish I had never given her them in the first place.

Thanks for the info

I was not aware of the situation. I am glad that I was told and did research on this, because my dog enjoys greenies a few times a week. After hearing horror stories, I will try something else with him, so I don't experience the same thing.
I know my dog has not had any problems eating greenies, but that doesn't mean that he won't.
Thanks for everyone's feedback.

After having problems with my Pug and Greenies i stopped giving them. Hearing of many problems i put one in water over 2 weeks ago, it's just like plastic now is not breaking down at all.

Can't lie i have not had a single problem with a greenie..

I hope these stories are true.. and not a sick ploy for greenies to lose stock in there product.
My dogs seem to love them.. But due to these accusations i will not feed them any anymore.

It's kinda weird ..

When i think about it..

Kinda like when CNN announces..

Broccoli causes cancer>> Broccoli prevents heart disease....

broccoli causes heart disease.. Do you see my dilemma? Not really a dilemma NO MORE GREENIES>

When in Rome................................................................................. Do as the dog lovers do... :)

Shawn

Shawn and Phillip,

PLEASE, report this to the S&M NeuTec company as they say they get very few people contacting them with any problems. Even if you can not prove that she died from ingesting the greenies you can tell them the whole story and if they poo poo it so be it, at least you are telling them you are not happy with Greenies!

If everyone who has had a dog vomit up Greenies or had green diarrhea from greenies as well as those that choked or had a bowel obstruction from them, told the company what was happening with the "treat", they might just have to admit there are lot more problems going on with their beloved income maker then they ever thought.

So, three things everyone can do is:

1. Report any digestive problems to the company (as well as any bowel obstructions or choking)
2. If your dog goes to the vet due to the problems send them a copy of the report
3. STOP buying Greenies!

Thanks so much!

Greenies are 85% digestible when adequately chewed. If your dog doesn't know to chew then maybe you shouldn't give them Greenies.

Just last month, my dachshund was vomiting and very lethargic. It got to be so bad that he didn't even move. We took him to the emergency animal hospital and they determined he had an intestinal blockage caused by "Greenies". Our dog almost died because apparently greenies do not digest properly and got stuck. This is a very dangerous product and I recommend that all pet owners stop feeding their dogs Greenies.

my dog kept throwing up ,we discontinued the greenies without even reading this and it solved the problem,
SHe is a small shitzsu.
we made the link by coincidence
Tinkerbell,

Shannon,

Greenies are made of materials that do not break down very quickly if at all. It appears that saliva and the other ingredients can make a slimy, sticky product that has become "stuck" to the back of the throat and if accidently inhaled, the trachea.

There have been cases where the owners and even veterinarians can feel/see the piece of greenie but are not able to dis lodge it without doing surgery.

How does the greenie get stuck in the trachea?

Television station just did a special on Greenies that are directly responsible for the death of dogs in the twin city area. They interviewed a vet. that had gone emergency surgery to save a dog after eating greenies.
This is a dangerous product for dogs and i would assume the same goes for cats.

I had heard rumors and stories for months about the dangers of Greenies but was unable to find any information until a friend sent me an email with all of your horrible stories yesterday. I also read the truth on snopes.com! I gave my dog a teeny Greenie yesterday and that will be the last one he ever gets. Is there a campaign to get these off the market??

I am sorry to hear about your dog. My dog too has experienced the meanie Greenies. Fortunately he was able to be saved, but it was close.

Beau-toxed by the Meanie Greenie

Although I am being a bit cleaver, Greenies are NO TREAT! Dog owners need to know about this problem with a product they are probably using.

“The original smart green treat” is apparently not very smart! Much to our shock, sadness, and disappointment our Bernese Mountain Dog Beau came very close to dying because of a Greenie. I know now how lucky we were. Three year old very healthy Beau stopped eating or drinking and vomited until he ran out of all energy. The vet determined that it was a blockage in his intestine and had to operate. Blocking his intestine was a piece of a Greenie! This was verified by independent lab results.

The manufacture determined through its “investigation” that the Greenie was chewed insufficiently and that Greenies are “not recommend for dogs that have a tendency to gulp products”. Are you kidding me! How naïve and insulting! Exactly what is a "gulp"? I do not know of a dog that does not eat quickly (gulp) food and treats that are specifically produced to taste good. Their slogan touts “with a taste and texture pets love”. After notifying the company of Beau's problems they have added a cautionary comment on their website’s feeding instructions regarding adequately chewing; unfortunately this caution was after the fact for Beau. The previous instructions did not say anything about for nibbling dogs only and not for gulpers. Don't they know that dogs don't "chew" food, because they have no "chewing" teeth - they rip, tear, break, and chomp, but they don't chew!

It is still amazing to us that “The original smart green treat” is apparently not smart enough to break down once in the stomach and intestine of the very animal it is made for. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

We have come to find out, by complete coincidence, that others in our area in which we live and nationally have also had Greenie blockage problems. Many have not been as fortunate as Beau and have DIED as a result of Greenies. So, Beau apparently is not an anomaly and there obviously is a recurring problem with the digestion, or lack thereof, of Greenies.

Beau is for the most part healthy, but still today has a nagging intestinal infection (months later) that is now leading to the veterinarians recommending having him neutered. Tragic as Beau is a purebred BMD from Championship blood lines. We imported him with high hopes that he would become an asset to the pool of quality dogs to our area by bringing some healthy qualities to the BMD breed in our area. He has extremely structure - healthy bones and joints. Our plans have been thwarted by this Greenie tragedy. That is really sad and we are still trying to get through that element of this saga.

The Greenie guarantee reads “If you are satisfied, tell your friends!” I guess the reverse is true too. ALL DOG OWNERS NEED TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT THIS TO ALL WHO WILL HEAR - to our vets, pet stores, suppliers, other news organizations etc.

The Greenie people know about this problem and what are they really doing??? They claim that Greenies "provide dog owners throughout the world with an effective alternative to brushing their pets’ teeth"; if that is the case why did they in recent past started producing Greenie bits that are typically swallowed almost whole? How are they good for teeth when the teeth barely touch them? How they can develop a product that would not break down in the stomach and intestine of the animal they make if for is beyond belief.

Do not use this product or support this company. Encourage pet stores to discontinue the sale of Greenies. Greenies are killers. I am not a animal rights fanatic, in fact, I despise those types, but I do love dogs and hate to have this info not get out to the public. The company is ignoring this problem and trying to silence the "extremely rare" problems. One does not have to look far to see that bad experiences and deaths are NOT extremely rare at all.

Please contact me if you too have and a bad Greenie experience. We must speak out!

I am happy to discuss this with you and keep in touch.

Again, I am sorry to hear of your sad experience, I encourage you to pursue this, as we need to prevent other dogs from dying.

Matthew Balkman

matthew@balkman.com