There are plenty of great gifts to treat your dog to - but cheap rawhide chews shouldn't be included

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As the pressure mounts on which Christmas gifts to give the best loved family members, the dogs are going to be included.

But what if that colourful present was actually a danger to your dog? What if it contained toxins, or was a high risk choking hazard, or a gift that could ruin their guts and end in a visit to the vet for treatment - or worse?

After our best chews for dogs gift guide, we want to tell you about the dangers of cheap, commercially manufactured rawhide chews that make a colourful impact in shops around Christmas.

Just because they're dyed in Christmas colours doesn't mean they'll be safe for your dog. In fact rawhide can actually prove to be a dangerous choking hazard, getting stuck in the throat or even bloating the tummy.

Here are some of those dangers and reasons you we do not support dogs being gifted these cheap rawhide as a festive treat - or a treat any time of the year.

Rawhide is made from part of animal skin that isn't used in the production of leather. In its "raw" state goes into the chew you see at the pet stop - but that isn't the only step in the process.

Sodium sulfide liming is the process used to remove hair from the hide. After this, they're washed and whitened using a solution of hydrogen peroxide. Chemicals such as arsenic and formaldehyde, as well as adhesive glues, are used to make the fun shapes you may find these chews in.

Not Digestible: Rawhides start off as hard but get softer as your dog chews and saliva soaks it. Similar to the consistency of bubble gum or taffy, the rawhides are not easily digested by dogs due to the gummy texture.

A choking Hazard: Due to being very hard and firm to begin with, if your dog manages to shallow a segment, the rawhide can get lodged in the back of your dog’s throat, blocking their airways. There’s even the potential risk of tearing of the oesophagus lining, especially when they are trying to cough the treat up out of the throat.

Potentially contaminated with toxins: Rawhides go through an extensive amount of chemical processing which helps make the rawhide last such a long time

A danger to tummies as they swell: Rawhides can swell up to four times bigger than their original size in the intestines and stomach which can lead to gastrointestinal problems and life threatening blockages. Your dog could experience vomiting, diarrhoea and pancreatitis, a painful an inflammation of the pancreas.

A potential source of bug contamination: During the manufacturing process it is possible that the chews can be contaminated by bacteria such as salmonella and e-coli.

Not considered a food: Technically not a food but rather a chew not to be consumed, raw hides are not covered by the usual processing, labelling or content laws so manufacturers are able to use effective chemicals in their processing.

As if the risk of your dog ingesting these chemicals wasn't bad enough, there is a whole host of other chewing issues associated with rawhides.

Rawhide chews can be even contaminated with salmonella or ce.coli - although the risk of this is relatively small, it's still important to be aware of the potential problems.

Swallowing a piece of rawhide could cause your dog to choke, and even if it does go own, if the piece that's too large it can expand inside your pup's stomach, putting them at risk of an internal blockage and tragically many dog families have experienced the fatal consequences of this.

Obvioulsy dogs don't know these possible risks. These chews are exciting for them, they smell great to a dog's nose, they're really chewable and they get softer and more manageable to swallow as they get chomped on further. The softer it gets, the more likely it is to be swallowed.

And some dogs will get over excited when devouring a chew like this and swallow rather than allow the chew to be removed by their people. But be aware that rawhide can even wrap around the intestines, causing another type of obstruction.

Your dogs's ability to digest rawhide often depends on your dog and the rawhide product itself and how it has been manufactured.. However most rawhide products are not easily digested with the digestive enzymes of the stomach unable to break down the leather byproduct successfully. So often, rawhide will travel through the gastrointestinal system intact or in large undigested pieces, which may result in obstruction, choking, or digestive upset.

If you are thinking of buying non natural, cheaper, colourful rawhide dogs for your dog or a gift for someone else's bear in mind the process the hide goes though before it reaches your dog.

Transport - Cattle hides are shipped from slaughterhouses to the leather tanning factories for processing by container, but before their journey, they are treated with a chemical to preserve the hides and slow down the decaying process.

Removal of Hair and Fat - Once they get to the factory, they firstly go through a special factory treatment called degreasing, which strips away the fat and hair of the animal that are attached to the hides themselves.

Splitting Process - They are then treated with chemicals that ‘puffs’ the hides to make the process of splitting the skin layers easier. The cattle hides are then split into two layers, the inner layer is what rawhides treats are made of and the outer layer is what they use to make leather products like car seats, clothes and handbags.

Hydrogen Peroxide bath - The inner skin layer undergoes a hydrogen peroxide (bleach) bath for sterilisation to ensure all bacteria and germs are dead. This process also helps to remove the rotten smell of the leather and the hydrogen peroxide baths is what gives the chews their distinctive white/yellow colour.

Cutting and shaping - The bleached hides are then set onto cutting tables to be sheared into strips and when this process is complete, they are sent to a different area of the factory where the strips go through the ‘tying’ process. This is where machines create the various shapes like twists, rolls, sticks and bones and sometimes glued to help retain their shape.

Drying - The newly-shaped, damp rawhides are placed on trays into a hot, drying room where the remaining moisture is removed and the treats become hard and firm.

Flavouring and decoration - The dried rawhides go through the last process before they are sent out for distribution. They are flavoured and sometimes coloured depending on the type of rawhide chew. They get a coat of artificial flavouring such as chicken, beef, lamb or fish to make them tasty and appealing to dogs. Some even get chemicals for dental health pumped over them