All dogs need to exercise their jaw muscles, and if you give a puppy a proper object to chew, he'll be less likely to chew on other things (like coffee table legs) that he's not.
Because rawhide is not entirely digestible, I don't recommend giving your dog it. However, if you MUST and are completely dead-set on it, make sure that the rawhides are from the USA not China. A good company is Dizzy Dogg or Wholesome Hide Rawhide (surprisingly available at Trader Joe's). In addition to being indigestible, most are laden with tons of chemicals, and some are dyed colors. See this article about rawhide in the Whole Dog Journal. Again, I do not advocate giving your dog rawhide, however you should have all the facts, and as always make the choice yourself.
A much better option, in my opinion, is deer antlers. They last much longer, are totally digestible, and don't smell! Even with Denali's super jaws, our antlers would last at least 4 weeks, sometimes up to 9 weeks. Like anything else, when the antler gets too small and is a risk of swallowing, take the antler away. We get ours from Sirius Cooks, who use Lucky Buck Antler. They are naturally shed from deers, and people find them--never harvested! Antlers are made out of keratin, which is the same protein that comprises our hair. They are a bit expensive at first, but think if you can divide the cost by how many weeks it lasts vs. that bully stick!
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