Pig ear treats good or bad?

[dynaglide]

I read that raw hide and pig ear treats are not good for a dog. I have a germen shepard puppy 6 mths. And for a treat maybe once weekly I was going to give her a pig ear treat. Is this bad for her digestion and does it splinter and harm her stomach?

[nighthawknina86]

I have always given my cane corso rawhides. But there is only one way I'll let her have them.  I hold one end of it and only allow her to chew for 20 minutes tops.  As soon as it's chewed down to the other end (where it's small enough for her to fit it all in her mouth) it gets thrown away.

[nighthawknina86]

I don't know why random symbols have appeared in my comment and cannot fix it.

[LolaLee]

So carrots are ok for them to eat? I have been wondering about that. That's good, because my puppy loves them! Do you know if bananas are ok? Maybe half every now and then?

[Ghilly]

My dog will lay and chew up a carrot just like it was a rawhide bone.  She just loves raw carrots!   I always wash one up for her and give it to her to eat while I'm cooking dinner.
She doesn't seem to like celery as much, maybe it's the strings in it, but she'll eat it if I stuff the "channel" with peanut butter.

Ghilly

[AndiJ78]

I don't like the rawhide, but my dog does really well with pig ears. I hate the smell of them so we don't buy them. He also liked the Greenies, but we do not get those anymore either.

He is a huge dog, but he is the most dainty eater. He actually takes nibbles off of apples, eats it like a person.

I would avoid them just to be safe. Our boy gets milkbones for an occasional treat and we have Kongs and the tire chew toys to help keep his teeth clean.

[LolaLee]

The site I posted has points from both those for, against, and not sure about it. I did not say what I personally believed. It is a good read that I believe many should read. Those in the article are trustworthy sources, considering they are the experts.

[Ghilly]

Large meaty bones are part of the BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet, which is the most natural diet a dog can have.  Raw bones are not brittle.  Cooked bones can splinter and cause problems.  Raw bones are perfectly natural for a dog to eat.

Ghilly

[LolaLee]

I am writing this because of the last post.

Here is information that could be of use to anyone thinking of giving their dog a bone.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/wolfexrep.html
This is a site with information from VERY reliable sources.




http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=1030
This site says, "Can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system."

[Ghilly]

You're much better off giving them meaty bones that still have the marrow in them.  You can usually get these from your local butcher or from the meat cutting department of your food store if they have a large enough department that they do their own sawing.  If you do have a real butcher shop in your neighborhood and you are a regular customer, many times they will give you the bones because they're going to toss them anyway.  But you can probably get bones from a butcher shop anyway, even if you don't shop there, but he may charge you a few cents a pound for them in that case.  Don't cook or warm the bones first, this will cause the marrow to heat up and run out of the center of the bone.  You want your dog to have to work to get it out because this is where the entertainment is in it for him as well as the nutrition.  Dogs just adore these!  I usually buy a marrow bone once a week as a "TV treat" for Katie.  I put an old blanket down on the floor so she doesn't get "ick" all over my carpet and she will lay and just gnaw on that bone for HOURS!   Since I'm off work on Mondays and Thursdays we usually have "boney-bone night" on one of these nights.  DH and I will rent a movie or I'll sit with my crocheting and DH will play a video game and the dog entertains herself on the blanket.  It's a fun, relaxing night for us all.  :)

Ghilly

[saveone]

Our mastiff got choked on a rawhide bone, one of the really large one.  It chewed it enough to get it untied at the ends, he then tried to swallow it and it ended up trailing from his mouth into his stomach.  If we had not been home he would have choked to death.  My son had to pull it out, one big long piece.  No more rawhides or pigs ears for our dogs.  we just won't take that chance.

[peekawho]

I get them at Petco.  If you ask for pork rolls, they probably would know what you're talking about.  They look like rawhide rolls, but are made of hard baked pork, and rolled tightly up into cylinders.   They are more digestible than rawhide, and don't swell up the way rawhide can.

Some dogs still can eat them pretty fast, so be sure to supervise if you are going to use them.

[snowflake620]

I have a rottweiller that will eat glass pie pans whole if you don't catch him fast enough so rawhide is definately a no-no, I give him nyla bones and I get beef bones from the meat department of the grocery store,
snowflake

[LolaLee]

Where do you find those pork rolls? Are they really unhealthy, or just like any other treat? Can you get them at most pet stores?

[dominosarah]

I dont give my dog those either.  She would eat them so fast and then barf

[ginger899]

Yeah, my dog tries to bolt stuff like this, and I don't give her pig ears or rawhide any more  for fear of her choking or some other thing. She tries to swallow the whole lot! (my other dog used to adore them! and chew on them endlessly without trouble)

[Mandapanda17]

Hi! I can't give them to my dogs, as said above, their both bolters too, and when I've given them rawhide they swallow it too fast and then barf it up shortly after.. I guess it all depends on the dog :)

[peekawho]

Some dogs bolt (eat rapidly) rawhide treats, and they may not be chewed well before passing through the GI system.  If that happens, they can swell and cause a blockage, which can actually kill the dog if it is severe enough.

My dogs are all bolters, so I don't let them have rawhides or pig ears.  I do let them have pork rolls (like rolled up pig ears) because they can't swallow those whole--they have to chew them bit by bit.

[LolaLee]

I am not absolutely positive, but my parents have been regularly giving them to all of their dogs for years. They have never shown any sign of sickness, stomach problems, or anything else. They love them, and it has never hurt them.