Pig ears... can he have them?

[Oliver21508]

Hiya

Ollie is 6 months old. Could he have things like pigs ears, chicken feet, and bones (not the rawhide ones, real ones)? We feel that he needs something to chew and relieve some boredom, and wondered if he could have these?

[Karma]

Yes.


Some dogs can find the pig ears a bit rich though (causing a bit of a runny tummy) - they do diet ears which are less fatty, so more delicate on the tum....
 

[Oliver21508]

Are those the vegetarian ears? Ollie does have quite sensitive stomach and one little thing can cause him bad poos the next day. Is there anything else that is less rich? What about filled bones?

[Cob-Web]

The roast bones that are sold in pet stores can splinter and cause upset tummies too - raw bones from the butcher are great if you can get them 

Any *unusual* food/treats is likely to cause a dodgy tummy, though - especially if he is a bit sensitive    Look for natural products if you can as they are less likely to cause problems (veggie ears sound a bit too artificial to me, but you can get cows ears which are lower in fat)

Zooplus do a great range of treats:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/

[Henshallboys]

Bramble and Beri are 14 months now and pigs ears and the dried tripe stuff (that stinks ) still makes them sick and gives them watery diarrhoea.  They love apple and carrot and the raw hide chewy things that last for ever and keep them quiet 

[Oliver21508]

By natural, do you mean the cows ears and that? not the filled bones? are rawhides any good? i heard they couldn't digest them if they ate a bit.

What about these?
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_treats_chews/pork/81273 pigs noses
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_treats_chews/beef/13414 beef pizzle
chicken feet

[Jeanette]

Pizzles stink and made me feel physically sick so had to throw them.   Indie likes the ostrich ones 

[Karma]

Pizzle is good....  the ones we got from Pets at Home are quite fatty, but others we have got are great....

And, yes, I was talking about the Cow's Ears... they are lower in fat so less likely to upset delicate tums...

There are lots of great natural treats on the zooplus site!!! 

[Oliver21508]

Will buy a cows ear tomorrow to see what he makes of it.

How long do you think it'll keep him amused for? How long does it take to eat it?

[bluegirl]

Only used pigs ears and they take quite a while to eat, but I am always worried they may choke so I never leave mine with anything chewy if I'm going to leave them, only if I'm in. Pigs ears can be quite fattening too, I remember the other year I gave them to mine over the christmas period to keep the little ones quiet and had to put Penny on a diet in the new year because of them.

[SkyeSue]

Chloe likes pigs ears but they do give her the runs a bit.  She has also started scoffing them rather too quickly for my liking so she rarely gets them as I'm concerned about her choking! Same goes for rawhide chews.

[Joules]

Will buy a cows ear tomorrow to see what he makes of it.

How long do you think it'll keep him amused for? How long does it take to eat it?

Coco loves pigs ears but they are quite fatty so I don't give them often, can also buy pigs ear strips which are smaller bits of pigs ears so she sometimes has those.  Otherwise beef pizzles and tripe sticks are really good but they are both quite pongy - Coco has these most often and she loves them!    You can also get dried liver - I go for the natural treats without any of that funny stuff they use to fill bones, hooves etc.  As for how long they will keep him busy - probably quite a while at first - pizzles used to keep Coco quiet for ages but now she can finish one in about 15 minutes    Never leave him unsupervised with these treats though    Coco also loves a whole carrot to chew on and lately she has developed a taste for raw sprouts 

[Oliver21508]

Thanks. Are the puffed pigs noses good? and I'm sure chicken feet would have bones in them, wouldn't it?

[Joules]

Thanks. Are the puffed pigs noses good? and I'm sure chicken feet would have bones in them, wouldn't it?

Never tried the noses - just don't like the look of them.  They don't look that chewy though    Not sure about chicken feet - are you talking about raw feet off a chicken?  I have never seen them for sale otherwise - can't think they would be very nice - they must be just bone and claw with a bit of skin.  You could try him with a raw chicken wing though - great for keeping teeth clean too.    Until he gets the hang of it, you can just hold one end of it to make sure he chews it up properly and doesn't swallow it whole 

[Cob-Web]

Thanks. Are the puffed pigs noses good? and I'm sure chicken feet would have bones in them, wouldn't it?

Never tried the noses - just don't like the look of them.  They don't look that chewy though    Not sure about chicken feel - are you talking about raw feet off a chicken?  I have never seen them for sale otherwise - can't think they would be very nice - they must be just bone and claw with a bit of skin.  You could try him with a raw chicken wing though - great for keeping teeth clean too.    Until he gets the hang of it, you can just hold one end of it to make sure he chews it up properly and doesn't swallow it whole 

Dried chicken feet are quite crunchy and chewy (a bit like dried chicken stomaches) I don't know if there are bones in them, but they are technically still raw, so won't splinter, I don't think.
The puffed pig noses are really great - my two love them and they are chewy - a bit like marshmallow