Hooves

[Winnie]

I have been struggling to find a healthy chewable 'thing' for Winnie. She has rejected pigs ears, rawhide chews, bones and toys. Denti sticks disappear in seconds so she can't really gnaw on them. My parents have corgis and get hooves from their local pet shop. When we visited last weekend, Winnie 'stole' a hoof and within a couple of hours it was a fraction of it's original size. I have found a pet shop here that sells them (although they are stuffed with a strange dog food that I remove first!), and she has been munching happily every since.

Do your cockers like hooves? Are hooves good for them? I would be interested in your opinions.

[Nicola]

What did the hooves belong to originally?    Are they pigs trotters? I've seen those in the pet shop but have never bought them. Or cow hooves? My lot love chewing on my horse's hoof parings when the farrier's out but I've never seen these for sale. Pigs ears go through my lot like an express train hence I avoid the trotters and wouldn't buy cow hooves for the same reason but as long as they don't upset her stomach and she likes them then I don't think they'll do any harm at all as an occasional chew treat.

Have you looked at the 'exotic' selection on Zooplus? There's probably something there to tempt any dog! www.zooplus.co.uk  Mine love the pizzles and ostrich and deer selections.

[Winnie]

Hi Nicola,

Not sure what the hooves are  but I think they are cow. Winnie seems to have a cast iron constitution and very little upsets her tummy, so I am very lucky.

Thanks for the zooplus link. I feel a shopping spree coming on....

Jane

[tracyd]

I used to work with horses and when the farrier came to trim their feet the farm dogs would always pinch the trimmed off bits of hoof.  Not sure how healthy they are but not tried them with bailey.  My local pet shop sells pigs trotters and he likes those

[Cob-Web]

I feed hooves as treats occasionally, they don't seem to cause any problems for my two. You can buy them in most pet stores here - the really stink once they are "chewed" though 

[Joelf]

Unfortunately trimmings from my horses' hooves were the only thing that Stella, my lab, couldn't digest..........they came back with alarming regularity usually on the bedroom carpet in the middle of the night!!