Pigs ears for a puppy?

[Corriepup]

We are complete newbie owners and recently took receipt of an adorable 7 week old golden cocker puppy (Corrie) and have had her now for 2 weeks. While we love her to bits she's beginning to chew things she's not supposed to, which I know is what puppies will do!   She is also showing signs of being aggressive at times, hunching down, barking and then trying to bite everything and everyone in sight when she gets wound up but thats for another topic.

A friend of ours said we should give her a pigs ear to chew as its tough as old boots and she'll love the taste so much that she won't want to chew much else. So we got a couple from the usual 'large pet retail outlet' but it says on the pack for adult dogs, none were puppy specific.

I assume it doesn't say puppies can have them just to cover the seller in case some bits break off and she can't swallow them and they get stuck and they can't get blamed? But that can happen with anything I guess?

Will it be ok to give her one to try and see if it helps?

[SkyeSue]

Hi and welcome to COL 

It's funny, cos the very first question I asked on the forum was is it ok for my pup to eat pigs ears  However, Chloe was about 5 or 6 months by then, and whilst the advice was that the odd one wouldn't harm her, I'd be reluctant to give one to a very young puppy. Hopefully more experienced people will come along soon to advice you. I personally decided against feeding them to Chloe as she seemed to get a bit of an upset tum with them.

And don't worry about Corrie showing signs of agression; its not agression at all, its perfectly normal puppy behaviour, but as you intend to bring that up elsewhere, I'm sure others will help you to find ways of managing it 

[Maria n Dennis]

Im no expert but it sounds like your puppy is trying to play  , not being aggressive
I know how you feel , Douglas 10 weeks is a little horror for chewing things he shouldnt , i just take whatever it is off him and replace it with some thing he can chew. The rope toys with a knot at each end are good   As for the pigs ears my personal opinion would be that i wouldnt give them to my pup Douglas  , i do very occasionally give them Dennis 11 month. Have you tried a puppy kongs to keep him busy ?

[JennyBee]

I agree, she's not being aggressive . There's tonnes of threads on here about it, but it's perfectly normal - there are quite a lot of people on here who have young puppies at the moment so they will be able to reassure you

There's one thing that concerns me a little is that 7 weeks old is slightly too young for a pup to leave it's mum x

Pig's ears are very fatty, so probably not the best thing to give a pup. Carrots, wet flannels that you freeze and kongs with various fillings are all good for pups - I'm sure others will have more ideas for you

Welcome to COL and I would love to see some photos of Corrie (great name)

[Maria n Dennis]

Welcome to COL  I have Dennis 11 months and Douglas 10 weeks 
Sorry i didnt realise it was your 1st post 

[brownsugar]

Hello Corrie and Mum  ,

You're not alone here with your "sharky", there are a lot of posts about boisterous puppies with razor teeth 
For our Toby (he's 17 months) we tried a puppy Nylabone as a chew. TBH it didn't work for us (he's very picky in his chews  but some people have a lot of succes with them so you never know...
We also liked the rope toys Maria 'n Dennis mentioned. (But have to admit being a bit careful with them, as a Dalmation we knew ate part of the rope and almost died after the strands caught in her gut. Bit of a wimp here. )

Oh, and I remember strategically putting down cardboard boxes in the room, to try and save our furniture/books.

Hope you get some more advice and good luck with little Corrie

[Corriepup]

Thanks for all the replies! (by the way its Corrie and her 'dad'  )

We weren't going to give her the ears unless someone said they had done and it was ok. She has plenty of toys, a tug rope dog, a Kong and a couple of puppy friends to keep her company. We also find a squash ball is great!

Its just rather frustrating when you are trying to walk round the house you have a puppy biting and eating away at your shoes/trousers etc. If my fiance picks her up when she's excited Corrie just goes for her hair and bites and pulls that!

Trouble is when we give her a toy to chew as a distraction she will play/chew for about 10 seconds then just come straight back and have a go at your feet or anything else at her height that you are wearing  I suppose we just have to persevere with distracting her with toys more often.

I guess its just all part of being a pup!! 

[supergirl]

Have to admit when I tried my two on pigs ears, it just gave them the runs.  I prefer hide chews under supervision.  My two were never very interested in nylabones until they were a little older.  You could try a puppy kong filled with cream cheese and a bit of her kibble and then frozen - it would be tasty enough to keep her occupied.

[Joules]

I don't think I would give pig's ears to a pup - they are fatty and can be a bit much for a puppy's tum.  In fact I have stopped giving them to Coco as they are so fatty - I give her tripe sticks or carrots instead 

Re the biting, have you tried time out?  I was told that you need to teach the pup that when they bite the game stops (or attention) so just calmly put her in a safe space without saying anything or making eye contact (not a crate as you shouldn't use that as a punishment) and wait until she calms down - you should only leave her for a minute or two.    I well remember the first few weeks with a pup hanging off my trousers all the time though  I found a baby gate was a life saver.  It is hard work but she will grow out of it. 

[bracken]

I never give pigs ears or rawhide chews to any of mine its often the cause of upset tummies and also choking 

Mine had carrots and then I got kongs which were great, loads of differents variety of smells and tasty treats for them 

[Holly Berry]

Hi and welcome to COL.
As others have said its all part of puppy behaviour, and pigs ears can cause tummy upsets in older dogs so wouldn't give to puppy.
My piece of advice though is please don't let her have squash balls, a puppy we had pinched one from OH sports bag and managed to pierce it with one of her canines with the ball totally in her mouth,  it was stuck and she couldn't get it out. Whilst she wasn't choking and we were there with her so could act quickly it was extremely distressing for her and us as we tried to get it out.
If she's biting your feet we found stuffing old socks(football ones are ideal)with news paper is good.

[Lily Freya]

I don't give pig's ears daily, but I do give them to my three as a very big treat.  I always give them when I am around to supervise so that they don't choke.

They absolutely love them, and fortunately with my three, none of them have had adverse effects.  I buy pig's ears in strips, too, from Pets at Home.  They are smaller strips, so not too much fat intake.

I also give the white dental chewies..... they love these.  Luckily I have not had them chewing on furniture...

Hope all goes well, and that you find a resolve.

[smartietopdog]

My 2 are OK on pigs ears too. I used to get the strips from P@H but haven't been able to find them recently. Wouldn't give the strips to a pup tho, as they can be quite small. I used stuffed Kongs too when Smartie was a pup, they weren't around when Chops was a baby, well if they were they definitely weren't so popular! (he's 10!)

Hello Corrie and Dad (and fiancee!) and welcome!! Put aside lots of time, you'll soon be addicted!!