# Pigs Ears and Rawhide Questions



## Yamanjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

Ive searched the forums and have seen alot of different opinions on Pig Ears and Rawhide. Alot of them say they are a no no and other say their dogs love them. Im stuck on this subject. Our little critter needs something to chew on(my feet wont last forever  ). Ropes and ball are good for 10 minutes and then he just loses interest. He has a couple of noisy toys but he seems to dislike soft plastic. Only god knows whats running through his little mind. Please let me know about your thoughts or of any facts about them

Thanks in advance


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

I feed compressed rawhide bones, but many people don't agree and its a rare treat. Also, u have to be watching him the whole time, so it doesn't really free you up to do anything else..

I'd say go with raw beef marrow bones. Don't cook them or they become brittle and hard.. Since he's so young, you can scoop out most of the marrow before freezing so that he doesn't get too much of the rich marrow that will give him the runs.. These last forever, if he doesn't clean it up completely, return it to the freezer for use another day once its all clean, you can leave it around


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## Maddie'sMom2011 (Apr 26, 2011)

Excellent advice! Exactly what I was going to say. We did pig ears, which Maddie loved, but knew that wasn't the best for her. Got her a marrow bone & she is occupied for a long time. We'll get several packages & freeze them.


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## rhondas (Sep 10, 2010)

I personally would never give pig ears, raw hide or Nylabones. My guy has always loved bully sticks, achilles tendons and trachea. I have never had any problems with him chewing on these. I get the ones made in the US only. Some folks swear by antlers but my dog doesn't like them. He is only interested in bones the first day and then ignores them.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Hank loves bullysticks and those big, pre-stuffed bones.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Yamanjazz, I never give rawhides or pig ears because if the dogs don't chew them into little bits and swallows them whole or in big chunks, they can get impacted.

My mother gives mine marrow bones; those are good but has downsides ... chipped teeth, and recently I think there was new reports of camphylobacter that was making dogs sick.

I imagine the bully sticks, tendons, tracheas, etc.. are ok as long as they don't have allergies.

I know what you mean, there's nothing good to chew for hours except Kong, and I never yet met a dog that wants to chew on rubber for hours on end ... peanut butter or not.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I give my guys rawhide bones (made in USA only - which I know doesn't help the OP), but I would never give pigs ears. If it's not germs, then it's chemicals on those things.


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## desi.n.nutro (Mar 18, 2011)

I don't give rawhides. I did give them to my first dog and he was a huge leather chewer. Purses, shoes, belts, wallets, furniture. People argue with me that they equate rawhides to leather but ... I have had 7 more large dogs and 1 small dog who never got rawhides. None of them were leather chewers.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

I give a small daily rawhide bone to each dog, and have done so for well over 40 years. Over that time there has never been any type of problem, ever. 

Millions of dogs get rawhide bones and chews each day. If they were really such a horrible threat to health and safety as some would like to believe, you would see sick and injured dogs piled up like cord wood on every street corner. Since the dogs are not piled up on the street corners the products might just be ok for a lot of dogs.

Every now and then you'll encounter a dog that will swallow whole just about anything it can get down the ol hatch. Plastic, metal cans, sticks, rocks, etc. If you give this type of dog a rawhide bone, yep you guessed it, it'll swallow the rawhide bone whole too. It isn't that rawhide bones and chews that are bad, it is the individual dogs' tendencies and behavior that have to be monitored. If you have a dog that swallows everything whole, don't give him/her things that can cause a blockage. 

The vast majority of dogs will chew and don't have problems with rawhide bones and chews.


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## Yamanjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

Wow, thanks for your answers. We are going to the petshop on monday to go and see what they have on offer. Ill have to look up raw marrow bones. For some reason they seem weird, as in i thought they would have bacteria all over them. Or maybe im just missing something here, but ill definitely look into it.


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## Stressedgoldenmom (Aug 2, 2011)

I see things called "retriever rolls" ...thoughts on them?


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## missmarstar (Jul 22, 2007)

Antlers!! Antlers are a godsend in my house with my 2 very tough chewers. They last for months and months, and don't get all gross, smelly and soggy like raw marrow bones (though we still give those to the dogs on occasion as a special meaty treat). The dogs will chew them for hours straight.

I buy my dogs' antlers from an ebay seller at his store here:

items in Antler Dog Chews Michigan Antler Ar store on eBay!


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## Siques (Aug 9, 2011)

I gave my golden retriever rolls for ten years - only one a week because I think they have a high calorie count. I would watch her closely while she was chewing and always take it away when she got down to the last piece so she wouldn't try to swallow a large piece.

I have had my scares with her, however, a large piece occasionally would get stuck between her back molars down her throat, but she usually came to me or I could tell by the way she was acting and I could ask her if she needed help and she would open her mouth and I would fish out the offending piece.


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## Angelina (Aug 11, 2011)

I use the raw marrow bones too but forget the pet store...get them from the butcher! Much cheaper that way. Once they are used up I boil them, stuff one side with buffalo meat and freeze, then turn them on their side and stuff with steak and low salt beef broth. You could use chicken pieces or broth too if your dog tolerates chicken. The girls get one a day when I leave for work and love them (can't wait for me to leave!!).

I was also buying the bully sticks but they are just too expensive now...I watched them go from $14. a bag at Costco to $26 and that was just too high. I am too afraid to use rawhide as I have had Angelina get them stuck on her back molars when she was younger.


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## JenniferJohnsonLovesGOLD (Sep 8, 2011)

Costco sells "porkhide twists" that are great. There are 30+ foot longish per bag for about $11. They seem to only sell them seasonally so when they have them I stock up.

Jen


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## Yamanjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

its practically impossible for me to get antler here in Cyprus, i wouldnt even attempt to import them(probably get in trouble). We have bully sticks but they are all No-Name makes and im not really sure they are up to standards(what do you think?). I could probably try marrow bones from the butchers i suppose. My friend owns a butcher shop so it wouldnt cost me anything. Ill have to look up how to prepare them if needed. Goldie is a bit crazy and doesnt know when to stop so rawhide seems like a no-no for now. At the moment im looking for pork strips but havent found a place that sells them yet. We are going to the south of Cyprus tomorrow to do some shopping so Ill let you know what is going on soon. Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback!


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## Yamanjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

Ok we got him a pack of bully sticks today... He must love them... he went through 1 in about 3-4 minutes!!!  hehe Ok heres the next question: How many can they eat? Goldie is now 8 weeks old.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

I agree with Swampcollie.........we give rawhide and pig ears to both our dogs and have never had a problem.....


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## Yamanjazz (Aug 29, 2011)

I noticed that he was trying to swallow the last bit(almost 1.5 - 2.0 inch) of the bully stick so i guess nothing is "safe" for doggies


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

Yamanjazz said:


> I noticed that he was trying to swallow the last bit(almost 1.5 - 2.0 inch) of the bully stick so i guess nothing is "safe" for doggies


As long as they can pass it they will be fine........my first golden would literally swallow things whole.....he was also my rock eater lol! And he never had stomach problems......


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