Pig Ears Are Bad??

EnzoLeya

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My aunt and I were talking about dogs and she said pig ears are VERY bad for dogs.
We've always given pig ears to my mom's dogs and my SO's mom gives her Lab pig ears ALL the time.

Is it true that pig ears really are that bad? It seems like such a strange thing to be bad for a dog. Is it because they are cooked and hardened??? I just don't get it.
 

jane_vernon

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Well, I know a vet who feeds her dogs pigs ears - And I suppose she would know if they aren't good for dogs - So I'd say they must be alright if a vet will give them to her own dogs.
 

sharky

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Pig ears are high in fat ... a type which a dog cannot digest ... they can like a rawhide( reg ) splinter or tear and have big pieces swallowed ... I would say it is a item to use with caution
 

white cat lover

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I think every doy toy or bone should be used with caution. And depends on who you talk to, some will say certain things are bad.

I have a 90 lbs dog & a 60 lbs. dog. I use Pig ears(cow ears I think are the ones lower in fat), kongs, pressed rawhides, porkhides, & cow hooves. All those have the potential to splinter, basically. I like uncooked bones, that I stuff, for when I cannot supervise them.
 
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EnzoLeya

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Thanks for the information guys! I guess she was just unlucky to have problems with her dog and pig ears.
 

cococat

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Originally Posted by sharky

I would say it is a item to use with caution
Yup, me too. You would be suprised at the crap that is sold "for dogs" that is really unsafe and downright dangerous. I would never feed pig ears to my dogs, from the small dog to the very big dog. I also don't feed rawhide. Known too many dogs with problems.
http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm
http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm
And cow hooves are dangerous, I have seen some get to be as sharp as knives at the end. Also know these treats talked about run the risk of bad chemicals in them or salmonella. And yes, even raw feeders admit dogs can get salmonella. I am all about reducing my risks where I can with my doggies.
 

katzyn

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Originally Posted by cococat

Yup, me too. You would be suprised at the crap that is sold "for dogs" that is really unsafe and downright dangerous. I would never feed pig ears to my dogs, from the small dog to the very big dog. I also don't feed rawhide. Known too many dogs with problems.
http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm
http://www.daneangelnetwork.org/rawhide.htm
And cow hooves are dangerous, I have seen some get to be as sharp as knives at the end. Also know these treats talked about run the risk of bad chemicals in them or salmonella. And yes, even raw feeders admit dogs can get salmonella. I am all about reducing my risks where I can with my doggies.
Agreed. =/ Even -with- supervision, it's still dangerous. Who knows if they snap off a piece, and slip~ there goes a really sharp, long, pointy piece down the throat...

My sister gives rawhides, but I'm not sure how safe they are...thankfully, the dog, a min pin, actually takes her time eating them, and shears off tiny bits before swallowing. I've seen a lab mix just go for it, takes huge chunks off them at a time...it scared me, honestly. He was okay, though.
 

calico2222

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We will give our dogs pigs ears and raw hide treats very occassionally, and always watch them. Our bigger dogs definitely will go through them fast so you do have to watch to make sure they don't start splintering. We normally boil off bones we buy at the market for dirt cheap and they LOVE them! Even after the marrows gone, they will still chew on them forever, but even those can splinter after a while (especially the rib bones). Our house looks like a dug up graveyard!
 

alyssa

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Interestingly enough, it is said that you shouldn't cook a bone that you plan to feed to a dog, that it is the cooking that makes the bone dangerous.

This likely though largely depends on the breed. A pug will likely have less a chance of ingesting sharp pieces of a cooked bone than say like my destructive chewer of a pit bull puppy who would shred a bone to pieces within a hour easy.

But that an uncooked bone isn't as likely to pose a foreign object obstruction like a cooked bone can and of course present a bowel perforation potential that a raw bone would not.

Saying that, I used to feed my dogs rawhide and bones and hooves and NEVER had a problem, but then they were smalllll dogs. The dog I have now is much larger and I will not under any circumstance feed him that stuff now. I *did* when he was smaller, but now it poses a very obvious danger because he chews so quickly and likes to swallow large chunks, rather than chew them into smaller pieces.

It's more a matter of me knowing THIS dog and his chewing and eating habits and then being aware of how that relates to creating a potential hazard and then avoiding doing exactly that - creating a potential hazard.

I think every dog is different and as a result different things work for different dogs with different results!
 

snosrap5

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I can't give Kisses our Lab any rawhides, pig ears, hooves, bones because she is crazy and consumes those in minutes. She's terrible. I don't know why she can't just chew on a hoof or rawhide without EATING it.
 

wommers

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When I worked at a clinic we often recommended that people not use pigs ears or rawhide, mostly because a lot of people do not supervise their dogs with toys. Sadly, most people think--and understandably so--that something sold specifically for a certain kind of animal has to be safe. But time and again I've seen that's not true. I saw a puppy who was given the wrong size of Kong and almost died because he inhaled the whole thing. We had to scope it out of him. Rawhides can be dangerous--as people have said--if dogs eat them quickly without breaking them down enough. Labs seem especially prone to that kind of behavior, and I've seen dogs very sick because they got blockages due to ingesting large pieces of rawhide or nearly whole pigs ears.

Ultimately, though, I think it's about a larger lesson every pet owner needs to learn. Don't trust packaging. Do your own research. Make sure all toys and things you feed to your animal are safe for YOUR particular animal. And always, always supervise your pet when they get a new toy until you're as sure as you can ever be that the toy is not a potential hazard. I wouldn't say NOT to give pigs ears or rawhide, but I would say that if your dog has one of these items, be in the same room while they play with it to make sure they're not just wolfing it down.

As for bones, I read from a source I believe to be credible that one of the reasons perforation is LESS of a problem in wild canines is that they ingest a lot of their preys' fur as well, which is thought to help cushion bone fragments in the intestines. I found it interesting, so I'm including it more as a point of interest than anything else. If anyone has any further information on the hypothesis--proving or disproving--please speak up, I always like to learn. In any case, there are still definitely wild canines that die from perforation. Again, I think it's just a matter of educating yourself a much as you can, and then using that knowledge to make decisions that are best for you and your pet. Those decisions won't always be the same for every animal. Calculated risks minimized as much as possible is--in my opinion--the name of the game.
 

kitytize

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I don't give my dog any bones, raw hides, or pig ears. I'd rather be safe than sorry. There are plenty of other toys and treats I can give.
 
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