Pigs ears and pork bones? How often as a treat?

DeVore

Hello, quick poll of dog owners and people more knowledgeable then me (which is basically all of you ).


Josh loves his pigs ears, they are the highest value reward for him. I keep them fairly infrequent, maybe 2-3 a week.

Similarly with cooked pork thigh bones which the pet shop sells in vacuum packed plastic. He loves them and they keep him occupied for a solid hour!
He gets 1-2 a week of those. Depending on how often daddy feels guilty for leaving him for a few hours or needs time to work on something

But I wonder how often I should restrict these too? I would happily give him one a day as far as cost goes, they are pure value for money imho! But are there health issues?

The pork bones get gnawed to literally nothing, The smallest central part of the bone is left, a little like a napkin holder. The rest is eaten (something I was horrified about at first but seems like its normal behaviour apparently).


So... should I restrict them more or am I being overly cautious about them (I was told the salt content wasnt good for their heart etc).

Stheno

I'd be wary of any cooked bones tbh, they can lodge in their throats and cause damage.

Have you a butcher nearby that you could get raw bones from?

DeVore

Also... Silly Devore... just did a search on Pigs Ears in the forum and read up on all of that. Hmm... still interested in people's opinions about them but it seems generally they are not considered a good idea? Is there a frequency that would be ok??

The pork bones... well they come from a good pet shop and are shrink wrapped and marked "Premium Ham Bones". Doesnt say if they are cooked or not. He's eaten several dozen of them at this stage and seems to love them but again, I wonder about the frequency.

aonb

Ive always given my dogs bones from the butcher. Small independent butcher in the village - somewhat rationed due to demand these days, but even if they charge a euro or two for a bag of bones, the butcher is happy to get rid of them.

Sometimes raw, sometimes I bung them in the oven for 20 mins (to get rid of the raw smell) - the vet always comments on the dogs teeth/gums - that they are in excellent condition. They get hours of enjoyment from gnawing on a bone - and surely eating meat bones is totally natural/healthy??
(Dont know about the pigs ears, my lot have never been fans of them - how are they processed/dried?)

maggiepip

Im not trying to be alarmist but I really wouldnt give those petshop cooked ham bones (they are all coooked) to be honest...if you google them you'll see they have caused lots of problems for dogs: splintering, choking intestinal obstruction, and even in some cases dogs have died from them.

Pigs ears can cause problems too if a dog swallows a large piece but they are safer than cooked bones. 2 to 3 pigs ears a week would be ok in my opinion.

Wibbs

My guy gets or used to get the vacuum wrapped ham bones too D and he liked them, goes through one in 15 minutes so they're going down fast and I've never had any of the issues I had with feeding him raw chicken wings when he was younger(gave that up PDQ when I saw blood in his stool*).

That said he much prefers the raw butchers bones. For some reason he'll usually bury the cooked ones until they're near rancid, but doesn't do that with the raw(maybe letting them go rotten softens them up?). The raw ones actually last longer with him, plus he's getting the marrow which is very good stuff and being a cheapskate I can't miss up another advantage, they're free. My guy gets about four a week, but I'd not be religious about that TBH. One other thing about the ham bones I've noticed is the odd one smells rotten out of the packet which doesn't sound too good. Maybe I got a bad batch.

For some reason pigs ears he just won't eat so I can't help there. Rolls on them then buries them where they remain. I'll let ye know if I start to see piglets erupting from the soil. Carrots are his high value buzz. Loves them, which is odd because he won't even sniff any other veg.



*while I really like the raw approach, I'm personally well dubious about bones for pups and young dogs and maybe smaller dogs(from a purely mechanical point of view). If we're going by the "natural" way in the wild, young canids don't tend to eat bones, though will chew on them when teething. They eat the predigested and prechewed remains of meat and bones that the adults regurgitate for them, at least until they get their adult teeth, thus cutting down on the risks of internal damage impaction(they also eat a lot of the skin/fur of the prey which may act as a kind of roughage for the boney material). Plus wild canids have bigger, stronger teeth and bite forces with much thicker enamel by comparison to domesticated dogs.

boomerang

Pigs ears are very high calorie and are also associated with food poisoning (from salmonella.) I'd avoid them tbh.