8 week old pup who enjoys pigs ears

[pagen]

Yesterday we picked up our new Boxer - Bronson, who is 8 weeks old. He's taken a liking to our other boxer's pigs ears (dried chews) .. We're not sure if this is ok for Bronson to be eating at such a young age, or if it doesn't really matter and we should let him just enjoy them? The pigs ears are quite tough so he's just chewing them and not getting much off of it, but I'd really appreciate some advice.

Cheers and Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[RavenGirl]

I see no problem with it, our boxer has been chewing pig ears since we brought her home. Our rat terrier pup who is about 16 weeks now has been chewing on them as well. I think its good for them, gives them something to chew and something to keep them out of trouble.

 

[Maniago]

Pig ears have no nutritional value and are a choking hazard. Try a kong. You can search and find many thing to fill the kong with.

 

[lhsdavis]

I have never had a problem either(as far as age), but I did switch to the pig slivers instead of the ears, one of mine almost choked on one (full ears)and I found with the slivers they have had no problems. Plus the supply lasts longer.

 

[gmacleod]

I personally would not allow an 8 week old puppy to have pigs ears, or any other form of raw hide. They are all essentially the same thing - dried animal skin (otherwise known as leather).

If you do a search here on either raw hide or pigs ears, you'll find a multitude of threads where someones dog has choked, and some cases where the animal has died. The sheer number of those stories is enough to let you know just how common it is.

There is a second problem with raw hides - and that is bacterial poisoning (food poisoning, in human terms). The digestive tract of a dog is extremely short - it is designed for the very fast digestion of meat and bones. In fact, it is that short-tract design that enables dogs to consume raw, even 'gamey' foods that would almost certainly make people ill. The reason dogs don't get sick is because their digestive juices are extremely strong, and the period food spends in the gut very short.

Alas, this is not the case when a dog consumes leather. It is not digestable and sits in the dogs gut for days, even weeks before finally being passed in a similar state of solidity to which it was when consumed. And yes, that bacteria-laden leather can cause blockages as well as bacterial poisoning. Definitely not a risk a baby puppy should be exposed to.

More minor effects of chewing/consuming raw hides etc is runny stool and throwing up. Again, it is generally the bacteria that is the cause.

Personally, I do not allow my dogs (at any age) to have raw hides, pigs ears or any other dried body part. They get raw bones to chew on.

 

[lhsdavis]

You can get the slivers at petsmart where the ears are, they are just strips of pig ears instead of the whole ear. Walmart also carries them. As for nutritional value, do we always eat for nutritions sake? They enjoy them, and what makes them happy, makes me happy. Its a treat (not a meal)for them, and thats all that matters. I did stop getting the raw hide chips because when they get soft enough my dogs try to swallow them, and then they can choke, so now I get the rawhide bones, big enough so they do have to chew them.

 

[gmacleod]

Nope - dogs have digestive tracts specifically designed to digest bones, and they do so very quickly. A raw meat/bone meal, for example, is typically digested in around 4 hours. Kibble (due primarily to its high grain content)takes around 12-14 hours to digest. And as mentioned, things like raw hide or pigs ears are usually not digested at all, or if they are, then it takes days.

The extremely short digestion time is one of the main reasons dogs almost never get salmonella poisoning from raw meat - whereas a person very likely would. I say 'almost never' because it is technically possible, but is extremely rare - to the point that in 30 years of raw feeding, I believe I've heard of it once (and not first-hand either). Dogs can and do get salmonella poisoning from kibble too - though that isn't exactly common either.

But back to bones for chewing. It can depend on what you're giving them too. I'm not personally a fan of large 'recreational' bones (though many people do give those). I prefer to give things like brisket, which the dog will completely consume as I think it is much better for their teeth. I have never (or rather, my dogs have never) had a problem with bacteria - they are digested very quickly. But even if you do use large bones for recreational chewing - well, they're generally too large for the dog to consume so there's really no issue to be had with bacteria sitting around in the stomach Make sense?

Just one word of advice though - you say you've given cooked soup bones... Please don't. Cooked bones become brittle and can splinter when the dog chews on them. If consumed, there is then a risk of the shards puncturing the gut. If you're going to give bones at all, always make sure that they are raw.

 

[pagen]

thanks

That's helpful, thanks everyone.

We'll hold off on the leather/rawhide...and get some canon bones (the huge cow leg bones) to give the little fella something safe to munch on.

We used to give canon bones to our other boxer when she was little, kept her occupied for ages. As a matter of interest, we also tried brisket bones for her, but found her system didn't cope with them too well. :-(

How quickly you forget!

 

[Poetic_thing]

I just wanted to note that my guy got Salonella poisoning from pigs ears. My poor baby was so sick and the diarhea was awful. Pig ears are nasty and will never pass my babies lips ever again.

 

[gmacleod]

Yes, dogs can get salmonella. They can (and have) even get it from kibble

The reason dogs don't normally get salmonella poisoning is that their digestive tracts are extremely short. Their digestive acids are also very strong - much more so than humans. Put another way, they are designed by nature to process their food extremely quickly.

Raw meat and bones are typically digested in about 4 hours - and that isn't long enough for the bacteria in the meat to create a problem. Dogs can (typically) happily consume meat that is 'past it's best' and would almost certainly make a person sick. Of course, we'd spend 8-12 hours trying to digest what they can do in 4

Kibble typically takes around 12-14 hours to digest - which is one reason that relatively low amounts of bacteria can cause a problem. Come to pigs ears and raw hides though - well they're not actually digestible. A dog can have pieces of raw hide in it's stomach for days, even weeks with large pieces, before passing them in much the same state as they went in. Well, that's a looong time for the bacteria in the raw hide (or other leather body part) to be colonising the dog's system

So yes, dogs can certainly get salmonella poisoning from raw hides. A common occurrance is diarrhoea after too much raw hide chewing - which is an early sign of problems caused by bacteria.