Had a scare last week with my 5 month old lab as he swallowed a pig's ear when I wasn't looking. I had no idea how big the piece was so I kept my eye out for signs of a blockage, lethargy and sickness. He had diarrhea a couple of days later so we saw the vet who said there didn't seem to be a blockage. Scary stuff though - and expensive! I read through the forum to see if there was further advice re: blockages, but now I'm seeing that pig's ears - the store-bought kind - are not recommended because of the chemical process. I'm guessing this applies to all the other hide chews he loves. So I'd love advice on what I can give him - he loves to chew but he has no interest in chew toys like nylabones etc. He did have an antler but now most of his adult teeth are through, I've noticed Jo said on the forum they can break teeth, so I don't want that to happen. He also has a yak chew, I've been introducing it slowly to check for effects on tum, but I bought the size recommended for his weight and it seems small, so I might find him a bigger one. I really want to find something he can chew - I don't let him have anything for longer than 20 mins or so at a time, but even that's a nice bit of peace and quiet! He has a lot of his food in Kongs, some frozen like yoghurt etc, but they dont last longer than 5 mins (he's on a mixed wet and dry diet). Looking into coffee sticks and chew roots, split antlers - I also have no idea about bones but would happily try. Any advice most gratefully received! Sorry for the long post!
Hi, I know what you mean we had all the same problems with our pup. In our local pets at home and b&m bargains they have chew rolls that look exactly like raw hide but they are not. Also we tried rice bones which are quite good and yak chews med then onto large as she's now 18 months.
frozen carrots, kongs, i think dentasticks are ok and real blood filler raw meat frozen cartalidge pig ears are fine apparently
Cooper (and Ginger and Tilly before her) gets rawhides, both knots and rolls. I know a lot of people don't like them but they work for us. The imitation chews made from ground hide, rice etc only lasted minutes with our Labs because they are serious powerful chewers. Raw bones are good. I stay away from all antlers, whole and split because they are so hard. We do use Nylabone antlers which our dogs like. Our dogs all loved to destroy soft toys. With a few exceptions they would take a toy and proceed to tear it open and rip out the stuffing. They did not eat the fabric or stuffing so did not have any problems with it. We would find punctured squeakers amid the piles of stuffing.
Thanks everyone for your answers - splashed out on coffee wood stick and a chew root from Green and Wilds and the pup is happy as Larry! They're lasting well, don't smell and he loves them to bits.
I wanted to give my puppy a nice fresh raw bone and somewhere I saw pork ribs recommended for puppies when I gave him a raw pork rib he chewed it for a while and swallowed it whole so I knew this would/could be a terrible blockage situation. 'luckily' ? He brought it back up and crunched it up instantly and swallowed it YUCK. Since then I have got him big Shin bones from the butcher -they are amazing he can't swallow them, way too big but licking the meat and marrowbone from them, keeps him busy for 40 mins at a time and then he revisits his bones regularly all the time! He loves them and they cost less than a pound each from the butcher! I have tried kongs - great for a while now last 10 seconds, bully sticks sometimes last, sometimes don't , but a shin bone is perfect! Too big too swallow but really tasty!
We got organic cow ears from Amazon. They are great and our puppy loves them. If we feel it getting to small then we either hold it for her to chew on or bin it so there is no risk of swallowing it
This is really helpful, thanks - we do have a covered outside area where he has a bed and hangs out quite happily. I'd be happy for him to have bones out there! This is really useful.
