Can my 12-week-old Yorkie puppy safely chew on pig ear treats?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. The pig ears and chicken sticks typically have a lot of preservatives in them and can cause GI upset. I usually recommend the Kong toys filled with peanut butter or dental chew sticks like Oravet or Greenies. If Honey does ok with the chews you are giving her now, then in moderation these should be ok to give her every now and then. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

natural pig ears are usually a good option also on a point of view of potential allergies, i do not see any cons unless you discover after giving it that your dog is allergic or doesn't react well to it. do start slowly and give him 2 a week to start with.

It could be that the pig ear causing Capone some stomach upset and that might be why he isn't eating. Pig ears are fine to give to dogs as occasional treats, and I give them to my dogs occasionally as well. It's a good sign that he is playful and drinking water. I would monitor him tonight, and try to tempt him to eat with some boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts. You can also try soaking his dry food in gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth. Should he still not want to eat by the morning, I would have him seen by a vet for a health check just to be safe :-)

It's ok to do, but monitor closely to make sure he plays with it appropriately and doesn't eat it. It should be large enough that he's chewing on a rounded edge rather than a flat surface (which can break this teeth).

The best method to keep her teeth in shape would be to brush her teeth at least every other day after having the teeth cleaned professionally at your veterinarian's office (under anesthesia). Yorkies are notorious for extremely bad teeth, so chewies will not do the job. Once the teeth are shiny bright and white after the professional cleaning , it is easy to just apply the enzymatic tooth paste on your dog's teeth and then brush , or not even brush as the enzymes will remove the bacterial film on the teeth.

Daisy is super cute! The decision to give a dog rawhide is always a tricky one. Some dogs never have any problems with rawhide while others get bad stomach upset from them. Some dogs can even swallow a piece that's too big and end up with an intestinal obstruction. Intestinal obstructions are serious and require surgery to correct. I'd monitor Daisy to make sure she doesn't bite off a large piece of rawhide and swallow it as this would make her prone to intestinal obstruction. Remove the rawhide when it gets small as she may swallow it. I'd also watch to make sure she doesn't develop any vomiting or diarrhea. If you see this she should be examined by a veterinarian and rawhide should no longer be given If you want to err on the side of caution then I wouldn't give Daisy rawhide in the future. A Kong or another type of safe chew toy may be a better option for her. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and good luck with Daisy!

Hello. There are many, many puppy teething toys, from Kong toys to Nylabones for puppies. Stay away from real, solid bones & any kind of rawhide , pigs ear, pizzle stiks, etc. Whatever your purchase ( & Petco usually has a pretty good supply ), make sure that it is large enough that none of the puppies can swallow it whole, & replace anything that begins to fray, develop sharp edges, or the puppies seem to be getting close to chewing off a piece. One of my colleagues said after removing an entire chew toy from a 6 month old lab, " all chew toys should be bigger than a puppies head!" Soft toys are fine, just make sure there are no glued on eyes, or easily torn noses, ears or limbs. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.