I’m currently puppysitting a 13 or 14 week old Great Pyrenees puppy.
Chicken feet are plentiful and inexpensive here, is there a best way to use them for puppy chewing and training?
And how many is too many?
I assumed raw and thawed would be softest, and easiest to digest, but am reading they should be dehydrated and crunchy.
She loses interest in bones pretty quickly, so hoping these are a safe, nutritious and even time consuming option.
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Chicken feet are full of little bones: tarsi, just like your feet 
And unless you pull the claws, those are also another possible choking hazard.
Maybe get a pig ear or other dried “part”?
My feedstore has a selection I haven’t paid much attention to, because: no dog 
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Crud. The pig ears giver her the runs, so I’ll keep looking. Also she has no interest in antlers or elk chews.
Thanks for the info!
Agree about chicken feet and. Pig ears.
How about marrow bones.
My little bichons loved those and they lasted a long time for chewy bones.
Just get the bigger ones that they won’t choke on.
I think I’ve solved it!!
At the butcher the other day, I noticed home made dog food>>>beef liver, heart etc made into a goopy, pudding like delicious mess lol.
One lb packages, one of which I fed to her and the cats over the course of a few days, the other I froze.
This morning is hot already and she’s really enjoying her meatsicle outside. It’s a lb so a lot of food, I’ll pull it when it’s half gone for tomorrow.
And tomorrow I’ll go back to the butcher, grab a few lbs and freeze smaller portions for her.
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She loses interest quickly in marrow and knuckle bones, but does like raw meaty short ribs. But they’re expensive!!
I don’t know why you even posted this without a picture of the puppy. Who even are you?
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I strongly discourage anyone from feeding dogs dry pig ears or rawhide chews. As the dog slobbers and gnaws on it, the dry hide (pig or beef) will soften the leather. The softer, wet leather allows dog to swallow pieces or often the entire ear/chewy. Especially with big dogs, with bigger throats, what goes down may clog up in the digestive system. Leather may be soft yet not break down to digest or pass thru the intestines.
MSU Vet School has a day allowing visitors and one of the displays are the surgically removed items from dogs. LOTS of rawhide chews in various shapes and sizes that dogs could not pass. Viewing the specimans made me swear off rawhide treats forever! Lots of other weird and amazing things to see that some dog ate! Seems that dogs will try chewing, eating almost anything when given the chance.
The leg bone treats may need splitting to prevent narrow jaw breeds from getting lower jaw stuck inside. Narrow jawed are Collies, Shelty, Greyhound, along with puppies and other breeds.
It can be very hard to pick safe chewing things for dogs. Mine have never been interested in any of the rubber types, even loaded with peanut butter.
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Is the owner the type to give full liberty to feed whatever? I know I’m more protective than most but wouldn’t want someone feeding my dog any new food, especially a concentrated organ mix made by a local store.
For entertainment I’d freeze some of the normal food with some water to make a popsicle or bring some with a little pumpkin and spread on a lick mat.
For training, if you can build or tap into drive, toy rewards are often all you need for a young dog.
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I have been feeding raw thawed chicken feet to my x large pup for 3 years now (no longer a pup lol!) and they are totally safe and very healthy treat/snack. I only feed 1 foot 3 x week though. Great for bone/calcium but with a growing giant breed dog, you don’t want to overdo calcium - OCD. Some people do clip the nails on the chicken feet as they worry they may scratch them as they are ingested but I never have (my dog is a great slow eater and chews everything to death).
I also would never feed dried pig ears or raw hide ever. They can clog up the intestines and cause a lot of issues. I was also told to never feed weight baring bones such as marrow bones. They are far too hard and can fracture and break teeth (same as antlers) and I have seen some small jaws suck inside of them as well. Stick to softer raw bones like ribs, neck bones, chicken backs, or chicken or duck feet, something they can chew on and even eat, but nothing too hard and always supervise while chewing. I brushed up on my doggie heimlich as well as you just never know!
Every dog is so different in their chewing styles, so just purchase toys and bones accordingly and always supervise. My dog was never a heavy chewer so I was able to purchase soft squeaky toys and she loves all raw bones. Especially raw lamb flanks and ears, beef ribs and chicken backs. I’m always watching her as I give them to her though and of course I feed them outside on the grass. I only give her raw bones 2-3 times a week as you don’t want to overdo them. They are a “treat” and meant to be fed once in a while.
Be careful with organ meat. This should only make up part of their diet - max of 10% organs. Most cooked or raw dog foods are 80/10/10 (protein/bone/organ) or 70/10/10/10 (protein/bone/organ/veggies) - though cooked meals will not have any bone in them as once a bone is cooked, it can splinter and puncture them, so other supplements (or raw bones such as chicken feet) need to be fed to up calcium. Bone is added to raw feeds though. The days that I feed a bone, depending on if its a meal replacement bone (such as chicken feet or chicken back), I feed less of her raw food that day. If its a recreational bone such as a beef rib, I don’t subtract much of her regular meals, but I will remove the bone from her as soon as she has eaten the meat off of it and has had a bit of a chew on the bone.
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This was my wonder also.
OP, you say you are pet sitting, why not just feed this dog what the owner feeds this dog?
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Are you looking to entertain the pup? Or just provide a fun snack?
How long are you pup sitting?
You mentioned the glop your butcher has for dog food. I would want to know the ratio of meat/bone/organ since taurine is essential for heart health. I would use that glop as a reward/frozen kong/entertainment but not as a meal if you dont know the amounts like Diamond Jubilee posted.
I would not want to deviate too much for a pup that is not yours and is only a few months old. Their digestive tract can be sensitive.
Will this young dog allow you to take something away if it starts to choke?
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The owners have entrusted me to care for her. I’m looking for something to help her through the teething and we’re going with the frozen Kong with organ meat for now.
Owners are young family members, I’m in the adjacent cabin with lots of time and they’re fantastically busy people, so she’s with me most days.
I routinely take things from her, replacing it with a treat and lots of praise each time.
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I give my chewing dogs raw or frozen raw carrots. 
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