Rabbit Ears for Dogs

October 16, 2026

Rabbit ears are thin, light dried chews, and the first choice to make is fur on or fur off. Everything else about them, from the chew time to the cleanup, follows from that.

They are sold by weight or by the pair, and because they come from a small animal the whole ear is only a few inches long.

Fur on and fur off

A fur on ear is soft on the outside and thin underneath, with a rim of cartilage that holds the shape. Expect a short chew, a certain amount of fur on the rug afterward, and a mild smell compared with a pig ear. A dog may pick the fur on ear out of a pile for the texture alone.

A fur off ear is skin and cartilage with the hair removed. It is the tidy one. Nothing sheds, and the ear looks more like a small, flat, dried leaf. That is the trade off between the two: fur on is the one dogs often pick, and fur off is the one that leaves the floor alone.

Some sellers say the fur does a job inside the dog, from cleaning to dealing with worms. This page leaves those claims out. Treat the fur as texture and as part of the chew, and nothing more.

Size and chew time

Measure the ear against the dog. Hold it beside your dog's muzzle: if the full length reaches past the nose and the width is more than the mouth can hold, it will take some work. If it fits inside the mouth in one go, it is a mouthful, not a chew.

For a big dog, a rabbit ear is a few seconds of chewing and then it is gone. For a small dog it can last a few minutes and leave a stub at the end. The honest answer to chew time is that it depends on the dog and the ear, and no figure on a bag can settle it for yours.

Fat is another thing to know. The nearest USDA FoodData Central entry is raw domesticated rabbit meat, which lists about 5.5 grams of fat per 100 grams. An ear is mostly skin and cartilage, so take that figure as a guide to the animal, not to the ear. Rabbit ears are lighter and less greasy than a pig ear, which you can feel in the hand.

Rabbit ears next to pig and cow ears

Ears come from several animals, and the size of the ear sets the type of chew. A rabbit ear is the small, light end of the family. A pig ear is bigger, thicker and carries more fat, and a cow ear is bigger again. The longer chew time on the larger ears comes with a heavier smell and more grease on the floor.

That makes the rabbit ear a good fit for the dog that wants a chew but not a project, and for small dogs for whom a pig ear is far too much. Our page on pig ears for dogs goes into the grease, the smell and the handling in more detail.

Rabbit ears from Sniff and Shift are not on this site yet. The nearest house chew here is the air dried duck feet, air dried in small batches in Malvern, and the dog chews collection shows how the others compare by form.

Giving the first ear

Offer the ear on something you can wash: an old towel, a crate tray, a tile floor. Stay in the room the first time, and watch how your dog works at it. Some dogs chew, and some gulp.

When the ear is down to a stub the size of a thumb, take it away and trade for a small treat. A stub that small can go down whole.

Give a new chew in small amounts at the start, and read the label for anything added to the ear, such as smoke or flavoring. Anything labeled only as rabbit ear is the plain one. The full list is on the rabbit dog treats page, sorted by form and size, where each product states what it is made of and how it was dried.

Common questions

Do dogs prefer rabbit ears with fur or without?

Many dogs pick the fur on ear first, and fur off is the tidier choice for the house. Neither is a better ear; it comes down to your dog and your floor.