Pork Earz from PetSmart - OK?

 I'm not familiar with that brand. However, the handling with hands thing goes back to salmonella poisoning

 Example:

The Food and Drug Administration announced today that Treat Makers, L.L.C., a manufacturer of natural pet treats, is voluntarily recalling Medalist brand pig ear pet treats, lot numbers 07600EXU3 and 08300EXU1, due to possible contamination with Salmonella. Pet owners can become ill by touching their mouth or food without washing their hands after handling the pet treats. Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in small children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people may only suffer short-term symptoms, such as high fever, severe headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Long term complications can include arthritis. Although Salmonella can pose a health risk for pets under certain conditions, our primary concern with this recall is protecting human health.

The Medalist brand pig ears are packaged in 25-count plastic bags. The lot number can be found on a white sticker on the back of the bag.

So, just be sure to wash your hands after touching those things.

Also, pig ears are very fattening so be careful with how many you are giving.

Btw, what your dogs chew is really dependent on what type of chewer the dog is. All of my dogs are fine with rawhides. In 15 years I've never had a problem giving rawhides. However, I can't give greenies or hard knuckle type bones that you see in grocery stores. 

I'd suggest reading the label as a good starting point.  If it's full of stuff you can't pronounce and have no idea what it is, that's where I draw the line.

Raw meat bones, marrows, knuckles are probably a lot safer ingredient wise since they have nothing added. And they are good for a very satisfying chew.

I buy them for my crew every now and then.  They last much longer than real pig ears that contain a lot of fat.  Here's the website about ingredients: http://www.scottsdog.com/raribrdogtr.html   

They are made from layers of pig skin but baked unlike the fried pork rinds us Southerner's enjoy! LOL 

They do last a while. That's part of the appeal for me. My one dog is 35lbs, the other is 60lbs. They are medium chewers I guess, but my 60lb female can demolish some treats in 5 minutes. When I gave them real pig ears they would be done before I closed the bag.

The Pork Earz take them both upwards of an hour to finish, and they love them. I try to only give every 3 days or so at this point, so hopefully it is not too bad for them. Like I said, they both get lots of exercise and seem fine healthwise.

Thanks so much for all the replies. This is a great community. Whenever I have a question about my pups I know I can find some good info here.
 

there's nothing wrong with giving dogs the occasional pig ear, but every other day?  ask yourself WHY you are giving your dogs treats. The biggest health threat to dogs today is being over-fed. The only reason you should give your dog "treats" is as a training reward. Dogs DO require things to chew on, for both health (clean teeth) and behavioral reasons, but I doubt pig ears do anything towards cleaning the teeth- you'd be much better off giving a raw knuckle bone than a pig ear.

 Some dogs just... need to chew. I know that Emma does. She lays down with something, every night, and chews herself to sleep. It's very soothing, for her. She loves her chewies (which vary like the wind, and include marrow bones, bully sticks, lamb traches, Sam's Yams, etc etc). It's pleasant for them, so why not?

I haven't ever tried those pig ear alternatives, because of Emma's allergies. I like the idea, though. When I tried giving her pig ears (I even made them at home, in the oven, LOL), they made her tummy very unhappy (presumably from the level of cooked fat). A lower fat version that lasts longer? Would please her very much.