Chiweenie Dreaming Of Bully Sticks

The chiweenie is chewing on one of her favorite rawhide chews, dreaming of her favorite bully sticks.

Bully sticks are all of our dogs' favorite dog chews. We just placed a new order. Remember, bully sticks of all sizes are safe for dogs of all sizes--safe under supervision always. Everyone, from a tiny dog to a giant one, can enjoy them. 

Normally, we simply buy bully sticks in bulk because it is more economic. This time, we're going to try something new, we're going to try a smaller quantity that is supposed to last longer, since they're thicker than average bully sticks, plus, and more importantly, they're supposed to be ODOR FREE. Wish us luck and stand by for a review.

Twinkie

Himalayan Dog Chew Review

Always on the lookout for the healthiest and safest dog treats, I recently stumbled upon the Himalayan Dog Chew. The Himalayan Dog Chew comes from an ancient recipe of the people of the Himalayas and Nepal, in the mountains surrounding Mt. Everest at more than 15,000 feet. It is made using traditional methods with yak or cow milk. They are all natural with no chemicals or preservatives.
Guaranteed Analysis: crude protein min 52.6%, crude fat min 0.9%, ash max 6.0%, moisture max 10.2%
Ingredients: yak and cow milk, salt, lime juice
NO preservatives and NO additives (Who does not prefer all natural dog treats?)

After reading this, you're probably wondering: Isn't this like hard cheese? Yes it is! What is wrong with that? The milk used in these dog chews is cooked therefore the protein is not in it's raw form and your pooch should have no upset tummy or dog diarrhea.  The salt and fat content is so low that it is negligible. Because of their make up, these dog chews that have been around for 6 years now, are not known to cause any intestinal blockage, unlike other dog chews, as for example rawhide dog chews.

The Himalayan Dog Chew comes in a variety of sizes. I always go up a size. I always give my small dogs larger chews. They are both more economical and safe that way. However, there are many sizes to pick from.

Product list: Himalayan Dog Chew Small (3-5 pieces), Himalayan Dog Chew Medium (1 piece), Himalayan Dog Chew Large (1 piece), and there's the Himalayan Dog Chew Mixed (3 pieces).




I have nothing but positive feedback about the Himalayan Dog Chew. My dogs, that range in size from extra small (teacup chihuahua) to large (dalmatian german shorthaired pointer mix) love it and all spend hours licking and chewing on this pack favorite. Another plus, is that this product is not offensive to the humans. Unlike, bully sticks or pizzle for instance, that reek, the Himalayan Dog Chew does not have an unpleasant odor. It's rather subtle.

I just placed another order for Himalayan Dog Chew treats. I am convinced that it's one of the top choices if not the best dog chew for my pack.

Twinkie

A WARNING AND AN UPDATE (July 2, 2013) Here is a reader's recent comment: just wanted to add, found your site while doing research.. my 7 month old labradoodle is recovering from intestinal blockage surgery after swallowing a chunk of Everest Chew... we have it in a pill bottle as a reminder... I would NEVER feed these to any dog again.. we were very close to losing him... just a warning...

Thank you for your comment! As with all dog treats, chews, toys, even collars, we, your precious pooches NEED supervision. Any and all treats are potential threats if they are the wrong size, or if you do not remove them as they get smaller. Let's use our judgment and get better educated and we can all live happily ever after. Twink!

The Blur

So far, I've tried my best to use the best photos available for my demonstrations, due to technical difficulties and speeds exceeding that of light, I'm afraid I have to use less than clear photos. I just want to share some playtime photos of Shandy (the icelandic sheepdog) and the rhodesian ridgeback twins, Hank and Sue.

Wise senior dog chose to be the referee.

Not so wise chiweenie and teacup chihuahua, became active participants to this dangerous game.

Twinkie: "Ehem . . . Hanky, are you forgetting your true love?"

Hank: "No, baby. We're good. I was just messing around."

After incredible zoomies, we visited our pond.

Yes, we stepped on the fish.

And right after that, we re-zoomed our games.

We had a blast!

Right after our guests left us, the chiweenie and I collapsed and took a long nap--after a lovely meal. We woke up just in time. M had just hit the bed. The chiweenie and I resumed our zoomies on her belly. She had to resort to rawhide dog chews. Mission accomplished.

Twinkie

Dog Chews | Bully Sticks (part 2)

This is a supplemental post to "Bully Sticks | Dog Chews". In my follow up research, I found out something that must be mentioned: Unfortunately, dog chews and bully sticks can both be affected by salmonella, as stated by the FDA. I'm not saying there won't be any chewing on the most favorite dog chews, I'm just saying that it is good to be aware and a bit on the cautious side. All responsible dog owners have to be aware that there is no treat, chew, or toy that is 100% safe. 

Bully Sticks, also known as pizzle, beef pizzles, pizzle sticks, beef sticks, and steer six, are made of bull penises. That is the only ingredient in them. The bull's (approximately 23" long) penis is, um, removed, cleaned, and hung to drain and dry, hopefully getting rid of the stinky smells during that process. Next, the bully sticks are stretched, braided, and/or twisted and eventually dried. Sometimes they are smoked to add flavor and make them more interesting for your dogs. The end result is a thirty to forty inch long dog chew that is hard to chew and that can be cut to any size you desire. In order to save money, we usually buy the largest size we can find and then use a Dremel tool or a hand saw to chop it down and divide between the three dogs. The cats have really no interest in this particular dog treat. I wish I could say the same for our chicken strips. but we have to fight over those.  

To recap:

Dog treats and more specifically dog chews are not to be given freely. Rawhide is one of the most potentially dangerous treats. While the ingredient is the skin of the cow, the dangers can be deadly. Your dog may choke, have his throat and esophagus scraped, and may get a physical obstruction in his intestinal track that can be surgically removed, if caught on time. If your dog loves rawhide and you don't want to deprive him, you're probably better off finding some compressed rawhide which is created under extreme pressure out of layers of beef hide. This type also lasts 2-5 times longer than regular rawhide treats. Cow Hooves, one of our favorites, are not problem-free either. They can break your dog's teeth, and small sharp bits can tear the bowel's wall, something that in most cases causes infection and death. Pig Ears, another favorite of ours, can also cause blockages and may contain salmonella. Some people prefer Nylabone chews thinking they are safer. That's not the case either. They may not splinter of break but there is a danger that your dog will not be able to properly digest the small particles that sometimes are not passed through the digestive system. Just a few short weeks ago we purchased Udders because it was the latest fad and people thought them safer than other dog chews. A few minutes later, we were painfully aware that those too can cause a chocking hazard.  

The only general rule we can all follow is to always remove a dog chew when it gets small enough to become a chocking hazard in and of itself. 

Be careful and stay current and well informed. We sure are worth it.

Twinkie

Dog Chews | Bully sticks

My family and I are always on the lookout for the perfect dog chews. We live in a mixed cat/dog household and us dogs vary in size from XXSM-L. We also have furiends who belong in the XXL category we're always thinking of. Because the opinions on rawhide dog chews vary so much, we don't feel safe about using those, yet. Therefore, for the time being, our solution has been: bully sticks aka pizzle. Bully sticks are pricey, but they last a really long time with us small dogs. With larger dog breeds they don't last nearly as long, but they're still a good choice. Mommy found that the longest bully sticks for dogs at Petco were the best deal. She'd buy one and then use a handsaw or a Dremel tool to split it in three, but yesterday she checked out Amazon and found an even better deal I want to share with you.

30 Pack - All Natural 6 Inch Best Bully Sticks

list price $81.00 on sale $34.99

Of course, I still love the marrow bones that we get from the butcher's, and leftover bones we get to suck on for a little while, under the strictest supervision, so we don't break off any sharp fragments, or fight.

Much better than bully sticks

but also more dangerous

Why is it that all good things in life are either forbidden or don't last long?

We have already ordered our bully sticks for now, but we'll keep on looking, learning, testing and we'll give you more information regularly. Some of you made some pawesome suggestions on dog chews that I will post about once I've tested them for myself in my diverse household. 

For you cat owners, our cats do occasionally play, roll, and chew with the bully sticks mommy gets for us, but I don't think that they are too interested. Perhaps we'll figure out a way to saturate them with catnip aroma turning them into the idea catnip toy!

Twinkie

Udders | Dog Products | A Review

I noticed on several blogs that many of my furiends had discovered a new type of dog chews. I'm referring to the Udders, the latest dog chews. When I first heard of them, I thought, what a brilliant concept. I couldn't imagine anything going wrong. My furiends were raving about them, so, after an investment of $25.00, we got two hoping they would last my pack a long time. We are all big on dog chews. M got ours from Helping Udders. Once she got to their web site, shopping around for a better price stopped being an option. Helping Udders claims they donate 25% on all udder tug sales and even up to 50% on other stuff. M had arrived! She was going to make a significant purchase of a product pretty much advertised by my furiends, and pick the rescue of o choice to donate to. Brilliant, so far.
The udders finally arrived. They were wrapped neatly and each had a tag hanging from it.

Mom removed the tags, putting them aside, and handed Frankie and me the latest dog chews. I thought they smelled delicious, yet I was not that interested. 

Frankie loves and needs to chew

Frankie loved them

To make this more interesting and to get a more rounded view, M invited Bob to check out the udder, so far nobody we knew had tested them with a cat! Dog product review and cat product review are very useful when one lives in a mixed menagerie household. On to the cat products' review then.

Success

As promised by the website

"The power of eau de bovine was unleashed"

In Bob's nose

So, day one was a success, but M was holding off on Linguini, since she's by far the biggest pack member and has the strongest jaws therefore she demolishes all dog chews so far. 

It is day three now. Linguini has yet to experience them and M is really skeptical of whether any of us will be allowed to hold on to the udders.

Ta-da!

Having recently read about Lily's recent Nylabone mishap, M is not feeling like living on the edge. Where is the missing rubber? Luckily, Frankie decided to spit it out and M got rid of it. M is planning of cutting off the skinny part of the udder chew toy and watch us like a hawk again until she declares the chew toy "safe". 

Purposefully, M pulled out the tags to reexamine.

Aha! Nothing is 100% safe

Dog chews wrap up: Udders are neat, udders are cool, but always under supervision!!! Dogs like them, cats like them, but only under supervision. It saddens me to say but our best find in cheweys is still the pizzle, aka bully sticks. It may be costly and we go through it at a fast pace, but it's safer than anything we've ever sampled, rawhide dog chews included. This is my dog product review and you now have all my information to assist you in making a more calculated decision.

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Global Animal Blogging Event

Last day to enter the event as an active participant with a G.A.B.E. post. As of tomorrow, we just mingle and continue to have fun. Winners of the free giveaways will be announced on April 18 on the active participants' blogs. 

Twinkie