*I was sent products from Top Dog Treats & Chews in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.
The pugs that we adopted in July are true lap dogs – they always want to be on or next to us. It’s great that we both work from home, but we of course have to leave the house sometimes. The dogs seem to like to chew to ease their anxieties and at first we were buying rawhide for them but after reading that rawhide is not digestible by dogs, I grew concerned and looked for alternatives.
Top Dog Treats and Chews is a company that sells bulk-only orders of popular dog chews like bully sticks, antlers, yak milk chews and bones from popular brands like Barkworthies, Antlzers and Himalayan dog chews. To order from Top Dog Treats & Chews you should be a groomer, pet shop, vet office, online pet store, breeder or otherwise have a tax re-sale ID.
We were sent two 6″ Barkworthies thick bully sticks, two 12″ Barkworthies bully sticks, a large barkworthies split elk antler and a large barkworthies elk antler.
When these arrived, we hadn’t tried any of these products from any brand before. I had heard amazing things about bully sticks online about how pretty much all dogs like them and how they are digestible and therefore better and safer than rawhide, and also lasting longer than rawhide.
Our dogs got excited as soon as they smelled the bully sticks and they both sat down and chewed for over 45 minutes before moving on to something else. I had seen them both consume 5′ rawhide rolls in 20 minutes so I was excited that even after 45 minutes of chewing that about half of the 6″ stick was still left.
After that first session, they would chew for shorter periods of time (at least when we were around to observe them – I’m not sure how long they chew when we are gone, of course). Some dogs (even small ones) will consume large portions of bully sticks without chewing if not monitored, so those owners tend to opt for the longer bully sticks like the 12 inch ones. Our dogs don’t seem to do that so i’m comfortable giving the 6″ ones and we cut the 12″ ones in half before giving them to our dogs. Once giving them, we’d just leave them out and the dogs usually pick them up to chew at least once a day. The 6″ portions lasted anywhere from 1.5 days to 3 days after we first gave them – usually lasting about 3 separate chew sessions.
I was excited to try the elk antlers as well. I had read that dogs like the marrow which is inside of the antlers so it’s usually best to give a split antler the first few times until a dog realizes what antlers are, so to speak. Both dogs had a mild interest in the antlers and tried to chew them but gave up after 10-15 minutes and then didn’t seem interested in trying again. I think this might be because the antler is too wide for them to carry easily in their mouths, and also perhaps because they couldn’t get “pieces” off like they can bully sticks which gives them motivation to keep going. I have heard that for some dog owners, their dogs just love antlers and they last for years even with daily use so I think they are definitely worth a trying. In fact, I’d feel comfortable trying most anything sold at Top Dog Treats & Chews because so many of their items are highly discussed on pet forums as being high quality, loved & respected treats or chews. They sell several items that are on our “to try” list such as himalayan dog chews, Etta says chews, and Barkworthies knucklebones. Want to check out what else they have? Visit the Top Dog Treats & Chews site.
Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 6 responses.
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mel
I don’t have dogs but these treats look great!
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that looks like one happy dog–our dog Aloha loves chew sticks too–thanks for sharing –we are going to have to try them 🙂
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My daughters little doggie might like these treats. I may look into some for Christmas for him.
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Shelly
I just bought 2 dog antlers for my dogs to try. I have 4 dogs and they are constantly trading Nylabones. They love the antlers. I bought the medium size since I have dogs from 10 to 50 lbs and they were all interested in them. They usually destroy other toys in a few hours, but these seem to be very durable.. I think I found them at Target.
I don’t do/have dogs, but I can tell yours certainly is enjoying the treats!