*I was provided complimentary himalayan dog chews. All opinions are my own.
When I got my pugs Frank & Beans in July of 2013, it was the first time that I had a dog as an adult. Growing up we had dogs but they weren’t my responsibility and so I never really paid a lot of attention to the details of dog ownership. I knew that some people used rawhide chews with their dogs to give them something to chew on but it wasn’t until after I got Frank & Beans that I learned that rawhide is really hard for dogs to digest, so they usually “come out” the same way that they “went in”. For dogs who swallow large pieces without chewing it up first, this can cause blockages in their digestive tract that requires surgery to remove. Frank in particular, tries to swallow food or chews as soon as he’s able – without chewing so rawhide would be really dangerous for him. So, I started looking into alternatives and almost everything I came across had some “yuck factor” to it. Bully sticks, hooves and raw bones are all popular alternatives but because they are made from animal body parts, a lot of pet owners are too grossed out by them to purchase or handle them. I don’t mind that so much, but bully sticks are really expensive. Then I saw on a forum that someone suggested Himalayan Dog Chews.
Instead of being made by animal bones or body parts, they are primarily yak and cow milk with some salt and lime juice added in and that’s it! There are no preservatives or anything unnatural in them. If you’re sensitive to bad odors, you’ll appreciate that Himalayan Dog Chews are nearly odorless.
Himalayan dog chews come in a few different sizes, based on your dog’s weight. My dogs are about 20 and 24 pounds so we got the green packages which are for dogs under 35lbs. They cost about $7-$8 each. Upon opening, I was a bit surprised at how hard the chews really were. They are very solid feeling and if they hit the floor they produce a loud clacking sound.
In order to help you understand my dogs experience with the Himalayan Dog Chews, I think it’s important to know a little bit about their personalities and preferences. My dogs are older (8.5 and 9.5 years old) and are not aggressive chewers. A typical 6 inch bully stick takes them at least 45 minutes to polish off, and they often walk away with it unfinished and come back later. While they will have an interest in raw bones, they only have 1-2 chew sessions per bone (until they get the marrow or meaty parts off) and then they never show interest again.
With the Himalayan Chews, they both were very interested once I pulled them out of the packages, and they both sat down for probably 25 minute chew sessions that first time. The next day, when I tried to hand Frank his Himalayan Dog Chew, he didn’t take it, but Beans did and she chewed for maybe 10 minutes. Since that day, I haven’t been able to get my dogs to take them from me and start chewing but I have left them around on the floor and three times Beans has just randomly went up to it and started chewing again but only for about 5-10 minutes each time. I think that they are too old or too mild of chewers to be satisfied with the chew long-term because it takes them so long to soften the chew and get pieces off. Here is what the Beans’ chew looked like after we had them about a month, and had maybe 1 hour worth of chew time. Barely a dent!
On occasion, we have had bully sticks get old/hard and my dogs would have no interest in them so I would put them in water for 5-10 minutes to soften a tiny bit and then they’d show interest again. I decided to try this with our Himalayan Dog Chews. After soaking the Himalayan chews, both dogs will take them for a short while afterwards. I didn’t discover this until two days ago but I’ve done it twice since then with success. Although it’s taken a bit more effort to keep my dogs interested in these, it’s not time consuming for me and it’s worth it for the money that I can save over other types of chews that don’t last as long.
I mentioned above that Frank tries to swallow food once it’s small enough to fit into his mouth, without chewing it. A cool thing about Himalayan Dog Chews is that once you have a small piece left, you can microwave it for a few seconds and it will puff up into a crispy dog treat, so you don’t have to waste the end of it, further increasing the value.
I think that my dogs aren’t as into chewing things as most dogs, and they are definitely pickier about chews than most dogs so I think most dogs would take to these with ease. Even though I knew that there was some risk that my dogs wouldn’t take to them, I would have gladly spend the $7 to give them a try because I knew that if they did work out, they’d save me money over other types of chews.
If you’d like to find some to buy, they are available on Amazon and at pet stores.
Have you tried Himalayan Dog Chews? How did your dogs take to them?
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 3 responses.
-
I will definitely check these out for my dogs. I totally know what you mean about yuck factor. I almost gagged when I found out what bully sticks were made from!
My dog would LOVE these!! Thanks for sharing!