Chews - Occupy. Relax. Dental Health. Showing a dog chewing contentedly on the floor.

Find the right chew for your dog’s individual needs.

Not only is chewing is an important part of your dog’s daily activities (and for some dogs, it is essential!), it releases feel-good chemicals (like endorphins) to promote relaxation. 

All our chews are expertly tried-and-tested so we know what they stand up to and which dogs they suit best. There are special top tips for senior dogs and puppies in our guide! 

Click here to go to our ‘CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHEW’ guide

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Our guide to choosing the RIGHT chew for YOUR dog

Chewing is amazing for dogs, and especially important for some dogs more than others! Breed type, age, physical health (dentition, illness), emotional wellbeing (feeling anxious or frustrated) and routine can all affect how significant a dog’s need to chew can be.

Chewing releases feel-good chemicals (like endorphins) so promotes relaxation as well as helping alleviate boredom as part of an enrichment programme and can also support dental hygiene.

They also need to be a taste and texture they enjoy, which can take a bit of experimenting to find out – every dog is different after all!!

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Long Lasting ('Extra Durable')

Our ‘Extra Durable’ category. Take a good amount of chewing, great for leaving out all the time

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General and Fairly Durable

We give these daily for dental health and enrichment in addition to the long lasting ones

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Gentle, slightly softer chews

For seniors, dogs who struggle with their dental health or just like something a bit easier, and to cut into smaller pieces.  

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Can Stuff With Food

Perfect for stuffing with wet food or other treats for enrichment and fun mealtimes

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Dental specific chews

Marketed with specific ingredients or shapes to help with plaque removal (just remember most chews do this!) 

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Long lasting/Extra Durable:  

We leave a selection of these down for our dogs all the time – so they always have something they can pick up to chobble on if they want to. This is something that nearly all dogs benefit from and is essential for younger dogs. 

The split antlers are a great starter chew as the slightly softer middle is easily accessible. Yakers are sometimes a little easier than the very hard antlers too. Buffalo horns are brilliant for using as natural Kongs and stuffing with wet food which introduces the actual chewing part a bit more slowly as it is broken up with licking!​

A note on Yakers, Tendons, Tails, Ears, Spaghetti and Skin – whilst we have included these particular chews in the long-lasting chew section, and for most dogs they are, we do get the occasional dog who manages to chew them up quite quickly so we suggest you just supervise the first one! To help, you can filter on ‘extra durable’ or ‘fairly durable’.

‘Consumable’ chews (general, fairly durable and gentle)

These are the smaller, more ‘consumable’ chews that we give our dogs regularly to add interest and enrichment. They tend to last somewhere between minutes and hours (depending on the chew and the dog!) and this means they can have something different every day – or even a couple of things per day (again this depends on the size of your dog and the type and size of the chew!) 

Our suggested approach – variety, variety, variety! And we’ll let you into a secret ….. we have a big ‘chew tin’ with lots of different ones of these all mixed up together and sometimes just let the dogs rummage through and pick their own out – their choices can be quite unexpected and its another lovely way to add choice and control to their lives. But introduce new things one at a time so you can check the effect on tummies! 

Chews you can stuff with food!

Our favourite chews that we use to help serve parts of breakfast, tea and snacks in between!

Some of these chews have smaller areas for just spoonfuls of food, others, like buffalo horns and ostrich straws, can hold larger amounts. Ears aren’t hollow, but they do make great ‘scoops’ or mini bowls for food and have a few nooks and crannies that food can be pushed into.

Please note: chews must be appropriate to your dog’s size, experience and dental health
Time to choose!
Step 1 - understand the risk factors

Chewing is of course a highly intrinsic, normal and hard-wired activity for dogs, but it does carry a degree of risk. For some dogs this risk is tiny, for others it could be huge.

Most common types of risk:

  • swallowing pieces which are too big and can’t be digested – at best they may cause just a bit of tummy ache, at worst they can do all sorts of damage on the way through to the other end…. or become stuck and not come out at all.  
  • damage to teeth (abrasion, fractures) as well as gums, the tongue and other soft tissue

Managing those risks:

  • no sticks – ever. They splinter, get stuck, cause obstructions and sometimes horrific injuries.  It’s easy to dismiss – after all dogs love sticks, don’t they? – until you see the consequences.
  • experience matters – introduce your dog to softer, easier chews to start with. See how they approach them (and what they enjoy and don’t). Gradually increase difficulty and variety. 
Step 2 - check your dog's dental health (to know how soft the chew needs to be)

Generally, once past puppy hood, age increases the risk of dental damage with chews so knowing how robust your dog’s teeth are is key to choosing the type of chew you give them.

The better the teeth (and gums), then in general, the harder the chews can be. 

If your dog does have problems with their teeth, there are lots of softer chewy things that can be great – the worse the issue, the softer they need to be. 

Extra durable chews: only suitable for dogs in excellent dental health (used appropriately)

General and fairly durable chews: most dogs should be fine (as long as no significant dental issues) – the fairly durable ones tend to last longer

Gentle chews: for seniors, dogs who struggle with their teeth or just those who like things to be a bit softer! 

So, there is no getting around it, the best and ‘gold standard’ way to know your dog’s actual dental health is to have regular vet checks. If you have a young dog with pearly whites, excellent gums and fresh breath then a quick check in a consult is usually fine, but anything else and really it needs sedation and xrays (that’s not your vet being ‘overkill’ it is their job to help you keep your dog in their best health). But at the very least, please have a little think about the following:

  • can you see any wonky, cracked, chipped, worn, misshapen or wobbly teeth? 
  • is there any sign of plaque or tartar (build-up on/around teeth)?
  • are gums a beautiful pale pink or are there any red lines around teeth or more general redness on gums or soft tissue? 
  • is your dog’s breath super stinky or fresh as a daisy? Anything other than fresh can be a sign of dental problems.

Any of these things – please get that checkup and stick to softer chews in the meantime

The right chews can absolutely help maintain good dental health…. but they can’t fix problems that are already there (other than maybe helping rub off a small amount of plaque) and may do harm if there are unseen issues lurking.

 

Step 3 - pick the right size

Chews need to be big enough that they can’t be swallowed too easily (and this includes thinking about texture – do they just crack into big chunks with one powerful squeeze!).

HOW your dog chews is also important – are they super careful and crunch everything into dust or do they just chomp it down as fast as possible. We see massive dogs who carefully and safely work on teeny-tiny puppy chews and small dogs who, frankly,  demolish anything but the most carefully selected options.  

Ideally go for something which your dog can grab between their back teeth and squeeze, maybe with one end on the floor or tucked under a paw. 

 

Step 4 - experience and chewing power!

Chews need to be big enough that they can’t be swallowed too easily (and this includes thinking about texture – do they just crack into big chunks with one powerful squeeze!).

HOW your dog chews is also important – are they super careful and crunch everything into dust or do they just chomp it down as fast as possible. We see massive dogs who carefully and safely work on teeny-tiny puppy chews and small dogs who, frankly,  demolish anything but the most carefully selected options.  

Ideally go for something which your dog can grab between their back teeth and squeeze, maybe with one end on the floor or tucked under a paw. 

Experience and chewing power are particularly important to consider when choosing the long-lasting ‘extra durable’ chews

 

Step 5 - think about what your dog loves to do (and eat!)

This is the fun bit! 

Have a dog that …

  • is obsessed with woody textured objects in the house? Olive or coffee wood might be a good choice. 
  • loves to squeeze things? A tendon that is robust, but has some ‘give’ could be perfect.
  • wants to chobble things into bits and chew up each piece? Try some of the crispier/crunchy chews like rice bones or some types of gullet/trachea.
  • needs a bit of gentle encouragement or loves to lick as much as chew? Look at the chews that can be stuffed with wet food.
  • sometimes needs something to crunch down on quickly in a few bites (maybe on a walk, or to calm the initial stages of excitement or arousal)? Tripe, JR sticks, bigger pieces of jerky.

 Then you get to think about flavours too! 

Just remember that every dog is different, variety is important and sometimes it takes time to build confidence and enjoyment with chews too. 

 

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