Best Dog Chew Toys: Choosing the Best Chew Toys for Your Dog

November 9, 2016

Chewing is very important for your dogs oral and mental health. Chewing on a dog chew keeps his teeth clean, his body exercised and his mind occupied. Having your dog chew on a toy is also important to prevent behavior problems and chewing on inappropriate objects. A dog that has chewed for 30 minutes is busy, contented and more apt to take a nap than steal your wallet! However, everything your dog puts in his or her mouth has a potential for harm. He or she could break a tooth, choke, become allergic, get some sort of infection, have trouble with digestion, and probably more things we haven't even thought of! Despite these risks, we believe that allowing your dog to chew on a variety of objects is a natural behavior that is important for your dog to engage in. In fact, not giving your dog a variety of chews will probably result in your dog finding it's own chews (i.e. your furniture, your shoes, sticks, rocks).

Below are my thoughts about the best dog chew toys. This guide is meant to help you make an informed decision about what to dog chew toys are best for your dog. Please note, that Pet Expertise has chosen to offer the best and safest dog chews that are natural, healthy and long lasting. We hope that you support our small business by purchasing one of these chews from us!

For dogs that love to chew anything, you can go with the less tasty chews but pickier dogs will need to have a tasty chew in order to give it a second sniff.

About "Our Overall Rating" system: The rating is a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most natural, healthy, tasty, safe and long-lasting chew imaginable. Items with a rating under 5 are generally not recommended by Pet Expertise.

Dog Chew Type	Our Overall Rating*	Tastiness 10=Yum!	Chewing Time Estimations!	Pros	Safety & Cons
Bully Sticks Bull penises that have been rinsed & dried.	9 out of 10	7 out of 10	30 Mins or More	Tasty for dogs Natural Nutritional value Non staining Some are available with low odor Non greasy Non staining	Safety Concerns: Choking on the end piece, possible bacterial contamination, chemical treatment. Pet Expertise's bullies are not chemically treated. We recommend that you take the bully stick away when small enough to choke on. Cons: Some will have an odor.
Himalayan Dog Chew A very hard cheese chew.	9 out of 10	6 out of 10	30 Mins or More	Yummy! Natural nutritional value Non staining Non greasy Pleasant smell Unique	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, choking on a small piece. Cons: Significant number of calories
Antler Chews Deer antlers that are cut up.	9 out of 10	5 out of 10	Weeks or More	Natural Nutritional value Non staining No odor Unique Long lasting	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, choking on a small piece, possible bacterial contamination.
Rubber Chew & Puzzle Toys Rubber dog chews such as Kongs	7 out of 10	3 out of 10 (unless stuffed with food!)	Months or More	Natural rubber Non staining (unless you put PB inside!) Durable Long lasting Good variety of sizes & strengths Stuffable	Safety Concerns: Choking on a small piece, indigestibility. Pet Expertise offers blue Kongs & durable Kongs to help prevent the dog swallowing pieces and if pieces do swallowed, the blue Kong will show up on an X-ray. Cons: Dogs don't much care for them unless you put food inside. Don't really clean teeth much.
The products below are not available from Pet Expertise. If you wish to find them, simply do a Google search for them:
Rawhide	5 out of 10	6 out of 10	30 Mins or More While compressed will last the longest it is also perhaps more dangerous since the dog will potentially ingest more rawhide. Generally a rolled rawhide chew will last several hours.	Not much if any odor Readily available in many forms and flavors. Have been in use for years. Non staining Non greasy	Safety Concerns: There are many safety concerns about rawhide which is why we have not added it to our inventory. The concerns are about chemical processing, possible bacterial contamination, choking and indigestibility.
Pig Ears, Pig Skin, Tendons and Other Animal Body Parts	5 out of 10	7 out of 10	Minutes or More They are best for picky dogs.	Readily available	Safety Concerns: Choking, possible bacterial contamination. Cons: Can be greasy and high in calories.
Nylon Chews	5 out of 10	4 out of 10	Months or More	Non staining Readily available Non greasy No calories No odor Lots of different sizes, flavors and shapes. Long lasting	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, choking on a small piece. Indigestibility. Cons: These are not natural and have no nutritional value. However, the bits should pass right through your dog.
Gumabone from Nylabone	4 out of 10	4 out of 10	Months or More They will not last as long as a nylon bone.	Non staining Readily available Non greasy No calories No odor Lots of different sizes, flavors and shapes.	Safety Concerns: choking on a small piece. Indigestibility. Cons: These are not natural and have no nutritional value. However, the bits should pass right through your dog.
Real Bones	4 out of 10	4-8 out of 10	30 Mins or More Bones can really vary in how long they last from less than an hour to months. The sterilized marrow bones are almost indestructible.	Natural Nutritional value	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, bone splintering and cutting the dog, choking on a small piece, possible bacterial contamination, indigestibility, chemical treatment. Pet Expertise does not recommend feeding bones unless they are raw. Cons: Bones can also stain and be greasy. Sterile empty marrow bones are not very tasty.
Cow Hooves	4 out of 10	5.5 out of 10	Days or Weeks or More	Natural Nutritional value Non staining Non greasy Readily available	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, Choking (hooves are not very big to begin with), being cut by a sharp piece, possible bacterial contamination. Cons: They have an unpleasant odor. Hooves can become sharp and can be a hazard to humans with bare feet!
Corn starch chews	3 out of 10	5.5 out of 10	30 Mins or More	Non staining Non greasy No odor Lots of different sizes, flavors and shapes. Digestible Bumps to help clean teeth	Safety Concerns: Breaking a tooth, choking on a small piece, allergy to corn. Cons: Corn is not very nutritious for dogs and can be allergenic. There are also other chemicals in the chew that are not very healthy for dogs.

Is there a dog chew that you would like us to review? Contact us!

*About Our Overall Rating System: The rating is a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most natural, healthy, tasty, safe and long lasting chew imaginable. Items with a rating under 5 are not generally recommended by Pet Expertise.

Note, If you wish to find more about any of these products which are not available through Pet Expertise, simply Google the product names.

The Author:

Jess Rollins

Jess Rollins and Pet Expertise's Mission is to Help You to Maximize Your Dog's Potential!

We've all had the experience of walking into a large store and being confused by the huge selection, perhaps wanting someone with the background knowledge who can help us make a wise choice. The Pet Expertise Experts personally select and test the items available for purchase on the site to find those that are as safe and effective as possible. The right products can make a big difference!...Read More

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