A dog chew does one of two jobs. It either occupies a dog for half an hour, or it goes on top of dinner to get a fussy one eating. Knowing which you are after saves a lot of wasted money, because the two are not interchangeable and most people arrive looking for one and go home with the other. The range on this page is Paddock Farm, and it covers both.
How long a chew actually lasts
Hardness decides this, not size and not price. Weight-bearing bone is the longest lasting thing you can give a dog, and an ostrich bone will keep a determined chewer busy long after a pig ear has gone. Ears sit in the middle, and hairy ones last longer than smooth because the hair has to come off first. Dried meaty sticks and small chews are gone in minutes and are better thought of as treats than as occupation.
If your dog empties whatever you give it in under five minutes, you are buying the wrong end of the range. Move up to bone rather than buying more of the same.
Toppers, stuffing and the fussy eater
Pâté is the other half of this page and it is not a chew at all. A spoonful stirred through dry food will shift a dog that has gone off its dinner, and it is worth rotating proteins rather than settling on one, because dogs get bored of a topper faster than they get bored of their food. The 400g tubs come in ten proteins here, from chicken and lamb through to venison, wild boar, goat and ostrich, so there is room to keep changing it.
The other use is stuffing a rubber toy and freezing it overnight. That turns twenty pence of pâté into an hour of quiet, and it is the cheapest occupation trick there is.
The good ones often smell
This is the thing customers tell us most often about natural chews, and it is worth saying before you buy rather than after. Tripe in particular is loved by dogs and disliked by everyone else in the house, and the smell transfers to hands and carpet. If that will not go down well at home, buy a dried bone or a baked chew instead. You lose very little and you keep the peace.
Chews are food, not extras
A daily chew is a meaningful part of what a dog eats, and it is easy to hand one over every evening without adjusting anything else. Take it off the day's dinner rather than adding it on top. If weight is already a concern, our weight control range is the place to start.
Who should skip the hard chews
Dogs that crunch rather than gnaw, and dogs that swallow things whole, are the wrong dogs for bone. A cracked tooth is an expensive evening and a swallowed lump is worse. If your dog is either of those, or has had dental work done, ask your vet before you buy anything from the harder end and stay in the room while they eat it regardless.
Puppies still getting their adult teeth are better on something soft. And if you are buying peanut butter, buy one made for dogs rather than using what is in the cupboard, because a good many human brands are sweetened with xylitol, which is toxic to dogs in small amounts.
The rest of the treats and chews range, from other makers, is in dog treats and chews.