Treat Tuesday: Red Barn French Toast Flavored Bully Slices

I bought these French Toast Flavored Bully Slices because I saw them at the Red Barn booth at SuperZoo 2016 and thought they were hilarious. They've got a whole bunch of "bully coated" treats and chews, made with their special "bully gravy". Now we all know that bully sticks are some of the nastiest treats on the planets from the human perspective, and possibly the most delectable from the canine perspective. Red Barn claims to have created some sort of horrific concoction that can give other objects the essence of bully, but they could also just be capitalizing on the name. Bully sticks are expensive, bully-insert-thing-here is much more affordable, and my dogs might like it just as much! Clever Red Barn, very clever.

Good For

• Being way cheaper than a bully stick
• Portion control for dogs that can eat a large rawhide chew in a single session
• Lasting about as long as any other small strip of rawhide
• Smelling kinda like breakfast and kinda gross at the same time
• Dog owners that only feed treats and chews made in the USA

Not Good For

• Dogs that swallow their chews whole
• Lasting as long as an actual decent-sized bully stick
• Dogs with egg or beef allergies
• Dogs with sensitive tummies

How Much We Like Them
The girls both love them, and they're good for a few minutes of peaceful gnawing. They give Zip diarrhea though, so these are going to be a Godzilla-only treat now.

Product Review: Busy Buddy Nobbly Nubbly

PetSafe's Busy Buddy Nobbly Nubbly is a durable chew toy designed to hold the company's various ring-shaped treats. The toy features durable nylon ends and a softer rubber center with grooves that can hold peanut butter, cream cheese, or any other gooey spreadable treat. One end unscrews to allow PetSafe's ground, pressed rawhide treats to be threaded onto the toy. The Nobbly Nubbly comes in four sizes for dogs up to 90 pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is one of PetSafe's many variations on their screwbone design. The Build-a-Bone and Bouncy Bone work the same way, just unscrew one end and thread the treat rings on. The ends of the Nobbly are a bit more difficult to chew into oblivion, though.

Ours is a size large for dogs 50-90 lbs, and so far nobody has managed to unscrew it and gnaw the threaded bit, which is fairly impressive. Brisbane and Annie can spend a couple of hours working the treats out of it.

Photo by Erin Koski

I'm not a huge fan of smearing the center bit with peanut butter. This is partly because it presents so little challenge for them to lick it off, and partly because it ends up with peanut butter all over the floor.

Pros: Takes a long time for the dog to eat a very small treat. Easy to reload if you buy the right size rings.

Cons: Not quite durable enough for power chewers. Larger dogs can probably unscrew it fairly easily. Hard nylon ends become sharp when gnawed. Have to buy PetSafe's treat ring refills, and the ones for our medium-size toys don't fit this large one.

Bottom Line: This keeps Brisbane and Annie busy for longer than pretty much any toy in the house.

Treat Tuesday: Exer-Hides USA Rawhide Curls

I found a package of  Exer-Hides Rawhide Rolls at Walmart that lived up to my incredibly high standards, and now I have to question everything I ever thought I knew. Well not exactly, but I was definitely surprised. Normally I only give my dogs Wholesome Hides because these are made in the USA from domestically-sourced hides, and constructed in a way that makes them very difficult to chew in an unsafe manner.

While visiting my cousins in Idaho, we made a trip to Walmart. The subject of rawhide came up while we were browsing the pet aisle, and my cousin if I ever gave my dogs rawhide. I explained that I only give them Wholesome Hides because they are made out of one big thick sheet of rawhide, while the vast majority of rawhide rolls are made from one small, thin sheet wrapped around a bunch of smaller chunks and scraps. Chewing that one sheet takes a lot more time and effort, while it's much easier to bite off and swallow large chunks of the cheap ones.

I also mentioned my annoyance at the "USA Rawhide" I see at Petco all the time with the small print revealing that the actual product is manufactured in Mexico from USA-sourced hides. Almost all rawhide is made from USA-sourced hides, it's the process of shipping it to Mexico or China or elsewhere that tends to cause problems. A lot of consumers are aware of this, and specifically look for American rawhide, so I believe that packaging to be deliberately deceptive.

At any rate, back to Walmart. Seeking visual aids for my explanation, I grabbed the nearest package of rawhide retriever rolls. "See? It says USA really big on the front but it's probably not...no, actually it's made in the USA from US-only beef hides, wow. And the rolls are made from one thick sheet and not a bunch of little pieces. I guess I need to buy these." I did find a good example of low-quality unsafe rawhides rolls on the shelf right next to these, also under the name Exer-Hides but made in China.

As expected, these things took absolutely forever for the dogs to demolish. We had Brisbane, Sisci, Molly the Power Chewer, the Barbosa the pit bull puppy gnawing on them for a week and still brought home all four rolls with very little hide missing. Brisbane and Sisci took another couple of weeks to finish them off, and basically had to gnaw enough to unroll the hide and nibble off the edge of the sheet. So many hours of chewing! These are smaller rolls than our gigantic Wholesome Hides retriever rolls, but the USA Exer-Hides were fantastically long-lasting rawhides designed for safer chewing with minimal swallowing of hide. At $10 for four rolls, they were also a great value. I'm not sure if my local Walmart here in California carries them, I'll have to check next time I'm feeling brave enough to venture inside it.

Treat Tuesday: Wholesome Hides Twists

These 5" twists from Wholesome Hides are a great way to occupy the dogs for a while. These are nice little rawhide chews that can easily be finished in one sitting, making them less likely to start fights or stress out my resource guarders. They are made from heavy, thick rawhide that takes a lot of work to gnaw, and made in the USA from fresh hides so they are extra-tasty.

Good For: Small dogs that chew with low to moderate intensity. Medium-sized dogs that chew slowly and carefully. Dogs that would rather gnaw than swallow big chunks. Dogs who don't enjoy swallowing treats whole.

Not Good For: Big dogs. Intense chewers. Dogs that like to swallow treats and chews whole.

How Much We Like Them: Enough that Briz and Sisci will focus and gnaw until they're gone. Bigger rawhides are only for crate-time, otherwise I have to take them away when the cattledogs are done chewing. They're not seriously aggressive resource guarders, but they both clearly worry about their precious rawhides and run over to check on them when they think another dog might be nearby.

Product Review: Pawbunga Ruffhides

Pawbunga's Ruffhides are a clever solution to some of the problems with edible chews. These rubber chew-holders are designed to contain a rawhide, bully stick, or Himalayan dog chew. The toy keeps the slobbery mess off the floor, and prevents the dog from eating their treat too fast. Ruffhides are dishwasher-safe and made in the USA. They are available in three colors and three sizes.

Photo by Erin Koski

Our Ruffhide came from the Scout's Honor promise from BarkBox. When we didn't fall in love with our flat penguin toy, they let us pick this out instead. Since my dogs are fans of the Himalayan dog chews, I thought they might enjoy this.

The Ruffhide isn't for every dog, and it's not for every chew, either. It makes the chew harder to access, which can make an unmotivated dog lose interest. A serious power chewer might be able to demolish the rubber or break the chew up and pop it out in just a few minutes. However, for a motivated dog, the Ruffhide can be amazing. 

The Ruffhide is designed with big flared ends to make it more difficult to chew efficiently. Ours is the classic 5" size for dogs under 40 pounds, and it much too large for Brisbane to get his jaws around.

Photo by Erin Koski

Briz likes Himalayan dog chews, but not enough to spend the time working on the one in our Ruffhide. The foster puppies, on the other hand, have been hard at work on it. When we're ready for a new insert, I'll try a bully stick. Pawbunga makes rawhides, bully braids, and Himalayan dog chews that are just the right size to fit inside Ruffhides. I suspect I could just jam a 5" bully braid in there though. If my dogs were really interested in popping the chew out I'd stick with the Pawbunga refills.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Can make an edible chew last for hours or even days. Turns a bully stick from a snack into a project. Keeps nasty slobbery chews off the floor. Pawbunga offers a one-time replacement if the dog destroys it within the first month.

Cons: May not stand up to massive power chewers. Can make chewing so difficult that the dog abandons the whole project.

Bottom Line: Worth a try for dogs that really love their bully sticks, yak chews, or rawhides. 

Product Review: Busy Buddy Build-a-Bone

The PetSafe Busy Buddy Build-a-Bone is a durable plastic chew toy with ends that unscrew to allow various rubber and rawhide discs to be added to the center post. It comes in two sizes for medium and large dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Busy Buddy products are an extensive line of puzzle toys by PetSafe. They last a long time, I had a Busy Buddy Twist'n'Treat for over a decade before I decided it was kind of gross and tossed it. It was a favorite of my late cocker spaniel Oakley.

The Build-a-Bone is similar to several other Busy Buddy toys. The Bouncy Bone and Bristle Bone have the same twist-off ends. All of these toys use the Busy Buddy rawhide rings. These are made from ground and pressed rawhide, so they are digestible even if swallowed whole. They come in different sizes to fit the different Busy Buddy toys, and PetSafe also makes extra-thick rings.

"You want me to do what?!"
Photo by Erin Koski

The Build-a-Bone is a special Busy Buddy toy that is custom assembled from a selection of parts at a special store kiosk. There are two different sizes of bone ends and center posts to choose from, and then various rubber shapes to go in the middle. Busy Buddy rawhide discs can also be added to the center to entice dogs to chew and play. The toy in the picture features a pink heart, a yellow flower, and two purple teeth-cleaning shapes. It also has at least one rawhide disc between the purple spikeys,

"Seriously?"
Photo by Erin Koski

We a have a lime green ring and another pink heart on our second Build-a-Bone. The video on the Busy Buddy website also shows a red spiked disc and a blue textured disc, but I have yet to see these in a store. Our bones came from Lemos, a local pet store with a fantastically helpful staff. Both of our Build-a-Bones are the smaller size, these don't come in tiny-little-ratdog size and Ru ignores them. Brisbane only finds them interesting when they have rawhide rings on them, and like the Everlasting Treat Ball will often ignore them for weeks before suddenly deciding to chew.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Fun and customizable, buying a second bone gave us more options. Far more durable than the Busy Buddy Bristle Bone, and more challenging than the Bouncy Bone. Brisbane enjoys gnawing this thing, and he doesn't care for Nylabones or other durable chew toys unless they are stuffed with tasty food. The Build-a-Bone provides a different type of puzzle for him to solve.

Cons: Brisbane tends to solve this puzzle by unscrewing one end and sliding off all the rings. Sometimes I can tighten it enough to prevent him from taking it apart. The reason I bought the second bone was because one day he decided the gnaw the end of the center post after disassembly. This seems to be a pretty common issue for users, others have had issues with the end of the post shearing off while tightening. The hard bone ends can develop jagged ridges that can cut the dog's gums.

Bottom Line: Obviously I like this toy enough to have purchased a second one. I usually have a package of rawhide rings for it in the cupboard. It's not a particularly high value item around here, but the dogs enjoy it. Definitely a toy for some dogs and not others, this is not a toy for serious power chewers.

Wholesome Hides are the Best Rawhides

I recently read a 2009 article from the Whole Dog Journal about rawhide chews. Everyone is concerned about imported dog products, especially those from China. I don't buy rawhide chews for Brisbane very often, but I have only ever bought ones that were made in the USA. I knew that imported rawhide has been processed with more chemicals and has a greater chance of being contaminated with something that could hurt my dog.

Photo by Erin Koski

This article, "Finding the Right Rawhide Chew for Your Dog", neatly filled in the gaps in my knowledge and gave me a whole lot more information about rawhide and the process of turning into chew toys. Basically, the USA is the world's largest producer of beef and cow products, so the hides come from here. Domestic manufacturers have access to fresh hides, turning them into dog chews is a fairly simple and straightforward process.

Foreign manufacturers must have hides shipped to them from overseas, and a large part of their dog chew manufacturing process involves first undoing what time and decay have done. This process involves a lot of harsh chemicals and plenty of opportunity for the rawhide to become contaminated. The phrase "black with rot" really stuck with me, apparently "basted" and flavored rawhide chews have been prepared that way to hide the effects of decay. "American" rawhide isn't always safe, either. Often the fine print reveals that the product is actually "made in China from American beefhide" like every other rawhide chew.

Finding domestic rawhide is a good first step, but a chew that is free from processing chemicals is not necessarily safe. The author of the article points out the danger that small chunks of unchewed rawhides pose. Knotted bones almost always have separate, smaller pieces of rawhide forming the knots. Rolls are often a single large piece stuffed with random chunks that are prone to falling out and getting gobbled up.

So which rawhides are the best out there? The article helpfully pointed me toward Wholesome Hides. These are domestically produced, and designed to keep dogs chewing happily and safely for a long time. The rolls are made from one big, fat piece of hide that has been rolled up tightly, so there are no smaller bits that can be easily removed. This makes the chew much more difficult to destroy, and makes dogs work very hard without ever swallowing more than a tiny bit at a time. I originally bought some for Josie, and Brisbane enjoys having a gnaw now and then. He usually ends up scraping his nose.