Giving a puppy, a healthy dog chew toy is an ideal way to teach your puppy positive chewing behaviors. Puppies, like adult dogs, naturally want to chew. Puppies also use mouthing, taking things in their mouth, as a way to get to learn about the world around them.
By providing healthy dog chews for puppies, owners can channel the desire to chew to the healthy treat, reducing the risk the puppy will start to chew on furniture, shoes, pillows or anything else he or she may find around the house.
When choosing the right chews for a puppy, there are some critical factors to keep in mind. It is essential to wait until after a puppy is weaned and on solid food before providing a consumable chew toy.
Healthy Ingredients
The key word in healthy dog chews for puppies is “healthy.” Healthy means whole, nutritious food ingredients such as chicken, pork skin, peanut butter and milk.
Many new puppy owners are misled by the health benefits of rawhide. Rawhide is the inner layer of beef hides produced as a byproduct of the tanning industry. It has no nutritional value and very limited flavor, which is why there are so many artificial flavorings, stuffing, and processes to try to make it appealing to puppies and dogs.
Quality, healthy ingredients are naturally appealing to dogs of all ages. Owners can also have the peace of mind in knowing the chew is 99.9% digested in24 hours, while rawhide is still at least 15% undigested in the same time period.
Choose the right size of healthy dog chews for puppies. The chew should always be large enough the puppy cannot simply bite the chew in two and swallow it, so it should be one to two sizes larger than the puppy’s mouth. It is also important, as with any chew or bone, to supervise your puppy while he or she is enjoying the chew.
