At the pet store or in the grocery store, it can be challenging to know what type of dog food, tops and even chews to buy for your puppy. To help new puppy owners, there are four key factors to keep in mind.
There is an important first screening step in finding healthy puppy chews. This first step is to eliminate any products that are made from rawhide. Rawhide is the inner layer of beef hides, and it has no nutritional value and no flavor after it is fully processed with a variety of chemicals.
Rawhide is also not fully digested in the puppy’s body, which means it can cause digestive problems or even full digestive blockages that can be serious and require surgery to correct. Rawhide has been linked to choking as well, and there have been large-scale recalls of these products due to chemical contamination.
Once you have eliminated all of the rawhide products on offer, use the following checklist to find the best healthy puppy chews for your new addition to the family.
Real Ingredients
Real ingredients such as chicken, milk, peanut butter, and baked pork skin make a nutritionally superior type of puppy and dog chew. They are 100% digestible and can even be eaten in the house without any mess.
Additional Vitamins
The best brands of healthy puppy chews add vitamins and minerals to their products. This gives your puppy many of the trace elements he or she needs to grow, develop and lead a healthy life.
Variety of Flavors
Puppies, just like kids, have favorites in toys, treats and puppy chews. Ideally, look for a brand with different flavors and shapes to find the one best for your puppy.
Available in Different Sizes
Finally, check to make sure the rawhide-free puppy chews come in a variety of sizes. This allows you to match your puppy with the right size of chew now as well as when he or she grows.
