Dental Health Bones

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I was at my local mom-and-pop pet store this weekend and they were having an awesome sale so I was doing some exploring of new items. Ragley is 6 months old on Tuesday, which clears her for the "dental bone safety" marker for most of the dental chews. I have a toothbrush and teeth gel for her that I try to stay consistent with, but I know myself well enough to realize that this is something I am likely to slip on. She has all of her "big girl" teeth now- they are so pretty, white, and healthy looking and I would like to keep it that way. One of the things that was on sale were these new dental bones from a company called Indigenous Pet Products. They come in a variety of flavors, can snap in half, and are grain free and gluten free. I went ahead and bought a bag since the sale price was good and I know I can easily return them if I decide I don't need them or Ragley doesn't like them. Do dental bones really make that much of a difference? Are these an ok thing for her to be eating? We are steering clear of greenies and these are a little more economical than some of the others. 

Indigenous Dental Health Bones

Ingredients: Potato starch, glycerin, chicken meal, sweet potato, carrot fiber, gelatin, chicken, ProDen PlaqueOff^® (dried kelp), natural flavor, lecithin, salmon oil, sorbic acid (to preserve freshness), parsley, chlorophyll.

Guaranteed Analysis:

(based on 100 grams/calculated)
Crude Protein (min.)	6%		Crude Fiber (max.)	8%
Crude Fat (min.)	2%		Moisture (max.)	16%

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think there is any data on whether they really help or not. The ingredients in these are fine, and the website says they are made in the USA. My question would be whether the ingredients are sourced in the USA; you might call or email them and ask. The website looked pretty good to me, but that doesn't always mean anything. :)

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I already emailed them about sourcing this morning so I will update when I get a response. I just haven't been able to decide whether the benefit is worth the cost. 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I received an email back today:

Stephanie,

We manufacture all our products in the USA (Denver). We try and use domestic sources for all of our products - but in the case of PlaqueOff - it comes from Norway. We do not use anything from China as a matter of company policy.

Hope that helps!

Scott

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is good. 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

That's what I was thinking too- thanks for confirming! I'll think I'll try these out.

[BG and Gavin]

How long did the chew last for Ragley?

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I haven't given her one yet, but I will let you know how long it lasts. The package says one bone per day for a dog her size, but I don't think I will give them that frequently. I figure I can make them last longer if I am brushing her teeth as well as giving the chews. She did get about 1/4 of one from one of the employees as a tester treat and it took her quite a while to work through. Granted- she is not an aggressive chewer in the slightest.

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

I'll be honest, I don't stay on top of brushing Oliver's teeth like I should--I only brush his teeth once every month or two. However, we give Oliver about one dental bone a day (from six months to now at two years), and the vet always comments on Oliver's pristine teeth. I know this is far from conclusive evidence, but I'm not going to stop what's working for us! From what I've heard, the big deal is that chewing cleans their teeth. Accordingly, dogs that chew regularly are less likely to develop dental issues.

We use Whimzees (Paragon) dental chews. They're made in the Netherlands, and according to their Facebook, sourced from all European human grade ingredients. While I've not heard of the Indigenous brand, the ingredients look pretty good, except sorbic acid, which is an artificial preservative. If that matters to you, it might be worth looking at another brand. 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Thank you for sharing! That helps my decision!

[Vivian & Mojo]

Thank you for posting about the Whimzees, I ordered several bags and they arrived today. My Doodle tried one of the Alligator's and loved it. I like that there is no artificial preservatives.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

After seeing that post I ordered them too!  I bought the medium alligators and when I gave one to Beau he was thrilled, but just wanted to play with it for a while.  He threw it up in the air and then when he did drop it, he rolled over on his back and wiggled all over the alligator.  I should have taken a video, it was so cute.  He did finally eat it.  Beau at 1.5 yrs old really has nice teeth.  Charlie has a little tartar even though I do brush about once a week.  I am hoping to see some results from the Whimzees on Charlie's teeth. 

[Vivian & Mojo]

Mojo is 70 pounds so I bought the large Alligator's and he played with it for a good 5 minutes. He is 2 and has beautiful teeth but I had been giving him marrow bones and he is such a strong chewer that he chipped off pieces of the bone  so I stopped and gave him the Zukes dental bones. Zukes was sold so I stopped using them and was looking for a replacement. I'm happy with the Whimzees and also bought the Brushes and Hedgehogs.