Are All Dog Bones All Natural?
I’ve been thinking about this “all natural” stuff and dog bones. It seemed logical to ask myself the question – Are all dog bones all natural? What on earth could dog bones be but all natural? So I started looking around to find out.
It seems there are four products that are considered “dog bones” – nylon bones, rawhide, bully sticks and real bones.
- Nylon bones – eHow was a logical first stopping place. And Nylabone a natural first bone fake choice, since they’re so popular and all. They seem nearly indestructible but my dogs have torn through them in the past, reducing their synthetic goodness to nubby ickiness. Nylabone has a high trust factor as far as products go, but it’s far from all natural. Being made of nylon and all. Still, the nylon bones are supposed to be an excellent choice for your dog’s dental health. I just won’t give them to my dogs, having seen tiny bits of half-consumed nylon all over the floor of my house.
- Rawhide – Doctors Foster and Smith is a well-known pet product site, eh? They sell the rawhides, and they have a great FAQ site. My dogs used to eat rawhide chews, but I remember them being slimy and stinky after a bit. Ugh. I’m reading, too, that most rawhide bones aren’t manufactured in the US, which automatically sends up red flags. Rawhide is exactly what it sounds like – the lining of horse or cow hide. Jones Natural Chews does not sell rawhides. Period. According to Suzy, here’s the skinny: “From what the vets used to tell us all the time, rawhide is indigestible for dogs. It will stay in their stomach and intestines for years. They are not a natural product even though it starts out as animal hide and it is not a natural process.”
- Bully sticks – I know this site is rated G, but I’m going to use a technical term here, which might make you blink. It makes me blink. I’m a prude, see. A bully stick is a dried bull penis. Seriously. And a lot of the ones on the market seem to come from India and China. But! Jones Natural Chews has bully sticks, or Steer Sticks, as well as braided bully sticks, guaranteed made in the USA and all natural. Shoot, it looks like half the products on the beef product page are bull penis, or pizzle. as it’s called when it’s dried and jerked and made into a dog treat. I am NOT telling my Hunny about this.
- Real bones – Mmm! Finally! We get to the yummy part! My thinking, when I was wondering about dog bones in the first place, was whether or not the real bones sold are always real and all natural. What else could they be? Most seem to be the real deal, but I’m not convinced that they’re all from 100% USA critters, or 100% processed here in the states. Which makes them suspect in my book. Also, many manufacturers smoke real bones, which makes them far less safe, more brittle, than Jones Natural Chews bones, which are slow baked with carefully regulated moisture levels, to bring them as close to the strength of raw as possible.
Seriously, y’all – it’s difficult to find dog treats and dog bones which are all USA, all natural. If they are, they seem to be clearly marked on the package. If you don’t buy Jones Natural Chews for your pup, or can’t find it locally, PLEASE, check the packaging on the treats you do buy. Make sure they aren’t from India or China. Or anywhere but here. Or Canada. I trust Canada. Don’t you?
What Jones Natural Chews Says
I also trust JNC. Here’s what they have to say:
Are Jones products made in USA?
All Jones Natural Chews products are grown and made in the USA. The entire manufacturing procedure from start to finish is on the American soil. It is a great honor to have the American Flag on all of our products.
It’s an honor to blog for JNC. And great fun getting to know all of y’all. Thanks for letting me be part of your dog community! And don’t forget to enter our Venison Entree Sausage giveaway! It ends Sunday!
Spreading the good chews …
Flea
P.S. Today’s post is a gently recycled one. Thanks for reading!
