Become a chew expert

The Chew Guide

Practical, honest guides on natural chews — sizing, safety, and what actually keeps dogs busy.

An owner stops a timer as a dog steps away from its chew mat.

How Long Should a Dog Chew in a Day? Minutes, Not Sticks

Fifteen minutes, once a day, and you end it rather than your dog. Where that figure comes from, the calorie ceiling behind it, and three signs to stop early.

Aug 27, 2026 6 min read

A toothbrush demonstrated along the outer teeth of an artificial canine dental teaching model.

Do Any Natural Chews Clean a Dog's Teeth? What the VOHC List Shows

A VOHC seal means a chew beat dry food, not a toothbrush. No natural chew of any brand has run that trial — unmeasured, not failed. What chewing really does.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

An owner closing a high drawer containing a dry jumbo bully stick while a large dog rests nearby.

Bully Sticks for Power Chewers: What Slows a Strong Jaw Down

For a power chewer, buy more beef per inch at the length your dog's weight already picked. Hardness is the dial that fractures teeth, so leave it alone.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

An owner holds a retired bully-stick remnant over a kitchen waste bin while a dog waits several feet away.

Can a Dog Choke on a Bully Stick? The Stub Is the Hazard

Yes, but almost only at the end, once the stub is small enough to swallow, which is exactly what the stub rule prevents. How choking and a blockage differ.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

Letterpress-style word strips reading Rawhide, Beef hide and Cow hide grouped together.

Is Beef Hide the Same as Rawhide? Yes, Same Hide, Softer Word

Yes. Beef hide is rawhide — dehaired, dried cattle skin under a gentler word. The FDA files a brand called Beefhide as rawhide dog chews. We don't sell either.

Aug 27, 2026 5 min read

Artificial teaching models labeled Gullet, Trachea and Pizzle, with a note that these do not establish a measured dose.

Beef Gullet and Trachea vs Bully Sticks: The Glucosamine Claim

We don't sell beef gullet or trachea. Gullet is esophagus, trachea is cartilage, a bully stick is pizzle, and the glucosamine claim is unmeasured.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

An owner setting a phone face down beside a chair and a waiting dog’s chew mat.

Are Bully Sticks Safe for Dogs? The Honest Answer, With Evidence

Yes, for most healthy adult dogs, with the length matched to their weight and the stub taken away. PubMed indexes exactly one study on bully sticks.

Aug 27, 2026 6 min read

An educational flip card turning from Bully hide to the illustrative ingredients Beef hide, beef pizzle.

Bully Hide Is Not a Bully Stick: One Word, Two Tissues

Bully hide chews are hide chews. A bully stick is beef pizzle with no hide in it. The ingredient panel is the field that tells you which one you are holding.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

An owner loading a washable chew mat into a washing machine in a compact apartment laundry area.

Keeping Chew Smells Down in a Small Apartment

Every Foodiepaws chew is odor free, so in a studio the smell is a wet chew and dog mouth, not the stick. The one-room routine, and the gadgets to skip.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

An adult gently pressing a flexible puppy toy to show how its material yields.

What to Give a Teething Puppy, and What to Skip

A teething puppy needs chews that bend: thin bully sticks, short ones. Antlers, hooves, nylon bones and jumbo sticks wait for the adult teeth, near six months.

Aug 27, 2026 6 min read

A sheep's wool-covered lower legs and paired cloven hooves stand on dry ground.

What Is Inside a Lamb Trotter: Bone, Keratin and Fat

We don't sell lamb trotters. Inside one: three pairs of phalanges, sesamoids, skin, tendon and fat, plus keratin when the hoof or wool was left on.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read

A paper model showing food, hide, tallow, offal and chews as separate material streams from one animal.

Are Bully Sticks a Sustainable Dog Treat? What Actually Holds Up

A bully stick is a by-product of an animal raised for beef: no steer is raised for the chew. That claim holds up. The carbon and landfill claims do not.

Aug 27, 2026 7 min read