There’s always one thing you forget to pack when you go on holiday, and for us, it was the dogs’ beloved Root chews. In order to make sure they had something with which to entertain themselves that wasn’t the caravan furniture, we headed straight down to The Pet Centre to find something to keep the Scamps busy during their downtime.
Holidays can be hectic, but we always try to have a couple of hours a day to recoup, during which Phoebe and Frank usually chill out with a chew or a toy. Having forgotten their Roots, we picked up some olive wood chews from Newquay’s popular pet shop, costing £12.99 each.
Wood-based chews are often looked at with raised eyebrows and confused looks, but trust me, there’s a good reason behind them, and why they’re safer for your pet than the average country park stick.
Firstly, it’s a natural instinct for dogs to chew in order to reduce stress, boredom and anxiety. In puppies, it’s also common to ease teething pains, so olive wood chews – and similarly, roots – are ideal for new four-legged family members to nip furniture gnawing in the bud.
These particular olive wood chews are made with 100 per cent olive wood, enriched with olive oil, which is great for healthy skin and coat. These ones come from the brand James and Steele, and are a dense chew that don’t splinter or shard like regular sticks your dog might find on a walk. As cute as it is to see a tiny pooch carrying a comically large branch, the average stick can be quite dangerous, as the splintered wood can cause punctures and lead to infections or injury.
The much safer olive wood option sees the wood come away in small, soft pieces as the dog chews. They don’t splinter or come away in sharp pieces, and are fine to gnaw at and digest.
As well as satisfying the itch to chew, olive wood is free from any preservatives, additives, gluten or grain and helps maintain good dental hygiene, including preventing tartar build up.
They’re extremely durable and long lasting, even for power chewers like Frank. This means it can last your pooch months if not years, making them great value for money – much more cost effective than a pig’s ear a week, and far lower in fat, too.
As soon as I removed the labels from these chews, Phoebe and Frank were all over them. They see them as a highly valuable reward, and don’t like to give them up easily, but they’re brilliant for both mental stimulation and health, with there also being natural minerals in the wood that contribute to their overall wellbeing.
Be mindful that you will need to crack the vacuum cleaner out after use because it can get a little messy, but I’ve found that they hoover up pretty well. You can pick up your own olive wood chew on Amazon here.
