Product Review: Natural Balance Jerky Bark dog treats

I'm able to share this review with you, product made available courtesy of Chewy.com!

I picked the Natural Balance Jerky Bark treats because the flavors sounded interesting (subjective, I know; I'm not going to eat them) and because they're made in the United States. We got the Chicken and Sweet Potato. They're grain free, which is not an allergy issue with Elka, but just a preference for me when it comes to purchasing her ingestible products.

As always, she was very excited to see the package come in the mail. Poor dog; most of the time, the packages we get are books or similar things that have nothing to do with her. But frequently enough, it's toys or food or treats, and well, we know about random reward schedules. So she gets excited.

Something to Chew On

Did you know that rawhide isn't good for dogs?  That, in fact, in many cases rawhide can be bad for dogs?

For example, the Exer-Hide brand that Wal Mart (and other places, I'm sure) sells has caused death, fevers, seizures, and other unpleasant things for dogs, and has for years.  The claim is largely anecdotal, and "undetermined" on Snopes.com, but enough anecdotes from dog owners is enough for me.

Rawhide can also be treated with things like formaldehyde, harbor things like Salmonella, and is more or less undigestible to a dog.  If your dog eats a lot of it or swallows big enough pieces, it can cause an intestinal blockage, which involves surgery to fix.  If the surgery isn't done within a certain window of time, the affected tissue dies, and the dog will not survive.

So, now that I've done my bit of fear-mongering, here's the question:  What should I give my dog to chew?