Himalayan Dog Chews

There are some rather pricy dog chews on the market that go by names like Himalayan chews. The chew is a long rectangular bar that is very hard. They go for $5-$15 per large chew.

What is it?
Surprisingly what it actually is a basically a type of cheese.  Most of them are made of yak and cow milk with some salt and lime juice. It is nice to see a short and easy to understand ingredients list.

All of the brands that I have looked at source their product from Nepal where a similar substance is made for human consumption called churpi. There seem to be some other variants that might be made elsewhere in a less traditional way, like the Milkotein bars.

The Pros
These chews are very hard, almost as hard as antler and probably about as hard as bone.  So if you have a dog that makes short work of rawhide and bully sticks this might represent more of a long term challenge. Some of the brands such as churpi-chews and Yeti chews seem to be less popular as they are softer and so dogs finished them more quickly.

_tar0_ / Foter

And because of the way it is made dogs should find it more difficult to chew off pieces that might cause choking or intestinal blockages. That said,some still manage it, especially once they have chewed it down to a stub. They have very little odor and don't create a mess or stain the carpet.

The Cons
These chews are so hard that I guess my dogs just never got the idea that they should be chewed on. Some dogs may be sensitive to the ingredients. I might need to try those softer versions other people are complaining about!