Over the years, I’ve received many different recommendations for the best chews for chihuahuas. Unfortunately, not all of them ended up being the best. Antlers for example, were well received by my chihuahuas but seemed too hard for them. Bones were also way too hard.
Chihuahuas tend to have tooth and gum disease as they age, and having chew toys can help in maintaining their tooth health. Here are my 5 favorites, and why I like them so much.
Yak Cheese
This is by far my favorite chew. It’s hard enough to definitely give their teeth a good cleaning, but not hard enough to wreck their teeth. When Rocco was a puppy, we’d use these as a babysitter. If we needed a busy puppy for a few minutes, we would give him one of these chews.
One chew lasted Puppy Rocco about 4 hours of active chewing. As he grew older he found these less appealing, but all the dogs still like these every once in a while. (Amazon/Chewy)
C.E.T. Dog Chews
My dogs don’t care for the flavor of these nearly as much as they like yak cheese and other chews, but they do a wonderful job of cleaning teeth. Despite daily toothbrushing, one of my dogs still has dental issues (the other three also get their teeth brushed, but don’t have dental problems.)
I asked her dentist if they’d noticed anything that seemed to help, and they noted that the C.E.T. dog chews did seem to help keep teeth cleaner. (Amazon/Chewy)
Pig Ear Slivers
Pig ears are a favorite in my house, but a whole ear is the size of the dog. We like to get pig ears cut into smaller pieces so the dogs can do their “knitting” without having to climb a ladder to get to the top of their chew.
Our dogs love pig ears. These smaller cuts don’t take too long for them to chew through, usually only 20-30 minutes. It’s still an enjoyable chew session for them. (Amazon/Chewy)
Beef Tendons
Let me be real with you, my dogs love “bully sticks” but we humans hate them. Even the odor free ones. The dogs will show their gratitude for these great snacks by dragging them right under our feet to chew. They smell like butt. They make the house smell like butt. “Odor free” is a LIE.
Luckily, beef tendons seem to be just as appealing to our pups without the smell. They’re relatively soft, but still give them that satisfying chew sensation they are craving. (Amazon/Chewy)
Full Moon Jerky Snacks
One of our dogs has very few teeth, but still loves to chew. The Full Moon Jerky snacks are not a great recreational chew for dogs with a full set of teeth, but if your dog still likes to gum away at chew toys but has few to no teeth, this is a fantastic option.
While most of our dogs finish one of these treats in just a minute or two, Leia can gum away at these for quite a while. It’s soft enough for her poor dental health, but strong enough it gives her something to chew.
We rotate between these different chews, but always have something available for our pets to have a little knit on during evening snuggle time. They love having a good chew, and I love that their teeth are a bit cleaner for their recreation time.
We have a full review of the Full Moon Dog Treats because they are my dog’s favorite across the board. Check it out here!
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[…] Rocco was a puppy, I remember how much he loved to chew. He would sit down with a Himalayan Yak Cheese and chew for hours on one. He would chew on his […]