Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Product Review: Ruff Roots


There's no doubt that Charlie is a stick-chewer. She seeks out sticks, stumps and logs whenever possible. Sometimes she gets herself into digestive trouble over her addiction to sticks... I remember back to last summer when she dug up a submerged stump during a camping trip and ended up getting diarrhea for 3 days, most likely she acquired some weird bacteria growing on that mucky stump. We took care of that digestive problem with a little Slippery Elm powder, but I've been in search of safe alternatives to sticks every since.

So I was extremely excited when I came across Himalayan Dog Chew's newest "toy" called Ruff Roots!



Ruff Roots are 100% natural (awesome!), they're eco-friendly (the tuber roots are harvested and then sprout again!), they don't splinter and they actually serve as a natural toothbrush to help decrease plaque on teeth!

What more could you ask for?!

They come in four sizes (seedling, sprout, stump and stalk) with corresponding weight recommendations for each size. We started with the "sprout" size which is recommended for dogs under 40 lbs. since Charlie is 43 lbs and I thought this would be a good size for her.

At first I was worried it was too small and that she'd quickly chew through it. But actually it turned out to be the perfect size for her.



The wood is really hard so it's not too easy to bite off chunks. When she's gnawing on it, small pieces come off occasionally, but nothing too big. In fact, Peanut (a 15-lb. Chihuahua-mix), was picking up some of the smaller pieces and enjoyed chewing on them. I'll probably get a "seedling" size for Peanut soon.



I took a couple videos of Charlie chewing away on her new "toy" so you can see (and hear) how much she's enjoying it! I was going to wait a few weeks before posting this review to see how long it would last, but it is definitely going to take a while for her to chew this up!

VIDEOS (best viewed in Chrome, not Internet Explorer):


Overall, I think this is a great toy for dogs who like to chew on wood or for really aggressive chewers and would probably be great for puppies! It's extremely durable and I love that it's sustainable and all-natural. Plus it's actually *helping* Charlie's teeth by acting as a natural toothbrush rather than ruining her teeth like harder bones or antlers can.

Kudos to Himalayan Dog Chew for creating this awesome toy! We give it two big paws up!


Disclaimer:  We were not paid to write this review; this product was purchased with Charlie's allowance and our views are all our own!

6 comments:

  1. How long did the chew last with Charlie? :-) I bet Ziva and Dante would love it!

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    1. It still looks practically new after a week! I'm estimating that this will last many months if not longer. I hope you get a chance to try them!

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  2. I have never heard of this product! Ava chews on sticks all the time, we may need to find some of these. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You bet! I've heard so many horror stories of dogs getting injured from chewing on sticks, swallowing sticks or jabbing their mouths with sticks... so I love that I can allow Charlie to indulge her need for wood without hurting her! I hope Ava likes it!

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  3. I will have to check this out! My guys LOVE chewing on sticks and wood in general and like so many I'm worried about the dangers.

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  4. We have two dobermans and a midsized pitbull, all three of them like the "stump" size one (the one rated for large dogs) that we got them, and between the three of them it's taken them about six months to grind it down to around softball size.

    The only downside we've found to it has nothing to do with its chewability, it's just ridiculously painful when one of them drops it on a bare foot, and it makes a really loud noise when they drop it on the tile floor (although it doesn't do any damage to the floor).

    None of them "play" with it like they sometimes do with their other hard chews - the nylabones get used for tug-of-war fairly often, but this thing is somehow JUST for chewing, and when one of them sits down with it, it's a pretty industrious chew session that follows. It doesn't get gunky like nylabones or kongs, and it doesn't smell bad or pick up blobs of carpet lint.

    As pet parents, we were initially kind of leery of it - it looks and feels to us WAAAY too much like a big old rock, but the dogs love it and the doggie dentist keeps saying their teeth are in great condition, so we'll be getting a new one once the pitbull finally manages to grind this one down to be too small.

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