The Good: Benny enjoys them, Good ingredients, Dental benefits
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, The exact size to get caught in a dog's throat
The Basics: Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats are like a breath mint for dogs and they work, but they require more work than they ought to to keep dogs safe.
Benny, our new English Setter, has discovered the joys of cat litter. I swear, no sooner does one make the comment that one's dog does not appear to be interested in the litterbox than all of a sudden, the dog goes right for the cat cookies. Benny's new culinary interest has necessitated finding a treat that will effectively clean out his mouth and scrape the litter off his teeth when he manages to sneak back into the cat room. For that, we went with Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats.
Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats work - in fact they freshen Benny's breath in a nice way - but they are just small enough that they could easily get stuck in a dog's throat, which means that I have to break up the treats when Benny has them. This, sadly, undermines the point of the treats, which is to get a dog to masticate and chew the treats apart to freshen breath.
Basics
The Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats are a treat that is part of the expanding line of Greenies flavors as the company has diversified from their tradition Greenies dog treats. Made to look like a tiny dark green half-toothbrush, half-bone, the Greenies Breath Buster Bites Large Crisp Apple Treats are supposed to be difficult for the dog to chew, which helps them scrape the plaque and tartar off their teeth. Unfortunately, the tiny "bones" are just small enough that Benny has tried - every time! - to simply swallow them. The choking risk is very real, but given that I quickly recognized the threat, I started to alter just how Benny was given these treats.
The Crisp Apple Treats Treats are dark green with one end shaped like a bone, the other shaped like a toothbrush, with sides that are flat and the brand name embossed on one side. It is 1 1/2” long and 5/8” wide at its widest point and 3/8" thick.
Ease Of Preparation
The green pressed pea flour and glycerine "bone" is designed to help fight plaque and tartar build-up by having a texture to it and being very chewy, while freshening breath. The bone-shaped treat is smooth until the dog bites into it and fractures it. Then it becomes very mealy and the texture helps remove matter from a dog's mouth. Unfortunately, because the bone is small enough that it can simply be swallowed, the Crisp Apple Treats is not as effective in its stated goals as some of the other Greenies treats.
Preparing the treat for consumption should be very easy; simply open the bag, extract a single bone treat and give it to your dog. These Greenies require pet parents to split the treat in half or in thirds so that the dog does not simply swallow it. Broken up thus, Benny has been more inspired to actually chew the treats, as opposed to when he is given them intact. I highly recommend having water nearby for the dog to drink as they eat the Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats!
Benny’s Reaction
The Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats smell vaguely fruity in the bag. The treat is not one of the more aromatic Greenies treats. That, however, does not stop Benny from getting excited about the Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats when I open the bag of the treats. Benny chews up the fragments of the Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats when I give them to him and they effectively make his breath smell like something other than cat litter! Benny's breath does not end up smelling like apples, but these treats do effectively eliminate any foreign smell.
Nutrition
These treats are quite good for dogs, beyond their dental benefits. The package recommends that dog owners have clean drinking water available to their dog when they feed them this treat. This treat is a dietary supplement, not a full meal. Crisp Apple Treats have at least 26% crude protein, 5.5% crude fat, and no more than 6% crude fiber and 15% moisture, so those looking out for their dog's specific dietary needs, that might help. The Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats are made primarily of pea flour, gelatin and glycerine. Fairly far down the ingredients list there are dried apples, so these are quite good for dogs. There are not a lot of preservatives, so these treats are actually very natural! The Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats seem to have a decent shelf life despite the lack of a ton of preservatives.
Overall
The Greenies Breath Buster Bites Crisp Apple Treats are decent, but between the expense and the work needed to make certain a dog does not inadvertently choke on them makes them less worthwhile than spending the time needed to just brush a dog's teeth!
For other Greenies treat reviews, please check out my takes on:
Greenies Bursting Blueberry Treats
Feline Greenies Oven Roasted Chicken
Senior Greenies
6/10
For other pet product reviews, please click here to visit my index page on the subject!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |
No comments:
Post a Comment