1. What makes DigestaBone® handcrafted dog chews so special?

SAFETY: At Chews Happiness SAFETY comes first! We put pets BEFORE profit! We spent EIGHT years perfecting our patent pending chews, ensuring that they meet the stringent standards of our Chew Safety Institute. Please see more on our Chew Safety page.

DURABILITY: Safety is paramount. However, to satisfy your dog’s need to chomp and to provide him/her with the optimum dental health benefits, a chew must last awhile. It is quite difficult though to find a truly safe AND durable chew though. That’s where DigestaBone comes in!

HEALTH & WELLNESS: We believe that food has the ability to heal or harm. That’s why we view food –even treats and chews –as powerful medicine. Our chews support Digestive, Joint, and Skin/Coat health. To source our special ingredients we travel to the most pristine places on earth –far away from cities and factory farms –to find the most wholesome, healthiest, highest quality, and most delicious ingredients and delicacies for your pet. Unlike other leading chews brands, we don’t offer junk food for pets. You will never find fillers, inferior meat sources, or other cheap ingredients in our creations.

SUSTAINABILITY: Always sustainably sourced and traded, most often from local, indigenous family farmers and herders, our ingredients are always natural. In addition, our dog chew packaging is probably the most eco-friendly that you will find in the market. Our chew boxes are made of recycled paper, cotton, vegetable-based inks, and beeswax. There is absolutely NO plastic in our packaging.

None of this is cheap.

When your precious pet consumes the highest quality, and most pristine foods available, less is more, as each one is chock-full of only “Good Stuff.” So our creations are intended as special culinary chewing experiences.

If we wouldn’t feed it to Bouncer, our CTO (Chew Tasting Officer), we would never feed it to your pet!

Learn more about our Amazing Ingredients. 

2. What is wrong with glycerin?

GLYCERIN, also known as glycerol, is used in soap and skin products, as solvents, as antifreeze, and as a laxative to soften stools. You might remember the tainted dog jerky treats that made headlines back in 2012. These treats contained contaminated Chinese glycerin as an ingredient.

Glycerin is a natural, chemically bound component of triglycerides, the main constituents of natural fats and oils, and is used as solvents, as antifreeze, and as a laxative to soften stools (for both dogs and people). As glycerin helps soften stools, why wouldn’t it cause diarrhea?

Guess what? Significant amounts of pure glycerin –which often shows up as one of the top two to five ingredients listed in many pet treats and chews –can cause significant side effects and potential health risks in pets who are sensitive to glycerin, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. We would rather that pets enjoy our products naturally crunchy than use glycerin to soften them up!

3. How does Chews Happiness® select its ingredients?

We personally select our ingredients for their wholesome and natural health benefits. Instead of adding synthetic vitamins, minerals, and chemicals to our treats, we prefer to improve your pet’s wellbeing naturally with our wholesome, pristine ingredients.

We start by researching ingredients that offer super healthy, irresistible culinary experiences for pets. Then we travel to some of the most pristine far corners of the planet to spend time with the indigenous people who farm and produce these amazing food items. These gracious people invite us into their lives and happily share their age-old recipes, enjoyed by their families for generations.

Upon returning home, we offer samples of these delicacies to Bouncer, our Doberdoodle CTO (Chew Tasting Officer), who has a very refined palette. We also conduct sample taste tests with our panel of dog volunteer Culinary Experts to ensure broad acceptance.

Once we get their “Paws Up,” we develop our amazing chews and bring them to your furry family members!

4. Does Chews Happiness give back?

Our entire business model is about making the world a better place for you, your pet, and the planet. As such, most of our ingredients are sustainably sourced from small farmers and herders.

As part of our commitment to help make the world a better place, one percent of all Chews Happiness sales is donated to the Maya Foundation, an amazing organization in Bhutan run by Jamie, an American expat.

The organization exists with the humble goal to help those less fortunate and operates with the key tenet that all beings, including animals, deserve care, love and a chance at life. The organization does not charge for any of its services.

The no-kill organization’s main project is The Barnyard Bhutan Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, located in Paro, Bhutan. This two-and-a-half-acre rescue center and shelter provides care for approximately 400 animals, including over 250 dogs. We at Chews Happiness are inspired by the Foundation’s work and their message that second chances and life-saving opportunities do exist, for both human beings and animals.

For more information, please check out the Foundation’s website.

Our giving doesn’t stop there! We are also a member of 1% For The Planet, which means that we donate another 1% of our revenue to approved conservation projects. We are also a certified Carbon Neutral company and purchase carbon credits through them.

5. What are Chews Happiness Ingredients NOs?

NO Artificial Ingredients.    NO Grains, Fillers

NO Corn or Soy.                 NO Glycerin

NO GMOs                            NO Inferior Meat Sources

NO Low Protein                  NO Pesticides

NO Gluten                            NO PCBs

6. Why is Chews Happiness’ Organic Chicken sourced from Europe?

At Chews Happiness, we are committed to animal welfare, as well as food safety and quality. That’s why we only source our poultry, fish, and cheese from farms and organizations that raise and treat the animals humanely and ethically.

Our free-range, organic chicken is sourced from Europe due to the EU’s stringent animal welfare rules, which are much stricter than the USDA’s. The rules require that poultry companies provide their animals with adequate space, aren’t locked up in cages (as they often are in the U.S.), are not unduly treated with antibiotics, have adequate access to the out-of-doors, and generally have the ability to enjoy their natural behaviors.

7. How important is social responsibility and sustainability to Chews Happiness?

We take our commitment to pets, people and the planet seriously. Our business is designed to improve the health of our planet and support our global neighbors and their animals.

    Support for Traditional Lifestyles

Because we always engage in fair trade practices, we are proud to help family farmers and herders maintain the traditional lifestyle and culture they have enjoyed for generations.

    Sustainably Sourced Ingredients

We continually work to reduce our impact on the planet by sourcing our ingredients in a way that doesn’t contribute to overfishing, overgrazing, or the increase in greenhouse gasses.

    Eco-Friendly Packaging

No plastic pouches and NO plastic for us! Our chew packages are made from recycled, recyclable, and biodegradable materials.

    Zero Carbon Footprint

We are a Certified Carbon Neutral company. Through Carbon Neutral, we offset 100% of our carbon footprints by purchasing carbon credits. In addition, we source as many ingredients as possible from Bhutan, a carbon NEGATIVE country. We also ship ingredients and products in the most energy efficient of manners as possible.

8. Can’t my dog do just fine with other chews?

We view pets as members of the family. Just as you would occasionally treat a member of the family to something really special, we feel that dogs deserve such treatment as well.

To us, our Bouncer is not “just a Doberdoodle,” – he is a sentient being who deserves something very special every now and then. Why have a pet if you don’t pamper him/her over the course of his/her short life?

That’s why we don’t often give Bouncer treats or chews because most of the treats on the market are junk food. When we do give him a treat, though, it is only the BEST!

Sure, we can take a risk that he will suffer from a gastrointestinal obstruction or injure his mouth, teeth, or gums with other chews. However, we don’t. You wouldn’t give your child a treat that was not very digestible, had a tendency to break into sharp shards, and potentially had misleading claims on its label, would you? – Of course you wouldn’t! We know that you wouldn’t want your dog to take such risks, either.

Our philosophy is that “dogs are people too.” However, they are not human. Therefore, we optimize our treats for dogs’ safety, health & wellness, sensory experience and nutrition in mind.

9. Why are Chews Happiness handcrafted DigestaBone safe dog chews so expensive?

We know that there are other, cheaper chews on the market. But that cheap price can come at a high cost to your pet’s health and happiness. One gastrointestinal obstruction caused by an unsafe chew can not only cause your furry family member much trauma, but also can set you back thousands of dollars.

At Chews Happiness, we live by a “no compromises” philosophy. We NEVER compromise on safety, wholesomeness, quality, animal welfare, sustainability, social responsibility, and taste. To live up to that philosophy, we have traveled the world looking for the most pristine, most wholesome, highest quality ingredients.

We select Organic certified, or “beyond organic” ingredients. In addition, we don’t churn out chews by the millions. Instead, we work directly with artisans who handcraft our creations, and we always engage in fair trade practices. We have also invested heavily in safety testing, to ensure that your pet’s health is never at risk.

All these extra steps mean our treats cost more. You do not have to offer your pet huge quantities of our edible dog gifts. But it also means that you enjoy peace of mind that you are indulging your pet in something truly special, something that will help them feel better, enhance their well-being, and contribute to a fuller, happier life.

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