Himalayan Pet Supply

Himalayan Pet Supply make the hard yak and cow milk cheese chew that most owners have either bought or been recommended. By the company's own account it started in 2003 with Suman and Sujan Shrestha, their friend Nishes Shrestha and a dog called Kaos, selling at a small pet fair in Bellingham, Washington. The idea was to take a traditional Himalayan cheese recipe - pressed, salted and smoke-dried so it keeps without refrigeration - and sell it as a dog chew. It worked, and the range has since grown well beyond the one hard block.

Start With Chew Density, Not Flavour

• This is the one decision that matters in this range, and the flavour is almost beside the point. Himalayan sell the same cheese base at four very different hardnesses, and buying the wrong one is why a chew either gets ignored or disappears in ninety seconds.
• Hard, for serious chewers: the original Himalayan Dog Chew in Cheese, Bacon, Chicken or Peanut Butter, and the Coconut Bone. These have to be worked soft at one end before anything comes off, which is why one lasts.
• Medium, rawhide-free: Unhide, a rolled chew made from cheese and antler in Washington State. A long chew, in the familiar rawhide shape, without the hide.
• Soft, for gentle or older dogs: the ridged Churro and the Yogurt Sticks. Both are meant to be finished in one sitting rather than gnawed for a week.
• Crunchy, for training: Barkeetos and the baked Cookies. These are rewards you hand over by the handful across a session, not occupations.

The Original Hard Cheese Chews

• Cheese is the plain original and the only single-ingredient one in the range - cheese from yak and cow milk, naturally smoked, 69% minimum protein and nothing else.
• Bacon, Chicken and Peanut Butter are the same pressed cheese with real bacon, chicken or peanuts worked in. Useful when a dog sniffs the plain chew and walks away.
• Sizes run Small, Medium and Large. Himalayan print a Chewmeter on the back of every pack matching the chew to your dog's weight, age and chewing style. The simpler rule: the chew must be too big for your dog to get to the back of the mouth. Size up if in doubt.
• How the listings are arranged: Cheese and Bacon carry all three sizes on one page. Peanut Butter has Small and Large on one page with the Medium as its own listing, and Chicken is three separate listings, one per size. Worth knowing so you do not miss a size that is in stock.

Everything Else In The Range

• Churro: the softest chew Himalayan make, ridged so it scrubs between teeth as your dog works it. Four flavours on one listing. The brand's oral-health claim is about plaque and tartar during a chew - it is not a replacement for brushing.
• Yogurt Sticks: soft coconut and yogurt sticks with prebiotics and probiotics added, in Plain, Peanut Butter and Bacon. The gut support is a bonus on a nice treat; a dog with an actual digestive problem needs a vet, not a treat.
• Coconut Bone: hard and long-lasting like the cheese chews, with coconut in place of some of the cheese. The one to try for a dog bored of the plain block.
• Unhide: the rawhide alternative, in 3oz, 6oz and 10oz. Contains antler, so it is still a firm chew.
• Barkeetos and the Cookies: crunchy, bite-size and quick to eat. Peanut Butter, Chicken Pot Pie, Carrot Cake and Bacon Bites. Carrot Cake is the only one with no meat in it; Bacon Bites is much the richest at 18% minimum fat.

Chewing Safely

• Hardness has a cost. A dog that crushes down on a hard chew rather than working the end can chip or fracture a tooth. If yours is a crusher, buy the Churro or the Yogurt Sticks instead - that is not a lesser option, it is the right format.
• The end piece is the real hazard. Take the stub away while it is still clearly too big to swallow, rather than waiting to find out.
• Supervise, and separate dogs. A long chew is the classic flashpoint for guarding between dogs that otherwise get along.
• Dental work or dental disease: ask your vet before giving any hard chew at all.
• Over 12 weeks old is Himalayan's own recommendation across the range.

Puffing, And Storing Them Here

• Puffing: the cheese chews are designed so the last piece does not go in the bin. Soak it in warm water for five minutes, microwave about 45 seconds at 1000 watts, then let it cool for a full two minutes. It puffs up soft, which is what makes it safe to finish. Watch it while it is in there, and do not hand it over hot.
• Storage: cool, dry, out of sunlight, and do not refrigerate. UAE heat is hard on cheese chews - left in a car or on a sunny shelf they sweat and soften, and that is usually why a dog loses interest in one they liked.
• The baked treats go soft in UAE humidity rather than stale, so keep those bags clipped or decanted into something airtight.

Good To Know

• These are all treats, not food. Keep them to a small share of the day - about a tenth of the calories is the usual guidance - and take the difference out of meals rather than adding treats on top. A whole hard chew is not a small snack.
• The hard chews are natural cheese blocks, so size and shape vary a little between chews within the same grade.
• Introduce any new chew on a quiet day. A rich one can loosen a stool briefly.
• Fresh water always available, and check the bowl twice a day in UAE heat.
• Not sure which density suits your dog, or which size? Message us and we will give you a straight answer, including when the answer is that a hard chew is the wrong idea for your dog.