Review
It is time for me to write another review. I tried 3 products from Raw Paws. My dogs tried the Freeze Dried Chicken Hearts, Freeze-Dried Minnows, and the Lamb Esophagus.
First I tried the Freeze-Dried Chicken Hearts:
My dogs (Beverly & Morty) have tried a different brand of freeze-dried chicken hearts in the past; I’ll call it brand X. I was curious to see if there was any difference between brand X and the Raw Paws product. I already have versus the Raw Paws freeze-dried chicken hearts.
I took a heart from brand X and noticed a light greasy coating on the hearts. It might be some type of residue – I don’t know what it is. Raw Paws Freeze-Dried Chicken Hearts doesn’t have that coating. It seems odd that a product that is freeze-dried should have a greasy residue. When I noticed that the Raw Paws hearts was free of that residue I immediately preferred it.
OK, so how do the dogs like them? Although my dogs like brand X a lot, I detected a little more aggression and drama when my dogs had the Raw Paws product. I don’t know if it was the novelty of the different brand or what, but there was a slight difference.
The Verdict:
My dogs: They LOVED them!
Me: I liked that they seemed to be more pure in that there was no greasy residue (who knows what that could be). Maybe something from the processing – who knows. Raw Paws chicken hearts is freeze-dried which is supposed to mean that moisture has been removed through the freezing process. Therefore, common sense dictates that there should not be a greasy coating. I’m really stuck on that coating. I am very skeptical about that stuff. I’ve seen other brands besides the one I have for my dogs and they have had that film on them.
I then tried the freeze-dried minnows. Yes, minnows are the tiny fish. First of all, I have not been able to find any company that makes freeze-dried minnows. I had to try this one out. They had never had minnows before.
Feeding minnows is an excellent option to provide omega 3 to the diet. The reason is because minnows are towards the bottom of the food chain. What happens is that the little fish eat smaller organisms that are not as exposed to toxins as the big fish. These days it seems like EVERYTHING has some toxicity. As the food chain 
continues higher and higher, the bigger organisms are consuming all the toxins of the organisms on the lower levels and all the progressive links to the next level of the food chain. Therefore, the beginning of the food chain gets fewer toxins. They
are MUCH better than something like salmon treats for that reason. I love that Raw Paws freeze-dries minnows.
OK, so how did my dogs like them? Beverly and Morty flipped out for them. The carrying on was intense. They were whimpering, barking, trembling, and jumping around. I couldn’t seem to open the bag fast enough for them.
The Verdict:
My dogs: They went nuts over them!
Me: It’s a unique product that I have only seen at Raw Paws. The minnows are an excellent product.
Oh boy! First of all they were really long for my little 8 pound dogs. THEY ARE INCHES For the sake of portion control I cut them into thirds. BIG mistake. It was ok for my dainty eater Beverly, but Morty demolished it in around 5 minutes. I have never seen him destroy a chew treat like that. If I had not cut them smaller I would have been able to take it away from him. I wasn’t concerned because he chewed most of it up pretty well and they are fully digestible. I was surprised at Beverly also. I never saw her work on a chew with such determination. She usually takes a chew and works on it for less than 5 minutes then starts to play with it. I know some of you have dogs that do the same thing. They take something with their mouths, toss it, then fetch it. That’s what Beverly does. She doesn’t have all her teeth, but she did pretty well for Beverly. With the Raw Paws lamb esophagus she was focused for close to15 minutes before she began to play. It is important to be close by to monitor your dogs while they are engaged in chewing on all bones and chews for safety.
Chews are excellent for maintaining healthy teeth. As dogs chew on raw bones and chews they are able to keep their teeth clean.
Something that you need to be aware of is that it has a strong odor. It is important for chews to NOT be odor free. To remove the odor they need to be treated with diluted bleach – NOT GOOD. The whole point is to feed h
ealthy treats. The last thing you want is for your dog’s treats to be adulterated by processing them with a bleach solution.
To control the odor I lay out small towels (one for each dog) that I reuse for my dogs. Those towels are their “treat stations” and I have trained them to stay on them while having raw bones and natural chews. Afterwards I rinse off their front paws with water and wipe off with a rag. I sometimes wipe their muzzles with a damp paper towel. It sounds like a pain, but I would prefer to do that over using low odor products that have been processed in bleach.
The Verdict:
My dogs: They were crazy about them!
Me: They are stinky, but the stink reminds me that they are healthy. They are excellent chews and will help maintain clean teeth and healthy gums. I just have them chew on them on their “stations” wipe off their muzzles and wife their front paws after. The smell can be removed; it’s not like it’s permanently lingers. I discovered that taking them outdoors to play afterwards conveniently gets rid of the smell. I sometimes give them the esophagus before I plan on bathing them.
Also, they like them so much that I had to keep an eye on them to make sure Morty doesn’t choke. Dogs should ALWAYS be monitored when eating chews as dogs can choke on them.
Let’s Sum it Up
All in all, the treats were excellent! They are all healthy, natural, biologically appropriate, and yummy. Raw Paws set up a special coupon exclusively for my readers. Use the coupon code SAVE15 at checkout and you will get 15% off your entire purchase. This coupon code can be used only once, but it has no expiration. Just click HERE to see all their products and save.
*For safety reasons, (as with any chew) please monitor your dogs or be in the same room while your dog is working on a chew. Not all, but some chews might become brittle by their nature (particularly raw bones). When giving your dog a raw bone (with exception to necks which are fully digestible), make sure to remove and discard it when it becomes small enough to swallow. Small sharp pieces of chews and bones might break off so be sure to remove and discard them if that happens. Please discard sharp pieces. Raw bones should NEVER be cooked and NEVER saved for later. As they dry out they become brittle and unsafe.
