Did you guess the mystery treat?

It’s one of Paragon’s hedgehog dental chews!

I’ve been seeing these at our local Mud Bay for the past few months but was too afraid to buy them for The Little Blogger.

Don’t they look like plastic toys? The back makes them look even more like something you’d buy at Target to get your kid to shut up while you finish your shopping.

I rarely buy a dog product without reading the ingredients/materials first, but these were in a bin with many others like it (and no ingredient list) and the husband wanted to get them (gasp!) for Teton. Usually I’m the one convincing him that we need to buy something new for T.

Eh, there’s a first time for everything.

These chews are made of wheat starch, glycerine, vegetable fibers, lecithin, and other natural colors/flavors. Sounds pretty boring to me but the second I took them outside to photograph them, Teton was on me like white on rice. They must have smelled delicious.

We selected an orange hedgehog and a green crocodile, but there are other colors available, as well. Each chew was $2.50 at Mud Bay.

Here’s a photo of the crocodile in the palm of my hand for an idea of size.

Paragon’s chews not only look like plastic toys, they feel like them. Hold one and you’ll realize that they clean your dog’s teeth primarily because they are hard and must be broken down bit by bit in order to consume them.

They’re also adorned (yes, adorned) with bumps so that there is extra work for your dog to do to break them apart.

This is my hedgehog. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Here’s a video of Teton chewing on his hedgehog. It’s a good representation of how long it takes to break the treat apart in order to chew and swallow individual pieces. I’d guess that it took Teton about 8 minutes total to eat.

At the end of the day, I’m happy with the Paragon animal shaped chews. They are too expensive to feed every day, but for a fun chew that takes a while to consume and cleans teeth with the best ’em, it’s a good option.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sun!