SmartBones Treat Your Dog With Rawhide-Free Chew, 25 Count

My dog gets this treat at bed time when she jumps into her kennel ready to sleep. It’s not long lasting but must be very tasty. It does smell like peanut butter.

First, I noticed these dog treats are made in Vietnam. My preference would be to always have them made in the U.S.A., but at least these aren’t made in China. In all seriousness, my own experience has been that products made in Vietnam are usually made better and are of higher quality than those products made in mainland China.

Whether the product is mechanical or something which is easy to demonstrate quality, the product quality out of Vietnam is usually markedly better than those made in mainland China. Granted, there are exceptions to every rule. If these were made in China, I wouldn’t have purchased them regardless of the reviews. Since they are made in Vietnam, I felt I would give these products personal consideration. Now, on with my review.

My k9 kids are unquestionably, treat experts. If Rodger Ebert reviewed dog treats, he would hope to aspire to the level of expertise which my K9 kids have achieved. But I will also honestly admit my K9 kids aren’t real stellar at reviewing movies. So, we will leave each reviewer in their own category of expertise.

The moment you tear open this package, it smells like a quality peanut butter. You know how some peanut butters smell “greasy” or oily”? These treats do NOT have that smell. In fact, if one isn’t paying close attention to what they are doing when you are opening the package, it’s very possible you would take a bite out of one of these treats the scent is so appealing.

Ok, so I will admit it, I took a small bite to try it and it was intentional, because they smell so good. After all, how am I supposed to relate issues about flavor, longevity and such without personal taste experience?

Truth is, my personal experience about dogs treats remains quite limited. Most dog treats do not appeal to me even enough to want to try a small taste. Therefore, I lack the depth and breadth of personal comparative experience on this subject. I will defer to the unquestionable authorities on the matter, who are pictured above. Lets just say that I have tasted less appealing things which were intended for human consumption, so on that score, I give the Smart Sticks credit. But I would leave them to K9 consumption as designed and intended.

They smell like quality peanut butter. As far as how they taste, well, my K9 kids certainly like the taste. My own comments aren’t really relevant in making the purchase decision for your dog. Let’s just agree that there are some things specific to a dogs palate and there are others which are more appealing to mine. I will focus on your dog’s likely opinion on these treats as it’s really more important than yours and mine when in the dog treat taste category.

My K9 kids are very picky, which comes after years of being very spoiled and getting just about anything they have ever wanted and usually, many of the items they prefer. Often, they will smell a new treat from end to end, give it a cursory lick for a tiny taste and then they appear to be more carefully considering the item.

Usually, this is just a well placed and executed ruse. If they don’t like it, they don’t like it. Rarely is a dogs actual hunger the control mechanism for their treat consumption. They always seem to find room for one more of the things they really like.

Other times, they will just take the treat and promptly drop it on the carpet and then contemplate eating the treat, apparently hoping that their options will increase and other, preferred treats will present themselves in the meantime (which actually happens often, and its my doing and fault). There is another very high probabilty associated with this action. If the item I had given my K9 kids has a “gooey” or “sticky” or “frosting” side, THAT is the side which will land face down on the flooring material 99.987% of the time. Anyone who has given their dog something the dog wasn’t really sold on, will know just exactly what I am describing.

Sticky side down usually means they will then consume it, furthering their mess. Had the item landed “gooey” side up, they would almost certainly walk away disinterested in the item. Its a dog treat rule of probability. You can bet on it.

In the case of these treats, they were promptly, but very politely, taken from me and immediately consumed. This tells me several important things. First, they liked them. Second, they liked them well enough to behave properly as miss behaving doesn’t produce more treats, but in reality, fewer.

That’s the general concept of corrective punishment. Behave well and you are rewarded, act like a brat and if you are a K9, you will still likely be rewarded. Seriously, its hard to remain unhappy with your K9 kids even when their manners are briefly forgotten. Last, but not least in their opinion of the treats, they weren’t going to procrastinate in the hope of other treat alternatives appearing as they didn’t want to risk losing this treat to their sister. That is logical and rational behavior. I wish many human adults could form such logical behavior responses to matters which affect them……Maybe I should try Peanut Butter Smart sticks on the people.

These treats seem to meet all of my K9 kids targeted objectives. I had hoped they would draft their own review, but they are busy staring me down with incredible intensity and unwavering focus, with their sole intent to be obtaining another of these treats. How do I know? When I presented each of them three other treats for their consideration, they refused to take any of them. They didn’t even take the other treats with the goal of hoping their preferred choice is offered again. They flat out refused to take the other treats and then grabbed these new peanut butter chews when finally presented, which appears to be a Smart Decision. SmartSticks Peanut Butter Dog chews have found two new enthusiasts who are very eager to try more.

Four Paws UP and a full tail wag with a bark for clarity. FYI, that’s the highest rating a dog treat can achieve. I should just add these to my monthly auto order as it appears I am going to be getting a lot of peanut butter smart sticks delivered for my K9 kids……I just hope that they are made in the best interest of each dogs health and well being and to the standards which I would expect of a product made for consumption by domestic dogs.

Pup absolutely loves this treat. His favorite. Does not last long, but he’ll work for it so in the end it’s a great choice. It’s a bit pricey. Is as described. Would definitely repurchase.

As you can see, I didn’t even get to write my review before my dog was begging me for his treat (thus why package is already open). These SmartSticks are the Healthy Alternative to RAWHIDE. Please people, don’t EVER feed your dog rawhide for ‘safety’ reasons. So many problems can occur if you do. These ‘smart sticks’ are loaded with Vitamins and Minerals and are made with REAL Peanut Butter. My dog LOVES them. I use these as a ‘special treat’ and he knows when I pull the bag out that he’s been a ‘good boy’. The value for the money is a big reason I looked into these and this 7oz pack contains 10 sticks that also aid in cleaning my dogs teeth. Win-Win! Recommend highly.

My dog love the Peanut Butter SmartBones no matter if it is a stick or bone format. SmartBones are fully digestible and great for oral health.

Our Pom has sensitivities and would get upset tummy with anything rawhide. She can chew one of these every day and is fine. She loves her morning treat!!

Our dog absolutely loves these. I guess they taste nice but they smell nice as long as you like peanut butter. These were a great price at the time I bought them and they are a great occasional treat.