My Dog Wouldn’t Stop Chewing on Everything—Until I Tried Himalayan Cheese Sticks

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When we adopted Lulu, our 4-month-old Rottweiler-Pitbull mix, we assumed she’d be like our previous dogs—pugs who’d spent most of their days lazily sleeping. But we noticed Lulu’s intense chewing habit on day one and quickly realized that wasn’t going to be the case.

She’s taken large bites out of my favorite flip-flops and the backs of my running shoes. Lulu’s also chewed up my husband’s Crocs, though I can’t say I discourage this particular behavior. She’s even gone after our pillows. But her real love is wood, and she particularly enjoys the bottoms of desks and cabinets and the legs of chairs. We knew that training a dog not to chew on furniture was one of the first things you should do when training a puppy, but she just wasn’t listening. All told, I’d estimate the total value of her destruction at about $400.

Failed chewing solutions

We were determined to find a solution, and we probably spent close to $1,000 buying toys and other things for Lulu in the hopes of getting her chewing under control. If we stumbled upon something she was actually interested in chewing, she’d be distracted—momentarily. We started with plush toys since my late pug kept his fluffy octopus in excellent condition for 11 years. Within days, the amount of stray fluff I was picking up from around my house made me feel like I was like losing my mind. But Lulu clearly loved those soft toys, despite her destructive ways, so at first, I couldn’t resist replacing them. However, I’d be on my hands and knees picking up little pieces of white fluff for hours. So, the soft toys quickly came to an end.

Next, we switched to toys specifically designed for hard chewers, such as rawhide bones and beef trachea chews. I assumed they’d give Lulu a couple hours’ worth of chewing activity. But she would either ignore them entirely or devour them in seconds. In fact, Lulu managed to destroy every single one we brought home in 15 to 20 minutes. If your dog has been chewing on you, this is how to stop a puppy from biting, according to dog trainers.

Following a cheesy suggestion

One day at the dog park, someone suggested a solution they swore by: Himalayan dog chews made with yak’s milk cheese. I didn’t even question this strange-sounding product I’d never heard of before; I just immediately drove to the pet store to find it. Based on an ancient Himalayan recipe for a hard cheese snack, this dog chew from Himalayan Pet Supply is basically a combination of yak’s and cow’s milk, and it doesn’t contain preservatives, binding agents, or gluten. Plus, it’s reasonably priced at $5 to $10, depending on the size you get.