I know I said that rawhide products are the Holy Grail of dog treats earlier this week, but if there’s a close second, the golden crown has to go to these Redbarn beef products. Petco and Petsmart seem to sell the braided beef sticks, but I actually purchase almost all of Beary’s things at a nearby store called Pets To Go, which seems to carry an abundant amount of beef products. It’s ridiculous, really. Everything there is categorized by three sizes — small, medium and large dogs. Now even though Beary’s just a 15-pounder, I usually buy him the medium sized products. They tend to last longer, since he doesn’t really pig out on them. Whenever I go out for my weekly dog treat run, I’m always looking for three things: the braided beef stick, the beef disc and the beef bar bell.  Specifically, I make sure that they still look relatively fresh and not over-dried (solid colors and not too translucent) and that they don’t smell funny — believe me, sometimes they do… a not-so-pleasant experience when Beary goes into his intensive chewing session and you can smell the putrid beef fumes from across the room. Since I’m not a dog expert or dietitian, Beary doesn’t get a whole lot of beef treats every week. Typically, I’ll give him a beef stick that’ll last him about 7-9 days; otherwise, I try to balance the rest of his food with something more nutritious. He seems to like that just fine.

Pros: ultimate dog satisfaction, braided beef sticks last pretty long

Cons: can become somewhat pricey if you have a large dog, since those braided beef sticks can cost you nearly seven bucks a pop

[ratings]