A Better Way to Chew

The first time I saw a coffee wood chew tucked into a basket at our local pet store, I remember thinking, ‘coffee wood? Why on earth would we give caffeine to dogs?’

Of course, coffee wood doesn't contain the caffeine we associate with the coffee bean, and I rightly assumed no one was casually selling caffeinated sticks for dogs to gnaw on. So I picked one up.

Pine was about six months old at the time, and like most young dogs, especially a golden retriever, he needed to chew.

Chewing isn't a bad behavior we need to stop. It's deeply instinctual and gives dogs an outlet physically and emotionally. It can soothe and calm, relieve boredom, work the jaw, and simply give them something satisfying to do. I was constantly looking for natural ways to meet that need without filling our home with plastic toys or relying exclusively on something edible every time he wanted to settle in for a good chew.

Coffee wood quickly became one of our favorites.

For nearly a year and a half now, I've bought Pine one or two coffee wood chews every month, retiring each one once he's whittled it down too small. And at almost two years old, he still settles down with his coffee wood at least a couple of times every day.

Unlike a raw bone or dehydrated chew that's eventually consumed, this one sticks around and doesn’t add any calories to our dogs’ diets.

It isn't completely mess-free. As the wood wears, you'll find little dry fibers and pieces on the floor. A quick pass with the vacuum takes care of them. Small fibers and pieces may also be swallowed during normal chewing, which is one reason supervision and knowing your own dog's chewing style are always important.

But after trying what feels like just about everything, coffee wood has remained one of my favorite outlets for Pine's natural need to chew.

And there was something else I loved about it.

From Byproduct to Something Useful

Coffee trees eventually reach the end of their productive growing life and are pruned or replaced. Rather than seeing that wood simply discarded, I loved the idea of giving an agricultural byproduct another purpose.

Something grown by the earth gets another chapter.

Less waste. One simple material transformed into something useful for our dogs.

That's very much in keeping with how I want to approach the things we bring into our homes: use what already exists, choose natural materials when we can, and tread a little more lightly on the planet.

But the agricultural piece also gave me pause.

Natural Doesn't Mean I Stop Asking Questions

The first coffee wood chews I purchased locally didn't come with much information. No meaningful sourcing details or testing information and nothing that told me very much about what this piece of wood had been exposed to before it ended up in Pine's mouth.

And ultimately, coffee wood is an agricultural product.

Before I was willing to put the Tailswell name behind it, and certainly before placing a large order from our supplier in Vietnam, I wanted to know more.

So I requested samples and had the materials independently tested for the things I cared about: mold and mycotoxins, pesticides and insecticides, heavy metals, and other potential contaminants.

The results gave me the confidence I needed to continue offering these chews to Pine and, finally, to share them with all of you.

Because that's really what Tailswell Approved means to me.

It doesn't mean pretending that any chew is indestructible or entirely without risk. Dogs chew differently, natural materials vary, and supervision is a very necessary piece.

It means I've asked the questions I would want answered before giving something to my own dog.

And Then There Were the Coco Rope Toys...

The coffee wood + coconut fiber rope toys might be my favorite discovery of the bunch.

They combine that satisfying natural coffee wood with coconut fiber for chewing, tugging, shredding, carrying, interactive play and connection - all of those wonderfully simple, instinctive things dogs were meant to do.

There may be some mechanical dental benefit from chewing and working the fibrous surfaces against the teeth as well, but more than anything, I love these because they give dogs another natural outlet to simply be dogs.

No flashing lights, batteries, plastic or complicated gimmicks.

Wood. Fiber. Chew. Tug. Play.

These are the next little collection of offerings I'm so excited to bring into Tailswell, things I've thoughtfully sourced and vetted for those of us trying to raise our dogs as naturally and simply as possible.

LOVE YOUR DOGS.