The Wildest Article
Written by Rebecca Caplan
Published on September 12th, 2022
Most people look forward to the first cool night of the year after a long, sweltering summer. But those people don’t live with my two dogs.
Every year at the end of the summer, the air conditioning goes off and the absence of white noise has my dogs on high alert for any foreign noise occurring outside my cracked window. One crunch of a leaf is enough to set them off like sleeper agents whose code word has just been activated. Before I had dogs, I couldn’t wait for the whirr of white noise to cease, but now, instead of a sweet autumnal silence, I’m left with the Fall Call of my barking dogs.
This year, I became determined to find a solution that would bring me some peace and quiet. While looking for solutions, I had multiple friends with dogs try to sell me their personal favorite snake oil a.k.a “calming chews.” If you have ever had to help your dog through a stressful situation, you have probably come across these types of supplements during your initial Google search. Many swear by them, but I rarely have found them to work.
But recently, as the first cool night approached, I was still no closer to finding my holy grail. As the night went on and my air conditioner both roared on and froze me out, I was desperate to find anything that would allow both myself and my pups to enjoy some zen. I went to my downstairs neighbor, one of my nearest and dearest snake oil salesmen, and asked if I could borrow some of his Native Pet calming chews. With active ingredients, including melatonin, L-theanine, thiamine, and hemp seed, I figured something in there might do the trick.
And I was right! This is not a magic pill, but the calming chews significantly lowered both of my dogs’ stress thresholds. We were actually able to go to bed at a reasonable hour, even as leaves, sticks, and even acorns crunched outside our window.
I was so impressed I decided to look more into the brand and their other supplements. After taking a tour of Native Pet’s very aesthetically pleasing website, I ordered their Allergy Chews, Bone Broth Topper, and Yak Chews. With my dogs’ eyes getting itchier as allergy season dragged on, plus our continued battle with picky eating, I figured these three products would tell me everything I needed to know about Native Pet.
To start, the allergy chews and broth topper were a hit. The allergy chews gave my pups considerable relief, and the bone broth was lapped up with enthusiasm. The Yak Chews were sniffed at and ignored — but I suppose Yak milk is one of those acquired tastes, even for dogs.
All in all, the Native Pet products seemed like a success — albeit an expensive one. Native Pet’s products range from $12 to $32, with most products falling somewhere in the middle. For some things, it makes sense: the bone broth is powdered, which means a small $20 package will still get you up to 48 servings (plus it’s great for travel!). But other products, like the Yak Chews, are $18 for three medium chews — that’s like buying your dog three dried Yak-curd Frappuccinos.
Native Pet is committed, however, to full transparency about its ingredients, as reflected by their website and blog. That’s important when shopping for supplements for your pet because as a rule, most pet food and supplements are not required to be FDA approved before being sold to the public. This means consumers must rely on the transparency of companies, like Native Pet, to tell us where their ingredients come from and how they are used in their products. Because of their lack of filler and mystery ingredients, Native Pet’s higher prices reflect a genuinely premium product.
But maybe skip the Yak Chews.
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