What’s the Best Chew Toy Material for Dogs?

Chewing is a natural activity for dogs. Not only does chewing help to relieve mild anxiety or frustration that your dog might be feeling, but it can also help dogs by:

• Relieving the pain of incoming teeth for younger dogs;
• Helping older dogs keep their teeth clean and their jaws robust;
• Alleviating boredom from being confined to small spaces for long hours of the day.

Dogs love to chew, and trying to combat or prohibit that natural behavior and response leads to many frustrated pet owners. Instead of trying to stop dogs from chewing, it is important to teach them that certain household items are off-limits. Investing in a few dog toys is not only a great way to help your dog relieve anxiety, boredom, and teething pain, but can also prolong the lifespan of your footwear.

What are most dog chew toys made from?

Choosing the best chew toy for your dog can be overwhelming, as there are so many options. Your choice depends on how you prioritize your criteria. Common considerations include price, durability, risk of injury, whether it floats, if it’s made in the USA, or whether it can be recycled.

Natural items, like sticks and bones, can cause injury—that’s one of the reasons chew toys were invented. Plush dog toys, in particular, were made to help divert your dog’s attention from your own shoes, slippers, or a child’s stuffed animal. Unfortunately, sharp teeth typically demolish even the sturdiest-built plush toy—so it becomes just another single-use disposable item, which is not all that sustainable. And the synthetic stuffing of stuffed animals can get caught in their teeth or throat and may cause problematic intestinal blockages.

Another option on the market is chew toys made of nylon. While these may be more durable for aggressive chewers, the Cherry Hill Animal Hospital in New Jersey says that “many nylon bones are made of hard materials that can damage your pet’s teeth. Choose chew toys that are soft enough to indent when you press in your thumbnail, but hardy enough that your pet cannot chew them into pieces.”

That leaves us with rubber-like chew toys, typically made from natural rubber or TPE (thermoplastic elastomer). In this article, we will look at the main differences between natural rubber (like Kong’s toys) and TPE (like Project Hive’s toys) and the pros and cons of both options.

What are the Pros and Cons of Natural Rubber Toys?

Natural rubber is sourced from rubber tree plantations grown in different tropical areas of the world. The trees, most often planted in monocultures, are tapped for their resinous material that is subsequently transformed into natural rubber that can be used for everything from car tires to dog toys. On the plus side, natural rubber dog toys are made from a natural material sourced from a renewable resource: a tree. In the best-case scenario, the rubber found in your dog´s favorite chew toy may have been grown in a diversified agroforestry system by a small farmer.

Unfortunately, this is often not the case. In Guatemala’s Pacific Coast, to name just one example, huge extensions of primary forest were cut down over the past decade to plant row upon row of rubber trees. Much of this land was illegally expropriated from small-scale indigenous farmers who used to grow diversified crops of corn, beans, vegetables, and other tropical tree crops. On an ecological level, monocultures of rubber trees not only contribute to massive deforestation of rainforest ecosystems, but they are also a chemically intensive crop that requires large amounts of pesticides and other agrochemicals.

Additionally, natural rubber dog toys are less environmentally friendly. Once your dog chews through their natural rubber toy, recycling is virtually impossible. It may be down-cycled—for example, ground up and used for another product—but it cannot be repurposed into another dog toy. This only further increases the demand for natural rubber and intensifies the negative chain of ecological effects that come with rubber tree monocultures.

What are the Pros and Cons of TPE Toys?

Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a rubber-like material indistinguishable from natural rubber to most people. TPE dog toys combine the best characteristics of natural rubber with the recyclability of plastic materials. Unlike natural rubber, it is important to note that TPE is certainly not a natural material. Rather, it is a form of plastic made from byproducts of non-renewable fossil fuel inputs.

High-quality TPE material, however, can almost always make strong, safe, durable plastic dog toys that are easy to clean. Because of its robust quality, TPE dog toys will also tend to last much longer than natural rubber.

Another major benefit: TPE toys float in water! (For fun water play with your pup, take a look at these whiff-worthy scented dog toys from Project Hive!)

If your dog does chew through the toy, or you’re simply done with it, the TPE material is 100 percent recyclable. Like other types of thermoplastics, when TPE dog toys are heated up, the thermoplastic elastomers transform into free-flowing “liquids.” Once cooled, they again regain their original structure and stability. This characteristic of the raw material makes it possible to re-use all production waste. Furthermore, all end-of-life products (i.e., a chew toy your dog turned into an unrecognizable mess) can be easily reprocessed without increasing demand for further raw material.

What’s the Bottom Line on Chew Toys for Dogs?

Our company takes seriously the health and well-being of your dog. We also wholeheartedly believe that private businesses can and should play an important role in making the most sustainable and environmentally friendly business decisions. We know that every economic activity, no matter how big or small, will inevitably cause some environmental and ecological impact. However, we also believe that a genuine and earnest analysis of the best alternatives can help mitigate these impacts.

To that end, we have thought long and hard about the pros and cons of natural rubber and TPE as a raw material for our dog toys. Despite some of the downsides of plastics, we firmly believe that TPE is the most environmentally-friendly material for the dog toys.

The fact that TPE dog chew toys can be ground up and made into new toys allows our company to reduce the demand for raw materials and embodied energy associated with producing and processing those materials.

At Project Hive Pet Company, our dog toys are not only good for the planet, but they´re also good for your dog. All dog toys we offer are made in the United States, BPA-free, latex-free, phthalate-free, and non-toxic. Instead of smelling like synthetic plastics, our unscented line is truly unscented. Our new line of scented dog toys incorporates natural aromas that dogs and humans love: calming lavender, soothing vanilla, tropical coconut, sweet mango, and wild berry. Take a look at our online store to find the best chew toys for your dog. Your shoes, slippers—and your dog—will thank you!