September 2019 by L L.
In 2015 I had a series of health issues (pneumonia, antibiotic reaction, 60 days of zero-sleep insomnia) which ended my azz on psychotropic drugs, which I HATE, and I basically ripped myself off of them and went holistic. That journey led to revamping my entire diet, cutting out gluten and dairy, trying to reduce sugar to almost nothing, going all organic, etc. (This excludes dining out, so what you see on Yelp is not what I eat the rest of the time.) My health improved amazingly! So of course I wanted to do the same for my pets!!! I went through a lot of research time looking for dog foods that had protein source as the #1 ingredient (if it says "meal" after it, that doesn't count, look up what dog food "meal" is--YUK), and making sure it was gluten free, etc. On top of this, my newly adopted dogs both had allergy issues, etc. It went on and on for months. Finally, I got them settled on food, but the ol' BJ's crap dog biscuits no longer cut it for treats. So back to the research... long story short, this whole health improvement journey led me to Sawmill Creek's all-natural pig ears, which I buy online at www.dogtreathouse.com. Sawmill Creek offers treats made of all-natural proteins, including beef, chicken, fish, pork, and turkey. They have over 50 different treat and chew pack options. They have jerky, chews, bully sticks, hide rolls, pig ears, snouts, backstraps, carp skins, etc. They dehydrate without any chemical funk and junk, and you get natural goodness for your pet! As they say: "No Preservatives No By-product Fillers No Grains or Hormones No Additives No Chemicals or other JUNK!" There are a lot of potato chip pig ears on the market that have to come from the sorriest anorexic-eared pigs on the planet, super thin, super small, and almost transparent, like amber seaweed paper. Sawmill Creek's pig ears are so thick, they're not transparent, barely even translucent, and are a deep-fried caramel color. They're so thick I was afraid my dogs might not be able to bite through them. They are also huge, bigger than my hand, and smell so good I am almost tempted. Ha ha ha, that's so embarrassing! Seriously, it smells like crispy dog bacon, and it's no wonder my dogs freak out for these things. The other thing is they're not at all greasy. A lot of pig ears are disgusting; slippy in your fingers, stink of nasty slaughterhouse gunk, and your hands end up with schmutz that dish detergent won't even remove. Yuk! Sawmill Creek's pig ears are dry to the touch, kind of like a rawhide. My dogs each get one ear per day, and it's always at 2:38pm (IDK why, but that's the agreement I made with them). So starting at like noon, they give me looks and nod over at the cabinet where their treats are. Some days they get ob-friggin-noxious trying to beg a treat early, and I get cold wet noses all up and down my legs and hands, which they know is so ick (on purpose), grrrr. Point is, they are in love with these things, and 2:38pm is the HIGHLIGHT of their day! If I am late on the ears, it's a bark-worthy problem. And on special occasions, they get two in a day, which they don't appreciate, because they snatch them like they didn't already have one, and probably believe this should happen every hour. But this is exactly how a good treat goes down in a dog's mind. I have been buying Sawmill Creek's oink ears for years now, and I even give them as gifts to dog-loving friends. While most pig ear products on the market were answerable to the recent CDC recall (127 human cases of Salmonella poisoning reported in 33 states), Sawmill's products were not affected, because they source in the USA, and dehydrate at temperatures that kill the bugs other producers don't. I read the CDC warnings, and I normally freak about this stuff, but this company takes such pride in their product (and I can smell how fresh and good it is), that I
