Anyone who's a dog owner will understand how important long lasting chews and treats are! I've got 4 dogs, which are all big chewers. Without bones, rawhide and various other chews they'd more than likely do some damage to the house now that i'm busy with my new baby. They are quite content with a simple rawhide bone however as I love them so much i'm always treating them to new treats that I think they'll enjoy, which sounds rather sad but never mind! My boyfriends parents own dogs and his mum was the one who reccomended the pig trotters to me a while ago. I was disgusted at first and thought she'd gone mad! Saying that though I have bought weird treats before for my dogs anyway (eg pig ears, pig snouts and cow hooves) so I thought it was worth a try and after looking at the pictures and product description on Amazon I decided to buy a pack of ten as I had a voucher to use up anyway.

These particular treats are primarily sold in bulk and as far as i'm aware they can only be purchased individually from a small number of pet supplies websites and of course pet shops. The packs of ten are much more widely available. I've seen them on countless pet supply websites, eBay and obviously Amazon which is where I bought them from. They're even for sale at Argos (bizzare!) Price wise they're not too expensive but they're not the most affordable treats, either. For a pack of ten it varies from £14-£18 excluding delivery. I paid £19 including delivery which I think is quite expensive although each treat does last for ages so it's worth it in the long run in my opinion. The treats come in a large blue cardboard box and each pig trotter is individually sealed in thin plastic with a sticker on it with the product name. The packaging is easy to get off and I like that they're individually sealed as it stops the box from getting smelly or greasy. I personally store these in the garage in the box as the idea of having them sat in my kitchen isn't very appealing!!

Physically, these pig trotters look like what they are; pig ankles/feet. They even have the nails still attatched.. in fact they look just like they would attatched to a pig but they're obviously quite dry in texture rather than feeling fleshy as they've been air dried. The colour is the usual pale pink fleshy colour with darker bits here and there. Some of the trotters have a little bone exposed while some are in perfect condition. Smell wise, they have a slightly greasy smell.. you know when you fry some bacon, and the smell that gets in the air.. it's a little like that but no where near as mouth watering! The treats are completely natural, have been cooked and air dried and have also been salmonella and bacteria tested. Chewing these treats also helps your dog keep their teeth strong and healthy, aswell as helping to remove plaque or tartar that's built up in your dogs mouth. Each treat is: Protein 45%, Crude Fibre 9%, Oils & Fats 23%, Crude Ash 16%, Moisture 7%.

When I gave each of my dogs one of these treats, none were really sure what to do with it. Talia nudged hers around a little, Clyro threw his in the air and played with it, while Pip ran around with it in her mouth manically wagging her tail. Harvey had a little nibble but at first didn't appear to be keen. Within about 20 minutes though they'd all settled down and tucked into their treats, there was no arguining over who has which chew (do NOT give this to a food posessive dog if you have other dogs in the house or children). Within an hour most of them had chewed most of it up, with flakes of dry bone, skin etc all over the garden patio. I wouldn't reccomend giving this to your dogs in doors as it makes a helluva mess, although as I had wooden floor it wasn't too much of a problem although now I have a baby in the house I prefer to keep the dogs outside with their treats to be as hygienic as possible. The treats lasted for a few days and kept my dogs very entertained, however after that I decided to throw them as they were soggy, flaky and pretty gross. These treats are definetly a hit with my dogs although I don't think i'll be buying them again as at around £20 for ten they're not the most affordable treats although they were nice for a change. Overall reccomended if you want a long lasting treat for your dog and don't mind coughing up the cash. I would not reccomend these if you don't like messy treats or have a dog/puppy with fragile teeth or if your dog is food posessive.