Well, Hannah has completed her 6 day trial of Bright Bites. There really wasn't much different to report over the past few days, so I thought I'd spare you the repetitive reports and just give you the final verdict. I'm going to rate every point on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being low and 10 being high.
1) Does It Taste Good? Score - 10
As far as palatability is concerned, Hannah seems to love these treats. When she hears the package crinkle, she perks up and waits eagerly for her Bright Bite. So in that respect, these are a success.
2) Does It Freshen Breath? Score - 5
I was underwhelmed by the results in this category. Hannah's breath usually just ended up smelling bland, which is not what I expected, but is better than stinky fish dog food breath. I would have liked more cinnamon in the end though, so I'm giving this point a score in the middle.
3) Did It Help With Tartar/Gingivitis? No Score
Because this was only a 6 day trial, I don't feel like I could accurately score the product. I can tell you I did NOT see any removal of tartar and Hannah still has some slight gingivitis. In this respect, you would probably be better off brushing your dog's teeth or taking them to the vet for a cleaning.
4) Was It Easy To Use? Score - 9
Because this is a daily treat, all you have to do is give it to your dog every day, and they do the work. That makes this really easy, except for people like me that can't seem to remember to do things reliably day after day. Maybe if I'd done this longer, I would have gotten in a better habit. It's also likely that if Hannah ate at a certain time that I would be more likely to remember her daily Bright Bite, but since she's free fed, that was a difficulty for me.
5) Other Factors?
I really like that Bright Bites are 100% digestible. That is a huge factor for me, because I have a large dog that likes to eat things as fast as possible. Digestibility is why I WON'T feed rawhide or greenies. I don't want anything that could obstruct her digestive tract and cost me a bundle at the vet or worse so for that, I give them a 10.
Something I don't like - every time Hannah ate one of these, she made a big slobbery mess on the floor. Now, a plus, it was just slobbery, no color, so no staining, but for her this is just abnormal and it makes me wonder exactly what is going on here. Score 1.
Something else I'm on the fence about - the ingredients. Now, as you know, the reason we own Bigwag is because we believe in giving our dogs high quality food and treats. Things that have simple, healthy ingredients that can easily be understood. I'm not sure what all the stuff in Bright Bites is... I get the potato flour and rice flour, but I'm not sure about the titanium dioxide, magnesium stearate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate. Now, the literature says tetrasodium pyrophosphate is an ingredient in tartar control toothpaste, but I also know you aren't supposed to SWALLOW toothpaste. When I wiki tetrasodium pyrophosphate it tells me it's "slightly toxic and mildly irritating colorless transparent crystalline chemical compound" which isn't something I'm sure I want to feed to my dog once or twice a day... I think they made a good attempt, but I'd like something more natural. I give the ingredients a 3.
Overall Score: 38 out of 60, which is an average of 6.33 out of 10 points. My overall assessment, I don't think I'm likely to carry this product in my store, unless I can't find a better alternative for natural dental care.
Hope this was helpful to all of you out there looking for ways to treat doggie breath! If you have any suggestions of other products you'd like to see in our store, let us know, and we will do our best t o try those out as well.
Sincerely,
Erin
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