Are Checkups Treats Dangerous?
Last night I gave all the Ward Pack members a Checkups Treat, one of those chewy treats that are supposed to help clean dogs’ teeth. This was the first time I tried them but its probably the last as well.
I’ve been very suspicious of these kinds of treats since the Greenies debacle. But someone I trust said her dogs liked them so I carefully read the package at Costco. It said that there was no plastic, it was made in the US and seemed otherwise okay. I know that Costco still carried the deadly chicken jerky but I usually like the Costco products. So I bought a package.
I’m taking it back on the next Costco trip.
Like I said, last night I gave everybody a Checkups. About thirty minutes later I was talking with a friend and Beatrice started gagging and coughing. Then she threw up what looked like hard cottage cheese. I was perplexed because she had not had anything that looked like cottage cheese — until I remembered the Checkups. Thankfully she had thrown it up. Things could have been much worse.
Have you had a similar event in your home with your furbaby? If so, please bark in. It could be that Beatrice is the only one to have a problem with Checkups. If that’s the case, then I don’t want to warn people wrongly.
The only chew toys my dogs get anymore are the hard Nylabones “for powerful chewers”. These are the only things I’ve found that they can’t chew pieces off of, but rather they whittle them down over a long period of time.
I had to take my dog in to have pieces of a toy removed from his stomach because it could have caused a blockage. It cost over a thousand dollars, but thankfully, my little dog was ok.
Cee Cee,
Thanks for barking in.
Like you, the main hard chewys my pack gets are Nylabones. After this, I think I’m reinstating that policy.
My dog just loves Checkups and she gets one or two a week. Maybe she is unusual, but she used to regularly throw up after having a Nylabone, but she has never had a problem with Checkups.
I’ve only given a couple to Roswell that I got as samples, but he’s had no problems with them. Some dogs just are more sensitive to different things than others. Obviously I wouldn’t give another one just to see if it was an isoltated incident, but I can understand discontinuing using them for our own pets. Sorry you had a bad experience, but glad Beatrise is OK!
Ziggy only has nylabones and Kong toys, along with a couple of rope tugs. They keep his teeth sparkling and gums healthy. Everything else is too easy for him to completely destroy and consume. After previously owning a wire fox terrier and going through several very expensive surgeries to remove objects from his intestines, I’m very careful about what my dogs are given. I feed slices of vegetables for treats. Those pre-sliced carrots are ‘cookies’ to him. Better safe than sorry.
my wolfdog actually chews pieces of the nylabone and consumes it. No plastic for him. I give them all rawhide now and then, but mostly they get pig ears. My GSD throws up the rawhide. Can’t win.
I used to give them the hooves but again, they throw that up too.
My two get the Checkups and have never had a problem. If I give them pig ears they both throw them up. Hooves they can chew but I hate the smell!! And they both chew the Nylabone Galileo because any other ‘long term’ chew they destroy in a matter of days. I won’t do rawhides because I am worried about them being bleached, although they do get bullysticks occasionally. It seems that no matter what is out there, some dogs will have problems with one or another of them. I wouldn’t give something to mine if it had bothered them even one time, so I understand you not wanting to give Checkups to yours again. Like Gina said, sometimes it seems you can’t win!!
Like I mentioned before, my dog hasn’t had a problem with Checkups, but she did have a problem with DentaBones. I still give her the DentaStix but she has not had a Dentabone since a piece of one got firmly stuck on one of her back teeth. As I couldn’t budge it, I rushed her to the vet. She was sedated and x-rays of the tooth taken before they attempted to remove the stuck piece of DentaBone. The x-ray revealed a crack in the tooth, so her tooth had to be removed. I was told it wasn’t uncommon for this to happen, although I don’t know of anyone else having this experience.
Joy-
\What is the “deadly” Costco chicken jerky you referenced…? That caught my attention, I havent heard about that…
No bones, no rawhide, no pig ears, no dental chews. Those are our rules now because of some scary experiences. Cirrus threw up green chunks of the Nylabone dental chews. Bone fragments were stuck in their back teeth and stomach. The dental chews (like raw hide) from the vet they almost choked on when it was swallowed whole. Scary. When we have to board our dogs, we have them put up a sign on their kennel that says tells them what they cannot have, and only give them what we provide.
The only thing we found safe is the large Nylabone plastic chews. The “Galileo” version was so big for Rook (german shepard) he didn’t know what to do with it, but at least he didn’t choke!
How was the chicken jerky dangerous?
Also, carrots are a good choice, too! Watch out, though, because my sister-in-law thought it was so cute to see Rook munch on them, she fed him the whole bag, and his poop came out orange for days!
Jaime
Dogsters have barked in with numerous complaints about the chicken jerky still on sale at Costco. Check back through the Health Warnings catagory on this blog for more info. Look at the comments for the Dogster complaints.
My 9 year old Greyhound loves the checkups, and has never had a problem with them - they’ve definitely been his all time favorite treat. Unfortunately, my local Costco has been out of stock on them for the past few weeks.
My dogs love Checkups and have never had a problem with them. I’m almost finished with the second bag… to give you a sense of how long I’ve been using them.
They do make the dog poop a weird yellow/green color, but otherwise seem to have no ill effects on my two, small dogs.
My dog loves checkups and I can’t buy them any more at Costco. They are the best chew product I have found!
My dogs loved them; the one with tooth enamel problems had much cleaner teeth while he was getting one a day. I was heartbroken when Costco ran out and have contacted the company to order directly in larger quantities. No one had any problems with them.
My golden retriever has food allergies/sensitivities, and I tried a bag of Checkups, which he loved and had no digestive problems with. And it was great for his teeth and breath as well. But I haven’t been able to find them at Costco since. I wish I had a source for purchasing them, since I am very cautious about what I will feed my dog.
My beagle, LU, loves CheckUps and has never experienced any problem with them. I haven’t seen them at my Costco the last 2 times I’ve been there and hope they get them back or I can find them elsewhere!
We have two white schnauzers. They both thoroughly enjoy Checkups. We bought them at COSTCO in Anchorage, Alaska when we lived there. Then, COSTCO was out for awhile after the “trial”. We moved to Oregon two years ago and had to order Checkups direct by the case; it was worth it as the product has no wheat or soy and is easily cut into bite size pieces with a plant pruner. Our dogs get great treats just their size. We are out of Checkups again and hoping to find them stocked at COSTCO as we regard them as an excellent treat for our dogs. We have nothing but praise for Checkups after 3 years of consumption by our dogs.
Our 2 Cavaliers (CKCS) love Checkups and for the 2nd time in about a year Costco has dropped them again. It seems that Sugar Creek Pet Products, LLC has a production problem and cannot keep up with Costco’s product movement requirements. A shame because this has been the best chew quality and value in the market. Keep writing Costco; They do care what we all have to say. Order direct by the case and they will pay the shipping for 30# for $150. You do need to send a cashier’s check but it’s worth the effort if you and your pup(s) are as happy with the product as we are.
I just happened to run across this old entry and wanted to inform fellow dog owners that the chicken jerky that Costco sells is fully tested by the manufacturer. From the reports on their web site, it looks like the product is sent for testing frequently since the original Bestros incident.
The product that Costco carries is NOT deadly. Do your research.
http://www.thekingdompets.com/web/home.php
We love Checkups Chews. It is a guiltless treat for my 60 Lab - Shepard and her breath has never been better. I hope Costco brings them back soon so we can go back to more affordable prices. For now, we have to buy them direct.
My cocker spaniel has been on the Checkups for several years. It’s all she gets for treats. I break them in half. She has tremendous food allergies and this is the only treat I found she can handle.
Please send a request to Costco’s customer service (Costco.com) and also drop one in their box as you’re leaving to ask them to stock them. If enough of us do it, they’ll stock it again.
Other than that, buy it directly from the company. I’ve done that in the past too. Only problem is you have to mail them a check and it has to clear before they’ll mail the treats. Also, they’re more expensive this way.
Lastly, theirs a starbrite treat they make that’s exactly like the Checkups, but smaller. Some stores in your area will carry them, but again they’re more expensive. If you e-mail the Checkups company they’ll e-mail you the list of stores in your area that carry them.
FYI. I e-mailed Checkups to ask when they’d be doing a roadshow at Costco again. She said none were scheduled, unfortunately.
Would someone provide the ordering information for Checkups - phone numbers, website… etc…? I too have had great luck with the product. My Westie loves them and I am sorry Costco has discontinued carrying them.
I am so glad you started this blog. I gave my 20 month old Lab Sabine a check up and 12 hours later she too threw up the cottage cheese like chunks, mixed in with bile.. I actually touched the pieces and smelled them and it smelled like grout. I totally forgot that I had given her one since she has never had a problem with them before.
Sabine remains weak, she will not eat, not even rice and chicken. she puked all over my bed last night and is sleeping today. She will drink a bit of water here and there. I called in sick to work to care for her.
I like your rule, no greenies no dentabones, none of that stuff. It is horrible to see my baby sick and miserable.
I gave her some Maalox and hope her tummy will feel a bit better. Thank you again for having this blog.
My dogs love (actually are addicted to) check ups. They get them daily and the vet said their teeth look great. Haven’t had any issues with throwing up. I always give them right after they eat - maybe that’s why they don’t have problems.
I used to be a firm believer in Nylabones but since my pack (4 of them!) have all now had broken/chipped teeth as a result of nylabones those are now strictly out. I actually had to have one of my dogs have a tooth repaired to prevent further damage.
Only one of my the local Costco carries them here and I hope they never stop.
I have one small and one medium terrier. They both LOVE Checkups beyond belief. The small terrier threw up once, but I suspected she was eating it too fast. Since I started breaking it up into smaller pieces and giving her half a treat total, she’s been fine.
My dog (24lb Laso Alpso) is at the vet as I write. My granddaughter fed him two checkups yesterday afternoon. We were up all night with the dog vomitting. It went from the cottage cheese to bloody phlegm. This morning the vomitting increased and was joined by bloody dirreha. Our carpet is trashed throughout the house and our poor dog is very ill.
My baby used to eat a checkup almost every other day and he never had any problems with them. But he is a very powerful chewer; he can finish an entire large raw hide bone in a day. The only reason he doesn’t get checkups anymore is because our costco doesn’t carry them anymore.
(He’s an 80 lb. yellow lab.)
Our two dogs love the checkups. As they are both about 20 lbs each, we only give them a half at a time. One does eat it too fast at times but both are not sick with them. In fact I believe these are the best treats they have had. Our dogs do not get raw hides, dentabones etc. This is one treat they DO NOT get sick with.