I’ve put a lot of money into dog treats over the years.  And honestly, I have rarely paid attention to the ingredients in my dogs generic treats. Sadly, I figured that they were highly processed junk, but until Harrie became allergic to wheat flour and chicken, I truly did not pay much attention to the ingredient list. I’m a bad doggy Mommy.

Likewise, I never paid much attention to where my dogs treats were made.  Surely all food products for dogs are made domestically, right? Wrong-o!

Back before Christmas, I purchased some toys and treats from Dr’s. Foster and Smith, online.  I specifically picked some chewy treats for Harrie that were soy, wheat and gluten free.  Lucky me, they also had ‘chicken free’ flavors.

These divine treats were called Twistix©.  I chose the Peanut Butter and Carob flavor (the other choices were Vanilla Mint and Pumpkin Spice).  From the moment that I opened the package of Twistix© treats, my dogs went nuts.  I would give Harrie a half of a treat and divide the other half between Mayrose and Grady since I had bought the regular size, instead of the small size. They were relatively easy to divide with scissors.

When the dogs had finished all of the Twistix© treats, and I was about to toss the bag away, I noticed that the treats were made in China. What?  It just never occurred to me that dog treats would be made anywhere other than the good old US of A.  I wanted to get more Twistix© treats for my dogs, since they had loved them so much, but I was concerned about them being made in China.

So, on this past Sunday morning, I emailed the company to ask if Twistix© were sold in any of the big box pet stores, and to ask if they would ever consider making them in America.  The company that makes them, (NPIC) Natural Polymer International Corp., is located in Plano, Texas.  Much to my surprise, the Vice-President of Sales, Dan Cauffman, replied within just a few hours.  Below is an excerpt from his response.

     Mimi,
> We appreciate your interest in our products.
> Yes, we are in the process of making Twistix products here in our Plano, Texas facility.
> Petco, which currently carries our Twistix line will be changing over
> to the US made product in April of this year.
> You can always tell the USA made Twistix by the bilingual packaging ( French & English).
> Twistix Vanilla Mint Flavor ( China made Item # 631467, 631474)( USA
> made Item# 200700,200694) Twistix Peanut & Carob ( China made Item # 631627, 631634) (USA made item# 200649,200656).
> I am sure Dr Fosters and Smith will add our USA made product when available.
>
> Please feel free to contact me directly with any additional questions.
>
> Regards,
> Dan
>
> Dan Cauffman
> Vice President of Sales
> ( NPIC) Natural Polymer International Corp.
> Office  877-238-6742    ext  107
> Cell        214-952-3052
> Fax        972-509-0058
> www.n-bone.com

If you are particular about what your dog eats, because of dietary needs or because you want to support local and American made products, the Twistix© treat and the company that makes them are your winner!  I highly encourage all of you to seek out Twistix© and any other product that NPIC makes. Quality products, quality people.

I want my dogs to have the very best quality of life.  From now on, I will always look at the ingredient list and where a product is made.  

Thanks, Dan Cauffman, N-Bone and NPIC for your efforts.  They are our reward!

Until next time, wag on Augusta!