If you’ve ever spent a fall morning in Colorado’s mountains and heard the unmistakable bugle of a bull elk, you know there’s something special happening.
It’s elk rut season.
Every fall, bull elk enter their annual breeding season. The peaceful herds of summer suddenly sound a little different. Bulls bugle across valleys, gather their harems and sometimes challenge other bulls—all while carrying the impressive antlers they’ve spent months growing.
At Paws & Co., this season has special meaning for us.
Because those antlers are part of a remarkable natural cycle—and eventually, some of them become the natural elk antler chews dogs love.
The Incredible Life Cycle of an Elk Antler
An elk antler isn’t permanent.
Elk grow an entirely new set of antlers each year. During the growing season, the developing antlers are covered in a soft tissue called velvet. As the antlers mature, the velvet is shed and the hardened antlers are ready for fall.
During the rut, bulls use their antlers to display dominance and compete with other males.
But once breeding season is over and hormone levels begin to change, something remarkable happens.
The elk eventually sheds its antlers naturally.
The bull walks away and begins the cycle again.
No elk needs to be harmed for a naturally shed antler to be collected.
From Naturally Shed Antler to Natural Dog Chew
That natural cycle is one of the reasons we fell in love with elk antlers as dog chews.
After antlers have been naturally shed and responsibly collected, they can be cleaned, cut and sized into long-lasting chews for dogs.
And unlike manufactured chews with long ingredient lists, an elk antler is wonderfully simple.
One antler. One ingredient.
At Paws & Co., we carefully size our antler chews so you can choose an appropriate option for your dog and chewing style.
We offer both whole and split elk antlers.
Whole antlers leave the harder exterior intact and are generally best suited to determined, experienced chewers.
Split antlers expose more of the inner portion of the antler, making them easier for many dogs to get interested in and enjoy.
As with any hard chew, choose an appropriate size for your dog, supervise chewing, and remove the chew if it becomes small enough to swallow or develops sharp edges.
Why Dogs Love Antlers
To us, an antler might look like something we’d find on the forest floor.
To a dog?
It’s something entirely different.
Dogs are naturally drawn to chewing, and antlers give them a satisfying chewing experience without artificial colors, flavors or complicated ingredients.
There’s also something we love about giving dogs a chew that still feels connected to the outdoors.
It isn’t designed to look natural.
It is natural.
A Colorado Tradition That Comes Full Circle
Every fall, when the first elk bugles echo through Colorado’s mountains, we’re reminded where this story begins.
A bull elk grows an extraordinary set of antlers.
He carries them through the fall rut.
Months later, he naturally sheds them.
And eventually, one of those antlers may find its way into the paws of a very happy dog.
That circle—from the mountains, to the forest floor, to your dog’s paws—is part of what makes elk antlers so special to us.
Paws & Co. was built around a simple idea: dogs deserve chews that are closer to nature.
And more than a decade later, that idea hasn’t changed.
From the Rockies to your dog.
Find the Right Elk Antler for Your Dog
Not every dog chews the same way.
Whether yours likes getting right to the center of a split antler or needs the longer-lasting challenge of a whole antler, we’ll help you find the right size and style.
SHOP NATURAL ELK ANTLER CHEWS
www.pawsandcodogchews.com
