Trueleaf makes Calming Support and Hip + Joint Support in two formats: a soft chew, and an oil you pour over food. The labels list the same actives for both formats. What changes is how it is measured, how it is given, and what it costs a day.
Which should I choose, the chew or the oil
Take the chew unless one of four things is true. Your dog eats around chews and leaves them. Your dog is under 10 lb, where a whole chew is a clumsy unit. Your dog is on a calorie-controlled diet and you would rather not add a treat-shaped item to the day. Or you are feeding more than one dog and mixing into food beats counting chews per bowl.
In any of those cases, take the oil. In every other case the chew is simpler, and a product you will actually use every day beats the one that is theoretically better.
What is the same in both formats
The actives, as the labels list them. Calming Support, chew and oil, is hemp seed with chamomile, lemon balm and L-theanine. Hip + Joint Support, chew and oil, is hemp seed with turmeric root extract and green lipped mussel.
The chews are made in our own plant in Vernon, British Columbia. Both are given by body weight, from a chart rather than by eye. Both are given daily rather than when you remember. None of that changes with the format.
What is actually different
| Soft chews | Oil | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is measured | By count | By teaspoon |
| Sizes | 90 g, 200 g, 600 g, and a 1200 g two-pack | 237 mL |
| How it is given | By hand or in the bowl | Poured over food |
| Weight bands | Eight or nine, depending on the line | Five |
| Smallest step | One chew | A quarter teaspoon |
| Suits | Dogs that take a chew as a treat | Fussy dogs, small dogs, calorie-controlled diets, multi-dog households |
How much of the chew do I give
Calming Support is one chew per 10 lb of body weight. Hip + Joint Support is one per 8 lb, so the same dog takes more of the Hip + Joint chew. Split the daily amount between morning and evening.
| Body weight | Calming chews per day | Hip + Joint chews per day |
|---|---|---|
| 20 lb | 2 | 3 |
| 30 lb | 3 | 4 |
| 40 lb | 4 | 5 |
| 50 lb | 5 | 6 |
| 60 lb | 6 | 8 |
| 70 lb | 7 | 9 |
The full band-by-band charts for every product are in how much supplement does my dog need.
How much of the oil do I give
Five bands, and the same amounts across Calming Support, Hip + Joint Support and the Immune + Allergy oil. Once a day, over food.
| Body weight | Daily amount |
|---|---|
| Under 10 lb | 1/4 tsp (1.25 mL) |
| 10 to 25 lb | 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) |
| 26 to 50 lb | 1 tsp (5 mL) |
| 51 to 70 lb | 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 mL) |
| 71 lb and over | 2 tsp (10 mL) |
Five bands against eight or nine is the practical difference. The oil is measured in quarter teaspoons, so a dog sitting near the edge of a chew band gets finer control from the bottle. Against that, a measurement is a thing you can skip, and a chew is not.
Which works out cheaper
Worked for a 40 lb dog, which takes 4 Calming chews, 5 Hip + Joint chews, or 1 teaspoon of oil a day. The 90 g bag holds 30 chews, the 200 g holds 66, the 600 g holds 200 and the two-pack holds 400. A 237 mL bottle is about 47 days at a teaspoon.
| Calming Support, 40 lb dog | Price | Days | Cost per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chews, 90 g | $14.99 | 7 | $2.00 |
| Chews, 200 g | $24.99 | 16 | $1.51 |
| Chews, 600 g | $58.99 | 50 | $1.18 |
| Chews, 1200 g two-pack | $99.99 | 100 | $1.00 |
| Oil, 237 mL | $44.99 | 47 | $0.95 |
| Hip + Joint Support, 40 lb dog | Price | Days | Cost per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chews, 90 g | $14.99 | 6 | $2.50 |
| Chews, 200 g | $24.99 | 13 | $1.89 |
| Chews, 600 g | $58.99 | 40 | $1.47 |
| Chews, 1200 g two-pack | $99.99 | 80 | $1.25 |
| Oil, 237 mL | $44.99 | 47 | $0.95 |
Two things fall out of that. The larger the bag, the lower the cost per chew, which is true of most things. And for a mid-sized dog the oil is the cheapest way to buy either line, though on Calming the two-pack is within five cents of it, so at that size the decision is about the dog rather than the money.
The gap widens as the dog gets bigger, because a chew amount climbs with weight while the oil steps up in quarter teaspoons. Prices are Canadian dollars and can change.
Can I give both the chew and the oil
No. The labels list the same actives for the chew and the oil in a line, so giving both means giving those actives twice over.
Pick one format per line and stay on it. The Calming Support Bundle and the Hip + Joint Support Bundle pair a chew with an oil so you can try both and settle on one, not so you give both on the same day.
Giving a Calming product and a Hip + Joint product together is a different question, because those are different formulations. That one is worth putting to your veterinarian rather than deciding from a chart.
Which suits a dog that refuses things
The oil, most of the time, and for a simple reason: a chew is an object a dog can identify and work around, and an oil poured over food is not.
Dogs that eat around a chew and leave it in the bowl are the clearest case. So are the ones that take it, carry it off and abandon it somewhere you find a week later. Before switching, it is worth trying the chew broken up and mixed through food, because that solves it for a fair number of dogs and a bag is cheaper than a bottle.
Which suits a very small dog
The oil, because of the size of the step.
A dog under 10 lb takes one Calming chew a day, which is the smallest amount the chew can express. The same dog on oil takes a quarter teaspoon, and the next step up is another quarter teaspoon rather than a whole chew. For a 6 lb dog that difference is proportionally large.
The same logic applies to a dog sitting right at the edge of a band. Halving a chew is possible but imprecise, and the oil gives you a real measurement instead.
What about a dog on a calorie-controlled diet
Worth thinking about, and it is the reason the oil exists as much as fussiness is.
A chew is a small amount of food given every day. For a large dog on seven or eight chews a day, that adds up in a way a quarter teaspoon of oil does not. If your veterinarian has your dog on a weight plan, the oil is the format that interferes with it least, and it is worth raising at the next appointment rather than deciding alone.
Does the format change the daily routine
No. Both are given once a day, by body weight, and both are easier to keep up when they are attached to something you already do.
The practical advice is the same either way. Give it at the same point in the day, do not skip stretches, and change one thing at a time. What is in each line is covered in the calming guide and the hip and joint guide.
Which is easier to travel with
Opinions differ and both arguments are reasonable.
A bag of chews needs no measuring and cannot spill, which suits a weekend away. A dropper bottle is smaller than a 600 g bag and does not need you to count anything in an unfamiliar kitchen. Some households run the chew at home and keep a bottle in the bag for trips, which is a sensible use of the bundle even though the two are not given on the same day.
What does the format not change
Storage, for one. Both want the same treatment: closed, and away from light, heat and moisture. Botanical ingredients and fats are the parts of any formulation most affected by heat, and that is as true of a bottle on a windowsill as of a bag left open.
It also does not change what the ingredients are or what they are there for. If you want that detail rather than the delivery question, it is in what the ingredients in a calming chew actually do.
Do cats have an oil option
No. The cat range is chews only, in a 50 g bag of roughly a hundred chews, on its own weight bands.
It is a separate formulation rather than a smaller serving of the dog product, which is a distinction worth understanding before you reach for whatever is in the cupboard. That is covered in cat supplements are not small dog supplements.
When should I talk to a veterinarian
Before starting either format if your dog is on medication, is pregnant or nursing, has a diagnosed condition, or is due for a procedure. Also before combining a supplement with anything else you are already giving.
The format question itself is rarely the one worth a phone call. Whether a supplement suits your dog at all is, and your veterinarian is better placed to answer it than any page on this site.
The products described here are the Calming Support chews and Calming Support oil, and the Hip + Joint Support chews and Hip + Joint Support oil. The full set of oils is on the functional oils page.
Related reading
How much supplement does my dog need. Calming chews for dogs, how much to give and how long they take. Hip and joint support for senior dogs.
