What’s The Scoop on Dog Treats?
We all love to treat ourselves, but us pet parents might enjoy treating our dogs a little more. The puppy dog eyes can get us every time and doling out those treats becomes second nature to us, especially if we haven’t been able to give them as much attention as we want to. But becoming heavy-handed with treats can actually be a downfall for our furry friends. Knowing what ingredients are helpful and which can be harmful in your dog's treats can be the difference between helping with a balanced diet and helping put on the pounds.
Your dog’s regular food should make up the bulk of their calories for the day since it’s designed to meet their nutritional needs. Treats should only make up about 10 percent of your dog’s daily calories and be used for good behavior or rewards. To put that in perspective, if you have a small dog that needs 400 calories a day and the treats you give them are 20 calories each, they should only be getting 2 of those treats per day. And that’s it for treats. The key to this equation is knowing two things: how many calories your dog should eat and how many calories are in the treats you’re feeding them.
Counting calories can be hard to do for yourself let alone for your dog. So when it comes to deciding on treats for your dog, you’ll want to explore the more natural product route to help keep calorie counts low while providing more nutrition in the treats you’re doling out. The most common ‘unhealthy’ ingredients in dog treats are inexpensive fillers such as corn, wheat and soy. They are nutritionally incomplete and a lot of the fan favorite ‘old fashioned’ dog biscuits, cookies and chews only provide your dog with a dose of artificial flavors and synthetic scents.
While the all-natural tag sounds like one of those fads that everyone jumps on, the truth is that all-natural dog treats avoid the heavy processing and injecting of any chemicals or additives into the treats. With avoiding those, all the nutrients are kept intact and help to aid your pets health by improving digestion, maintaining weight and helping to fight plaque and tartar.
Freeze-dried and raw treats are a really great route to explore when it comes to treats. They provide a lot of the right nutrients for your dog and involve a simple process of moisture and bacterial content removal to make them freeze-dried and raw. This is different from the dehydrated biscuits and jerky because they typically go through a cooking process where they lose about 65% of their nutritional value, which are then filled with those inexpensive and unhealthy fillers.
Reading the ingredients list and becoming familiar with what is being put into your dog’s treats is a great way to help decide what to buy, but you should also become more aware of where the treats were packaged and manufactured. You want to avoid any treats that are imported from China because a lot of the Chinese-manufactured treats often wind up on the recall lists. Check out some more things to avoid when choosing treats for your dog:
Cooked or raw bones
Rawhide treats
Treats with any unnatural coloring
Any treats containing sugar
Treats that are high in corn, soy or wheat
If you’re looking for some alternatives when it comes to treats, you can look no further than your very own kitchen. While you do need to be familiar and aware of what human foods can hurt your dog, here is a list of 7 healthy treats to give your dog:
1. Apples: These are full of nutrients and fiber for your dog, but make sure you cut it up before giving it and NEVER give them the seeds or the core of the apple.
2. Green Peas: Frozen or fresh are good options to give your dog and they can be used for training treats or can be out in their bowls for a healthy snack.
3. Carrots: These are loaded with beta carotene and other vitamins, making carrots a great treat or snack for your dog. Make sure you cut them up into appropriate sizes because some breeds - labs and beagles - like to swallow instead of chew.
4. Bananas: These are loaded with healthy nutrients, but be careful because they do have a high sugar content so this should be given to your dog in moderation.
5. Blueberries: These are the perfect size for any dog and they offer healthy antioxidants and Vitamin C.
6. Watermelon: This is a tasty and hydrating snack for your dog, but be sure to remove any seeds and don’t let them eat the rind.
7. Strawberries: These are packed with vitamin C, but they are high in sugar so make sure to give these in moderation.
Remember that treats do not replace meals. They aren’t the best source of nutrition since they are not filled with many vitamins, minerals and proteins like the dog food that your dog is used to eating. Treats should be used for positive reinforcement and training purposes to help out with that extra motivation for your pup, so it’s important to know how much you’re giving to them to keep that healthy lifestyle for your dog. When it comes down to it, you provide your dog with the tools needed to keep them on the healthy track.
We at Going Mutts Pet Services love to spoil all the pups with walks, fresh air and belly rubs, so why not treat your pup to a walk with a daily dog walker? The crisp air can scare some people into their houses, but we keep walking no matter the season or temperature because every pup deserves their daily dose of exercise. We are here for all of your walking, check-in and potty needs when it comes to your favorite furry friend, so drop us an email (info@goingmuttspetservices.com) or check out our website to contact us.
Sources:
https://petzyo.com.au/blogs/health-wellbeing/5-dog-treats-that-are-bad-for-dogs
https://www.dogseechew.in/blog/the-difference-between-good-dog-treats-and-bad-dog-treats
https://bellandbone.com.au/blogs/blog/how-many-treats-are-too-many-for-my-dog
https://www.frankielovesbarkery.com.au/dos-and-donts-give-dog-treats-to-pet/
