Treats- bad nutrition?
Treats- bad nutrition?
Davet had mentioned once about not too many treats...like dog biscuits. Although Honey is a picky eater she is always ready for a Scoobie Do treat (they look so cute!) or any old dog biscuit. Are the treats really that much less nutritious than dog food?
Re: Treats- bad nutrition?
You have to read labels and find out what's in them (and what's not). Just like little kids, dogs will usually prefer the junkier food. And just like with human goodies, some are going to be better nutritionally than others.
One of my dogs is on a special diet for cancer, so I have to be real cautious of what she gets. She's also in constant training, and I use a lot of food rewards there too. I almost never buy biscuits since she's supposed to be on low carbs, but there are some decent biscuits out there. I give them training sized treats instead (about 1/2"), they are just thrilled to get those too. One nice advantage to teeny treats is you can give more of them. Dogs are happy getting most anything from you, and they gobble it so fast most of the time they probably don't taste it much. But if you use half sized treats, you can do it twice for calorie impact of once, they'll be twice as happy!
Charlee bears, or mother hubbard's bitz or kibble are fairly healthy treats, I use those once in a while still. For really healthy treats, I use mostly freeze dried liver that I cut up further with a box knife. Iit rates way up there for having no additives and it's available at most any pet supply store. I also have used puppy kibble as treats, picking a different brand than what my dog got to ensure a "special" taste. Carrots are a healthy biggie too. Of course none of these would be good as a complete diet, or even a major part of a diet.
Anything that "looks cute" is suspect though, means the manufacturers may be spending money trying to appeal to your eyes rather than to your dog's health. Chances are there's lots of sugars in there, in various guises, which appeals to your dog. Definitely check out the ingredients list and look up what you don't know.
One of my dogs is on a special diet for cancer, so I have to be real cautious of what she gets. She's also in constant training, and I use a lot of food rewards there too. I almost never buy biscuits since she's supposed to be on low carbs, but there are some decent biscuits out there. I give them training sized treats instead (about 1/2"), they are just thrilled to get those too. One nice advantage to teeny treats is you can give more of them. Dogs are happy getting most anything from you, and they gobble it so fast most of the time they probably don't taste it much. But if you use half sized treats, you can do it twice for calorie impact of once, they'll be twice as happy!
Charlee bears, or mother hubbard's bitz or kibble are fairly healthy treats, I use those once in a while still. For really healthy treats, I use mostly freeze dried liver that I cut up further with a box knife. Iit rates way up there for having no additives and it's available at most any pet supply store. I also have used puppy kibble as treats, picking a different brand than what my dog got to ensure a "special" taste. Carrots are a healthy biggie too. Of course none of these would be good as a complete diet, or even a major part of a diet.
Anything that "looks cute" is suspect though, means the manufacturers may be spending money trying to appeal to your eyes rather than to your dog's health. Chances are there's lots of sugars in there, in various guises, which appeals to your dog. Definitely check out the ingredients list and look up what you don't know.
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend:and inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx
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oconnorjoy
- Posts: 315
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 12:06 pm
- Location: Canada
Re: Treats- bad nutrition?
Bamm Bamm is happy with some puppy food I got as samples from the vet...since they are different from his regular food, he thinks they are special...of course he loves everything.
Re: Treats- bad nutrition?
Just wanted to add that the reason I liked using puppy kibble for a treat is it's usually higher fat and protein than adult kibbles. Adult dogs sometimes really go for that. Of course you don't want to give too much - everything in moderation - treats should be a minor part of a dog's diet as they are in ours (in theory anyway, LOL) I do use training type treats where most people would give biscuits. Sometimes I hand them out just because my dogs are cool 
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend:and inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
-- Groucho Marx
-- Groucho Marx
-
Patrick
Re: Treats- bad nutrition?
My dad had a lhasso Apso that was a picky eater. So they fed it dog biscuits. This was its entire diet. The dog lived to be 13, which is the average for the breed. Not that I'm advocating this, but only to suggest that dogs are very hardy animals as a rule, and can put up with dietary indescretions better than people.
Re: Treats- bad nutrition?
Thanks, Patrick... I get her to eat a good portion of dog food, but don't skimp on treats cause she is so skinny. Appreciate your post...i won't feel guilty!