All You Need to Know About Dog Treats

At some point between 1980 and 2020, the dog treat market exploded: Chewy treats, crunchy treats, training treats, teeth cleaning and breath freshening treats, doggie calming treats. And many more treats. Who knew there were as many treat options for dogs as there are for humans?

There are no signs the trend will be slowing any time soon since many animals were adopted during the COVD-19 lockdowns. In July 2021, my local Target had a dog section of two aisles, one for accessories and toys and one for dry food, wet food, and treats. They remodeled. As of November 2021, there is a whole aisle devoted to dog treats. A whole aisle! Both sides, all dog treats.

KEEP IN MIND & DISCLAIMER

For starters, I’m not a veterinarian. Pretty sure I don’t even qualify as an experienced pet parent, yet. Pandora isn’t even two. I’m sharing what I’ve learned and how Pandora and I navigate this world of doggie goodness.

I realize that even though something is on a store shelf, it doesn’t mean it’s the perfect nutritional item. As humans, we can choose carrots or cupcakes. Clearly carrots are the healthier option, but the cupcake is meant as a treat. A once-in-a-while indulgence, not a once-every-hour snarf session. I assume the same applies for dog treats. I’m not a canine nutritionist so consult with your veterinarian if you have any concerns.

When you give your pup a new treat, keep an eye on him and his potty output. Not all dog’s stomachs are created equal. When I was a child, we had a dog that loved rawhide and it never affected her in a bad way. However, rawhide doesn’t agree well with Pandora. While Pandora seemed fine energy-wise and personality-wise, doo-duty told a different story. Her output was white, hard, and dry. It doesn’t seem right to me that her output should be so dry. Watch your pet. Go with your gut.

One last note: Dogs don’t need treats. Do not feel your pup is neglected if you don’t give her a variety of treats. Your dog is fine. You are a good pet parent. You, and a regular feeding schedule, are enough for your dog.

If you happen to go down the Dog Treat rabbit hole, here’s what Pandora and I’ve discovered.

DOG TREATS FOR TRAINING

When you’re training your dog, one of the best resources at your disposal are treats. Since you will be using a lot of treats, especially at the beginning, you want items that are small in size and low in calories. I’ve done my best to link to all of Pandora’s favorites, but some that I buy, I cannot find internet links for, so I’ve linked to the closet representation of the treat.

DINGOS – are Pandora’s top number one training treat. This amuses me. Australian Cattle dogs are a result of mixing a herding dog with an Australian Dingo. She’s part Dingo and like’s Dingo treats. Yes, I really am amused at simple things.

WAGS SOFT CHEWS FOR HIPS AND JOINTS – I purchased these because Pandora is a frisbee fiend. That is her thing. However, I fear all the running, leaping, landing, and sliding turns will bring her joint pain later in life. Do they help? I don’t know. She doesn’t complain so it’s hard to tell.

BLUE BUFFALO BITS – We’ve tried the chicken and the beef flavors. Pandora likes them.

DOG TREATS FOR A MORE SUBSTANTIAL SNACK OPTION

These are just what they sound like, options for when you want to give your dog a good-sized treat. Maybe your dog didn’t eat breakfast and now it’s too close to dinner time or maybe she mastered an awesome trick, and you want to give a jackpot-type reward. The biggest thing to remember with these snack options is to not go overboard. These treat options have more calories.

PURINA ALPO Tbonz – These treats didn’t go stale, and we reused the container for a brain exercise type activity. When there were three treats left, we cut two rectangular holes in the container (just large enough for the treats to fall out of) and let Pandora swat and roll the container to get the last few treats.

PUP-PERONI – The best part of these treats is how easily they break into smaller bits that can be used as training treats, too.

A few other options for this category:

DOG TREATS FOR FRESH BREATH AND CLEANER TEETH

I won’t make any guarantees about whether or not they clean the teeth well. Pandora is still young, and her teeth look fine to me, but I’m not a veterinarian, so I don’t feel comfortable touting cleaner teeth. However, they do seem to help lighten up the breath. I never tried them on the early stages of puppyhood when the puppy breath is rather stinky. But we have used a few over the past year and they have made a difference. I will admit this came on the heels of Pandora discovering the cats leave “treats” in a box (litter box). We have since moved past that phase and now I give her one every day in the hopes that they do help her teeth.

Milk Bone Brushing Chews – Yes, I clearly have a thing for Milk Bone. They hold a special place in my heart. The original Milk Bone dog treats are what we gave my childhood pup, Katy. Every Christmas we’d wrap a box of those up and Katy would use it as a pillow. On Christmas morning, she’d tear the wrapping off with as much joy as my sisters and I would tear open our gifts. Katy lived a long, healthy life. All we fed Katy was dry and wet Alpo dog food, Milk Bone treats, and rawhide sticks. And some table scraps.

Greenies – We haven’t tried this brand yet. We buy the Kirkland (Costco brand) type of the greenies. These look identical, but I can’t say for certain they are the same. Pandora loves these.

ENERGY-EXPELLING DOG TREATS

Pent-up energy relievers, boredom busting snacks, whatever you want to call them, these are the treats that take some effort to eat. Because they take some effort to chew, gnaw, or chow down, they are fabulous for the days your dog didn’t get enough exercise. We live in the Pacific Northwest and when it’s monsoon-like weather Pandora doesn’t get enough frisbee time. Not because she doesn’t like torrential rains and tree-limb-snapping winds, but because I don’t like it. Yes, we do try to play frisbee in the wind, it’s not easy.

These treats take anywhere from three minutes to twenty minutes or more for her to chew up. A 12″ bully stick usually takes Pandora about forty minutes. That’s because she’ll chew and gnaw, get up and get a drink of water and then go back in for more chewing. And we do notice more calmness in her energy level after a good gnawing treat.

CHICKEN CHEWS – Again, we get these at Costco, but I can’t find them on their website. This is a dupe for the ones we get. However, I will warn you that these can get a little messy. Nothing heinous, but still a little more crumble than most treats.

BULLY STICKS – We also get these at Costco. If you have a membership to Costco or Sam’s Club, look for dog treats there, the price for the amount of product is quite stellar. Yes, these are expensive, but they last. Also, I should warn you, they stink. Even the ones that claim to not stink, they do. The only thing that stunk worse than these was a deer hoof. Pandora loved the deer hoof, but the odor was atrocious.

BUSY BONE ULTRA STIX – These last a while and they tend to freshen Pandora’s breath.

DOG TREATS – BONES

A few other treats that we’ve given Pandora:

Marrow bones that I stuff with peanut butter and freeze for a few hours before giving to her.
Beef Knee bones
Beef ankle bones
And other bones with dried bits still stuck on them.

The above bones, with the exception of the marrow bone, can all get really messy.

We are careful with bones, I never realized how well dogs can chew bones apart. I now know. Trust me, watch your dog.

Coming Next Week

Next week I’ll be sharing human food that is safe for our dogs.

Did you know that celery can help freshen your dog’s breath? I can’t confirm this because Pandora doesn’t like celery. If your dog will eat celery, can you confirm this for me? I’d appreciate it.