Dog Treats

Treat your dog, from dog biscuits to dog bones

Even if your dog eats a nutritionally complete diet, there is still a role for dog treats. Dog treats serve a number of purposes, such as facilitating the obedience training process, helping pets bond with their owner and sometimes delivering healthful supplements. But which dog treats make good choices for your pampered pooch, and which dog treats might be unhealthy?

Healthy Dog Treats

If you're looking for healthy dog treats or dog biscuits, look for a product with whole food ingredients. For example, real meats or poultry, wheat or rice, and vegetables are whole food ingredients. In general, don't feed your dog any treats with ingredients you wouldn't ingest yourself. Try to avoid questionable fillers such as meat byproducts, oils, fats and flavor enhancers.

You may also want to check out a number of healthful products on the market. Greenies dog treats are healthy treats that contain real plant components to help your pet get extra vitamins and minerals. You may also choose healthy treats that have garlic, brewer's yeast or peanut butter because they enhance dog health.

Dog Treats to Avoid

Unfortunately, there are many types of dog treats and dog bones that are unhealthy. Use caution when purchasing rawhide bones or any products containing animal bones. Although some dogs will do well with them, many can end up choking because rawhide particles can swell while in the throat. In addition, swallowing large amounts of rawhide or bone can disrupt the intestines or even cause an intestinal blockage.

Also avoid products with many fillers, artificial ingredients and processed fats. These treats are tasty, but they are like junk food for dogs and are not nutritionally adequate. In addition, they can cause intestinal distress because of the high fat and sodium content.

Making Your Own Dog Treats

If you want to give your dog the best treats, why not make your own? Making dog treats is inexpensive and ensures that only the best ingredients are fed to your dog. Many all natural dog treat recipes can be found online, or you can check out some specialty dog treat cookbooks. Make dog biscuits by using a recipe similar to a cookie or biscuit recipe for humans and flavor it with meat paste or peanut butter, or make a meatloaf using dog-safe ingredients, but avoid onions and other substances that can be harmful for dogs.