Dog Treats

A few months ago I blogged about my recommendation for what to feed your dog. My dogs have been eating Dr. Harvey's Canine Health now since March - and not one of them has thrown up. I'd heard that dogs just throw up more than humans - that that's normal and acceptable. But now I realize it's not - it's a sign they're not eating food that's good for them.

Since March, I've also taken a harder look at what treats I give my dogs. I was already starting from a good place - my dogs get "Jackie treats" every day, which are homemade by a co-worker. But sometimes I would supplement with other treats, and some of them were sourced from China. I also gave my dogs rawhide bones.

Treats

These are the treats I've introduced in the past several months (all made in the USA):

• Max & Ruffy's. Max & Ruffy's come in a variety of flavors. They're small round treats great for training. Some (but not all) of the flavors are available at amazon. Peanut loves them, but Biscuit doesn't seem to be a big fan. He only eats his when he sees that Peanut has finished hers and might take his away. He may not like them, but he doesn't want HER to get extra treats. 
• Merrick Power Bites. Now THESE are a big hit. Also small and great for training or games, but these are chewier and meat-based instead of fruit/veggie flavors. And my pups LOVE them. 
• Fruits & Veggies: There are a number of fruits & veggies that are good for dogs. Mostly I've begun incorporating them more in MY diet, and giving my dogs scraps as treats. Just make sure they have no added sugar or sulfites.
• Apples
• Bananas
• Carrots
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Spinach
• Cucumbers
• Coconut flakes
• Others I don't use much but are good for dogs: Zucchini, blueberries, bell peppers.
• NEVER FEED YOUR DOG GRAPES.
• Healthy Dogma Banana Chips. The pups love these, but I don't buy them a lot since they already get pieces of my banana every day.
• Yogurt. The probiotics in yogurt make it a great treat. I give my dogs each a spoonful a day. And, so that I can use most of a carton before it goes bad, I got two mini-ice cube trays and I freeze some in there. So sometimes they get it in frozen chunks instead of soft yogurt.
• Homemade Blueberry Banana treats. These are Biscuit's absolute favorites. If they don't get them immediately after dinner I'm in big trouble. Here's the recipe:
• Preheat oven to 375.
• Blend 1 1/3 cups washed blueberries and 1 peeled banana with 1 cup water in a blender.
• In large bowl, mix blueberry mixture with 3 2/3 cups whole-wheat flour to form a dough.
• Spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet in about 1-inch spheres, or make fun pawprint ones by putting the dough in a pawprint tray!
• Cook for 8 minutes, flip or take out of tray and put upside down on cookie sheet, cook for 8 more minutes
• Makes about 70-75 treats. Freeze half and store the other half in the fridge.
• Also check out your area for local mom & pop dog bakeries. Here in Loveland Doggy Dips & Chips is a great place to get fresh homemade dog treats, if you don't have a Jackie. :)

Rawhide Bones

I started seeing a lot of articles about the disgusting bleaching process of rawhide bones, and it was moving me toward cutting them from my dogs' diet. But when I saw that China was serving 40-year old meat for HUMAN consumption, I decided no more ANYTHING edible unless it was made in the USA. And that meant (very covertly) throwing out their rawhide bones.

I wanted to find a USA-made substitute that would be a good chew for the dogs. Their Dingo rawhide sticks usually lasted 5-10 minutes, so that's what I was hoping to find. But so many of the sticks I found were over $1 per stick! So this is what I've tried at a more affordable cost:

• Merrick Jerky Strips. These only lasted about 30 seconds. They are so soft that they're more of a big treat than a chew. The dogs loved them, but it's not the durability I was hoping for.
• Get Naked Chew Sticks. These last about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Not the durability I was hoping for, but far longer than the jerky strips. Long enough that I felt I could get away with calling them "bones" and the pups wouldn't feel ripped off. And, they have varieties for different healthy functions, like joint health and antioxidants. One bag has 18 sticks and is $4-5, so it's pretty comparable in price to the rawhides I was getting, but they are so much better and made in the USA.