Your dog is more than just a pet, he's a member of the family. So when you choose treats for your dog, why not choose all-natural dog treats that are healthy, sustainable, and tasty? Your dog will love them, and you'll know that you're providing excellent nutrition without weird ingredients you wouldn't eat. These days, there are a number of brands that sell all-natural dog treats that are high quality. If you don't want to take a chance on buying a pre-made dog treat, you can also make delicious organic dog treats at home for very little money.
What are the Best Natural Dog Treats?
Treats for your dog should have good-quality ingredients and be free of unnecessary preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colors, and artificial preservatives. Dogs have different nutritional needs than people, so it's important to look at the fat and protein levels when picking out a treat for your furry family members. High-quality dog treats made with wholesome ingredients like organic chicken, beef, or turkey liver provide good flavors dogs love.
What to Avoid When Buying Treats for Your Dog
Avoid buying dog treats that include unnecessary added sugar and artificial ingredients. Try to pick products that list a meat as the first ingredient. You'll often see ingredients like "meat by-products" used for inferior treats. But there are other certain ingredients you might also want to avoid depending on your dog. Many dogs have allergies to grains like wheat gluten, corn meal, and other fillers. Some dogs are sensitive to natural sugars in ingredients like peas.
You should also keep an eye on the calories and recommended number of treats to give your dog. Too many treats will make your dog fat and can cause problems with blood pressure, digestion, and natural behaviors.
What Are the Healthiest Treats for Dogs?
All-natural dog treats are the best choices for providing the perfect balance of nutrition and flavor your dogs crave. When you pick treats, you should consider what the purpose of the treat will be. Some treats are meant as training treats and they are typically small in size. These are appropriate for smaller dogs or larger dogs when you are doing training exercises. Crunchy treats are a great way to help naturally keep your dog's teeth clean. Bully sticks are also a great way to provide your dog with the natural chewing experience they need while helping keep bad dog breath at bay.
Popular Brands of Natural Dog Treats
Some of the popular brands on the market today include Full Moon Dog Treats and Polkadog Bakery Treats. Both brands have a complete line of healthy and nutritious treats your dogs will love. They feature ingredients like real chicken, peanut butter and banana flavor, and provide balanced nutrition including omega fatty acids that are essential to your dogs muscle function and growth.
Many dogs have food sensitivities to ingredients like wheat flour or corn. These grains are not normally part of a dog's diet and can cause hot spots, itchy feet and ears, and mucus build-up in your dog's eyes. Even if your dog isn't sensitive to these fillers, you should try to find treats with limited ingredients.
What Homemade Treats Can Dogs Eat?
Some of the best and most healthy treats you can give your dog are easy to make at home. One of the things that we like to do at our house is to make our own dog food and dog treat recipes. Often, we make our treats alongside our human-grade treats, like when we make beef jerky. Jerky for dogs should not include added sugar, soy, or spices. Instead, you can simply dry the meat naturally for a premium homemade dog treat.
When we brew beer, we are left with lots of spent grains. These grains have had almost all of the sugars removed and are little more than fiber. We mix these with pumpkin puree and chicken and cut them into little squares as dinner time treats for our dogs. A great way to cut down on the cost of dog food is to purchase bags of chicken thighs and drumsticks. Sometimes, we'll find them for $0.49 per pound, and we load up. Boiling the chicken until the bones are easy to separate gives us an easy to work with protein-dense food that is all-natural and very healthy. Plus our dogs go crazy for boiled chicken snacks.
You can make a healthy dog chew from leftover pork skin. Simply roast in the oven until the pork skin is crunchy and you've got a healthy alternative to store-bought chew treats that has only one ingredient and a natural flavor dogs love. Making treats at home is fun and it's the best way to know how the treats are made. You have control over selecting the best main ingredient for your dog when you make treats yourself.
Your Dog Deserves the Best Too
Your furry friend loves treats as much as you love giving them, and when they press their little wet noses against your hand begging for a snack you'll know that you are giving them the best quality, natural treat possible. A great treat doesn't have to have a bunch of ingredients, and it doesn't have to come from an overpriced store, either. You can make dog treats at home with limited ingredients that are easy and affordable to make. Buying premade dog treats is a little more challenging because you'll need to carefully read the labels to know that you are actually buying a quality product and not one that simply has fancy marketing.
Your dog will love having high-quality treats that provide energy, nutrition, and encouragement to train. Dog treats are more than just a snack for your pup, they are also a way to help build the bond between animal and owner that makes for a lifelong relationship.
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