Dog Treats- which to buy?

cbd18

Hello - looking for some advice on which dog treats to buy. I moved to Ireland from the U.S. where there has been a huge move in the dog treat market over the last 5 years, consumers have become very aware of what treats they are buying for their dogs. In the US it's "normal" to avoid any dog treat/chew that is made in China or made from ingredients from China. Most treats and chews are clearly labeled where they are made and produced, and I was used to buying things that were only made in the US (for example US sourced pig ears, etc.) I can't find any information where dog treats/chews are from - I was at Pet Mania the other day and it just said "pig ears" and I asked if they were Irish pig ears and got a funny look. Can someone help me out here? I did buy a pack of James Wellbeloved treats as they said they are made in the U.K. I feel like treats made in UK, Ireland, Canada, US and New Zealand are fairly safe (there have been outbreaks of dogs and cats dying and falling very ill from mold in Chinese factories).

Any advice would be appreciated

ZiabR

I dont buy treats, I use fruit and veg. Sugar Snaps, Carrot, Apple, Banana etc.

The treats you can buy are for the most part full of salt, sugar etc.

borderlinemeath

I can't really answer your question, sorry! Maybe others who buy treats can help.

I find it's probably easier (and more nutritious) to make your own. I rarely buy purpose made treats anymore, for training treats I'll use bits of chicken, cheese or hot dogs and for big treats I give butchers bones, ribs are great, they are soft and chewy and they don't last overly long so their teeth get a cleaning, but their gums don't get inflamed from constant chewing. If I have to give a bigger bone I take it away after a certain amount of time to prevent this. If you wanted you could buy some liver and chop it up into small pieces and bake it and use it for treats either. At least this way you know your product is ethically sourced and definitely not a misrepresentation of where the product is from or what it actually is.

cocker5

cbd18 wrote: »

Hello - looking for some advice on which dog treats to buy. I moved to Ireland from the U.S. where there has been a huge move in the dog treat market over the last 5 years, consumers have become very aware of what treats they are buying for their dogs. In the US it's "normal" to avoid any dog treat/chew that is made in China or made from ingredients from China. Most treats and chews are clearly labeled where they are made and produced, and I was used to buying things that were only made in the US (for example US sourced pig ears, etc.) I can't find any information where dog treats/chews are from - I was at Pet Mania the other day and it just said "pig ears" and I asked if they were Irish pig ears and got a funny look. Can someone help me out here? I did buy a pack of James Wellbeloved treats as they said they are made in the U.K. I feel like treats made in UK, Ireland, Canada, US and New Zealand are fairly safe (there have been outbreaks of dogs and cats dying and falling very ill from mold in Chinese factories).

Any advice would be appreciated

Mostly I dont Buy them...

My guy get sugar snap peas, slices of peppers, carrots , string beans, broccoili etc

have you tried your dog with these?

yes sometimes he gets "normal" dog treats but i try to keep to a min

odckdo

I had to change my dog's diet last year so I looked around for treats that I could rely on.

There are not many Irish made treats available but found these two:
www.soopapets.com
www.puremeatsnax.ie

Both of the above are expensive. I tried the 'meat snax' but I thought the fat content was maybe a bit high for an older dog.

In the end I settled for the Healthy Hounds fish skins as they are made in the UK and are good value: www.healthyhoundsnutrition.com

I also use these from www.zooplus.co.uk. Again I checked the ingredients and where they were manufactured: Terra Canis, Barking Heads and Burns Kelties.

Grayfoxy

I make my own,

Get liver, cut into 2X2" cubes, boil for 5 mins, after they cool, slice thin, put them in an oven with a small bit of olive oil on very low heat until they become tough (without going crispy)

cbd18

Thank you all very much for the great ideas. Butchers block bones sound great, will ask the butcher what he has. She does get apples, carrots and seedless watermelon but I'll have to try the other veg as well. Definitely will try the liver treats, I used to give her freeze dried duck liver so that sounds like a great replacement. Thanks everyone! Very helpful

Hooked

cbd18 wrote: »

Thank you all very much for the great ideas. Butchers block bones sound great, will ask the butcher what he has. She does get apples, carrots and seedless watermelon but I'll have to try the other veg as well. Definitely will try the liver treats, I used to give her freeze dried duck liver so that sounds like a great replacement. Thanks everyone! Very helpful

A big meaty raw brisket bone once every 2 or 3 weeks = spotless teeth and a clean rear end.

Like these...

ekevosu

Grayfoxy wrote: »

I make my own,

Get liver, cut into 2X2" cubes, boil for 5 mins, after they cool, slice thin, put them in an oven with a small bit of olive oil on very low heat until they become tough (without going crispy)

I do the same, my dog loves them. but cut into small pieces and frozen after to used training etc. Cheap, safe and delicious.

cbd18

Do you get those from the butcher?

aonb

Mutt & Jeff do bags of treats that have typically pretty good ingredients. Their Sausage Links ingredients: 75% Bacon, 25% Ham. I usually chop these up into little discs. They do different types.
I dont have any right now and cant think of the name of them, but you can get dried Fish treats at some vets etc. Bag of them - they are Alaskan salmon only. Fish4Dogs.com do a sample 'goodie bag' for £4 which is good to try

If I gave any of my dogs a piece of apple, a string bean, or any veg or fruit as a TREAT they would laugh in my face (They select the carrots in their dinner, and spit them onto the floor!!!)

tk123

We have dried meat/fish/fruit ones eg pizzle/tripe/chicken/fish skin/apple with chicken wrapped around it, biscuity ones, softer joint ones (that I hide one of the dog's daily medicine in haha ) ...as well as fresh bones/fruit/veg/meat

Hooked

cbd18 wrote: »

Do you get those from the butcher?

Yep!

And thankfully Hugo loves raw carrot and apple as treats. He's not allowed treats in the pet shop. Those luminous biscuits give him the runs.

Raw meats, fish, veg and fresh food all the way!

TG1

aonb wrote: »

Mutt & Jeff do bags of treats that have typically pretty good ingredients.

Just to add a +1 to these! They are relatively cheap, widely available and the ingredients on the ham&cheese bribes I get are

• Ham
• Cheese

Bob runs through all his tricks the second he hears the bag open, so seems to like them!

cbd18

tk123 wrote: »

We have dried meat/fish/fruit ones eg pizzle/tripe/chicken/fish skin/apple with chicken wrapped around it, biscuity ones, softer joint ones (that I hide one of the dog's daily medicine in haha ) ...as well as fresh bones/fruit/veg/meat

Where do you get the pizzle sticks and tripe from? Do you order them online or is there a shop that carries them?? My dog loves pizzle sticks but I haven't seen any here.....

tk123

cbd18 wrote: »

Where do you get the pizzle sticks and tripe from? Do you order them online or is there a shop that carries them?? My dog loves pizzle sticks but I haven't seen any here.....

I get them on zooplus but I've seen pizzle in MaxiZoo and also if you're in Dublin Postive Dog Training in Sandyford have a great range in their shop. Lots of the sites in the UK sell them too - medicanimal/vetuk etc I'm doing a lot of training work with my dog for sep. anxiety - we've got to the stage now where he'll actually eat when I leave him so I'm always on the hunt for really long lasting treats/chews!!! :P

cbd18

Fantastic. I'll definitely pick some up - We live in Galway but are in Dublin this weekend so that's perfect, my husky will be super happy! Thanks so much.

ogmani

We show our dogs across Ireland & the UK,
and there is a new company and they make natural healthy handmade treats, they have been at a few shows recently
My dog loves them especially their sausage rolls, we also got free samples of their wheat free treats for our diabetic dog ,
One thing they do that unique is they also make cupcakes for dogs, i was amazed by them as they look like exactly like cupcakes we can eat, i was drooling at them they looked so nice, the nice lady told me that they contain no sugar and the icing is made from low fat yogurt.
There website is
Kaylasdeli.com
and they always have some offers on their Facebook.

Overall they are really nice and friendly and mad about dogs and nice to see a homegrown company doing this sort of thing.

hope this helps with your choice

cheers
Sam