Since I have a dog with allergy type issues, I’m pretty picky on treats. I use mostly Buddy Biscuits, SoJos duck and cherry and The Honest Kitchen ones.
What does everyone else use?
There are hundreds of commercial dog treats on the market. And many more you can make yourself. Ask questions and discuss your thoughts about dog treats here.
We should also consider that if recall is grounds not to buy a brand then we would prob be out of luck all together and unable to buy any. Here is the recall list of brands having been recalled:
ALPO
Americas Choice, Preferred Pet
Authority
Award
Best Choice
Big Bet
Big Red
Bloom
Blue Buffalo (RICE GLUTEN)
Bruiser
Cadillac
Canine Caviar Pet Foods (RICE GLUTEN)
Champion Breed Lg Biscuit
Champion Breed Peanut Butter Biscuits
Co-Op Gold
Companion
Companion’s Best Multi-Flavor Biscuit
Compliments
Costco/Kirkland Signature (RICE GLUTEN)
Demoulas Market Basket
Diamond Pet Food
Diamond Pet Food (RICE GLUTEN)
Doctors Foster & Smith
Doctors Foster & Smith (RICE GLUTEN)
Dollar General
Eukanuba Can Dog Chunks in Gravy
Eukanuba Pouch Dog Bites in Gravy
Food Lion
Giant Companion
Gravy Train
Grreat Choice
Hannaford
Happy Tails
Harmony Farms (RICE GLUTEN)
Harmony Farms Treats (RICE GLUTEN)
Health Diet Gourmet Cuisine
Hill Country Fare
Hy Vee
Hy-Vee
Iams Can Chunky Formula
Iams Can Small Bites Formula
Iams Dog Select Bites
Jerky Treats Beef Flavored Dog Snacks
La Griffe
Laura Lynn
Loving Meals
Master Choice
Meijer’s Main Choice
Mighty Dog
Mixables
Mulligan Stew Pet Food (RICE GLUTEN)
Natural Balance (RICE GLUTEN)
Natural Life
Natural Way
Nu Pet
Nutriplan
Nutro
Nutro – Ultra
Nutro Max
Nutro Natural Choice
Nuture
Ol’ Roy
Ol’ Roy 4-Flavor Lg Biscuits
Ol’ Roy Canada
Ol’ Roy Peanut Butter Biscuits
Ol’ Roy Puppy
Ol’Roy US
Paws
Perfect Pals Large Biscuits
Performatrin Ultra
Pet Essentials
Pet Life
Pet Pride / Good n Meaty
Presidents Choice
Price Chopper
Priority Canada
Priority US
Publix
Roche Brothers
Royal Canin (RICE GLUTEN)
Royal Canin Veterinary Diet (RICE GLUTEN)
Save-A-Lot Choice Morsels
Schnuck’s
Schnucks
Shep
Shep Dog
Shop Rite
SmartPak (RICE GLUTEN)
Springfield Prize
Sprout
Stater Brothers
Stater Brothers Large Biscuits
Stop & Shop Companion
Tops Companion
Triumph
Truly
Weis Total Pet
Western Family Canada
Western Family US
White Rose
Winn Dixie
Your Pet
Many people did have an issue with Greenies and like Aimee said, they were reformulated. I can’t fault them for dogs choking as 2 have mine have choked multiple times and it wasn’t due to Greenies. And one of mine is a long time raw bone eater but if someone in the house drops a piece of food several of the dogs will snatch and swallow.. And a few times the food item has been too big to go down..
I found the below — take from it what you will 🙂
From Veterinarynews.DVM360
“During a Feb. 22 teleconference with media, Joe Roetheli, Greenies founder and chief executive officer, says the company financially compensated or reimbursed veterinary expenses for no more than 20 fatalities allegedly tied to the bone-shaped dog treats.” http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=322331
LATimes
“KANSAS CITY, MO. — The maker of Greenies, one of the nation’s best-selling dog treats, settled a class-action lawsuit by pet owners who claimed the teeth-cleaning product injured or killed their dogs.” http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/18/business/fi-dogs18
Setteling a lawsuit could simply mean that they didn’t want the negative publicity a trial would bring but the reformulation makes me believe there WAS a problem.
Comsumer Affairs
“The dental chews were reformulated to be “more highly soluble and thus safer, yet effective as a daily preventive of oral disease,” the company said in a November 2007 statement.”
“A division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has denied that it is investigating NUTRO Products Inc., whose pet foods are the subject of more than 700 complaints from consumers who say their dogs and cats became ill and, in some cases, died after eating NUTRO products.” http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/05/nutro_greenies.html
Hi Sophia –
Are you talking about real bones or dental chews?
As far as real bones, most are quite high in fat due to the marrow. I’d stick with turkey necks, chicken necks or duck necks (raw) with the skin removed. You may be able to find some lean beef neck bones, my butcher carries them sometimes.
If you’re referring to chew type treats, bully sticks are pretty low fat. If your dog likes antlers, they’re very long lasting and since most dogs actually can’t “eat” them you wouldn’t have to worry about fat content. Himalayan chews are low fat and long lasting as well.
My dog had a very mild pancreatitis reaction about two months ago. She just had some gas and loose stool, but tests showed elevated pancreas enzymes. Since I have been so careful with her diet, she is on low fat food, she gets boiled chicken or carrots as little treats, and that’s about it. However, the other day someone gave her a rawhide. She loved it and chewed on it for hours, but after I researched how this might affect her I had to take it away (apparently raw hides are no good for any dog, much less one with her history). What I am wondering is if there are any bones safe for dogs with her history? She’s an older girl, so something a little softer (like the softness of a rawhide) would be great. Thanks!
Exactly HDM, although I am guilt of giving the dog the bone from the roast. He won’t eat pigs ears though for some reason. Love bulwinkles, freeze dried liver treats(non-chinese) and sweet potato treats as well as raw carrot, sweet potato, turnup, brocolli stems, tomatoe…
As long as you’re feeding healthy low-glycemic treats I don’t see why your diabetic dog couldn’t have treats once in awhile. Just make sure not to overfeed – you don’t want her to gain weight. I’d imagine feeding treats between meals would actually help stabilize the blood sugar..
Dogs love tripe as well, and you can get freeze-dried tripe to give as treats. Not only should it not cause issues due to grains being in it, but tripe is also good for the digestive system.
I just found out that my pug Maggie has diabetes.. i was told by my vet that she needs a shot of insulin twice a day right after eating.. 12 hours apart… does anyone know if they can eat anything inbetween feedings.. I have other dogs and they get healthy treats.. but I dont include maggie .. it kills me not to..
my dog a minn pinn throws up when her syomach is empty i was told to gine her smaller meals more often i am doing that and it seems to work but she is gaining weight she went from 7 lbs to 10.6 in 8 months i give her wellness reduced fat i try to stay around 1/2 cup per day and i give her 2 small treats early in the morning to keep her stomach still till i feed her around 7a.m. does anyone have that problem is there a better dog food for this problem i asked my vet and he tried to tell me science diet prescription for sensitive stomachs would be better
I’m using grain free freeze dried foods as treats. They are small like cookies and can break apart easily to split between dogs if I want to. Currently using the ones from Instinct, Nutrisca and the Carnivore Crunch by Stella & Chewy’s. The Carnivore Crunch is small like regular size marshmallows. I also give Dr Becker Bites (liver treats). For teeth cleaning I just give them a marrow bone, or rib bone or other bone to gnaw on.
We have a cavalier king charles spaniel female pup who is 10 months old. We got her at 4 1/2 months of age. Shortly after we got her, she started having terrible diarrhea episodes, at least once a week. We have tried different foods (all four and five stars), and she’s been seen by the vet and put on different meds, to no avail. I’ve researched chronic diarrhea extensively, and it occurred to me that the cause of this has to be SOMETHING that she ingests regularly. I know dogs can have issues with wheat, corn, soy. Her dog foods have always been wheat and corn and soy free. So it occurred to me that I gave her a daily greenie, and a daily biscuit. The first ingredient in both of these is wheat protein, and wheat flour. So I decided to only give her treats and chews with no wheat. We’re on day 3 of this experiment, and so far so good. I’ll keep you posted. I really hope this is the answer!
Personally I have never and will never feed those treats.
Reason 1: They are made by Nutro, who makes multiple less than well dog food products that I would never feed.
Reason 2: They do not digest.
Reason 3: They cause intenstinal blocking
Reason 4: After 12 hours of giving your dog one they can still choke up large pieces still intact, because they do not digest
Reason 5: Greenies has paid for surgeries for some dogs, but still say their treats are safe.
Reason 6: The ingredients. You might as well let your dog eat flavored plastic.