Many people love to lavish food treats on their dogs: bacon and cheese snacks, pig ears, and an endless stream of table scraps. But all those indulgences come at a hefty price. Before Fido turns fat, it may be time to consider healthy dog treats.
In other words, skip the cheesy chews and bring on the baby carrots. Baby carrots? Yes. Dogs like the crunch.
In other words, skip the cheesy chews and bring on the baby carrots. Baby carrots? Yes. Dogs like the crunch.
Heavy dogs face heightened heart disease and cancer risks. About 44% of dogs in the U.S. are overweight or obese. But you can take action. When you look at obesity-related disorders they are typically chronic, incurable, expensive, but generally preventable.
Are treats making dogs fat? Treats have a place in a dog’s diet, veterinarians say. Besides spicing up a dog’s day, treats -- such as small liver treats or salmon flakes -- are an excellent way to motivate and reward puppies. One example might be during house-training.
But today, too many commercial dog treats are loaded with fat and sugar. This makes these treats almost irresistible. This is why your dog will dance and howl and yip and run and do amazing things just to get one of these goodies. Paws-itive Experience call them, “calorie grenades.”
Even a single, high-calorie treat -- such as packaged beef, bacon, or cheese snacks -- can fill as much as one-fourth to one-fifth of a small dog’s daily calorie needs. “It’s really dangerous because pet owners are in the habit of giving two or three treats at a time. Voila -- obesity. Too many owners forget to factor treats into a pet’s overall caloric intake.
“A general recommendation is that treats should not make up more than 15% to 20% of the pet’s total diet,” says Sarah Abood, DVM, PhD. That rule holds for commercial treats or people food, says Abood, who is an assistant professor of small animal clinical sciences at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Certain store-bought treats, such as dried chicken strips, are a better, low-fat choice than some of the heavily processed, high-fat snacks, says Mark Nunez, DVM, a veterinarian in Van Nuys, Calif. and president of the California Veterinary Medical Association from July 2009-June 2010. “I usually tell my clients [that] if it sounds like junk food, it probably is junk food,” he says.
For owners interested in homemade or organic dog treats, Ward says, “It’s still better to give natural, whole foods. I look for crunchy vegetables.”
He suggests offering small portions of snacks such as green beans, celery, or cooked yams, including canned ones. “You have to experiment with your own dog,” he says.
But avoid onions, garlic, grapes, and raisins, which are toxic to dogs.
Some owners have told Ward that their dogs refuse veggies. But he encourages them to keep putting healthy choices before them, as parents would do with children.
In the summertime, Ward freezes small chunks of apples, kiwi, and watermelon into ice cubes for his dog to lick outdoors. “They’re great for a hot day. Those are simple things that people can do,” he says.
Nunez says chicken hot dogs or tofu hot dogs -- the ones for human consumption -- can also be cut into pieces for dog treats.
It’s also easy to concoct delicious, natural dog treats at home. Here’s one of Paws-itive Experience’s recipes:
Lickety Split
1 frozen banana
1 cup rice milk or nonfat yogurt
Place ingredients in blender. Mix until creamy. Serve chilled.
Each 4 oz. serving has about 65 calories. To reduce calories, substitute 2/3 cups strawberries instead of using a banana.
Table scraps and bones What about feeding a dog from the dinner table? Nunez discourages the habit because it trains a pet to become a mealtime mooch. “You don’t want to get the dog used to begging at the dinner table,” he says.
In contrast, Ward says it’s unrealistic to expect dog owners to avoid table feeding. But that doesn’t mean that owners should slip their dogs greasy chicken skins or scraps of fat.
It boils down to having good choices. If you’re going to feed from the table, make it vegetable choices. Contrary to popular belief, dogs should not chew on bones, from either the pet store, butcher’s counter, or leftovers from owners’ meals. It’s a common thought that dogs have been eating bones since the dawn of time. But bones can cause a lot of problems. Dogs can fracture a back molar when they crunch down on a bone, or they may swallow bone splinters and suffer gastrointestinal irritation. “As a general rule of thumb, I tell people to avoid bones,” Nunez says. “I don’t see any need from a nutritional standpoint, and it runs an inherent risk.”
Compressed rawhide bones, horse hooves, and pig ears can also irritate or obstruct the intestinal tract, experts say.
So what’s a bored dog to do? Instead of giving a dog a bone to gnaw, place a few healthy treats inside a rubber Kong dog toy, which makes the pet work harder to dislodge snacks with its tongue. That occupies a lot of time.
Are treats making dogs fat? Treats have a place in a dog’s diet, veterinarians say. Besides spicing up a dog’s day, treats -- such as small liver treats or salmon flakes -- are an excellent way to motivate and reward puppies. One example might be during house-training.
But today, too many commercial dog treats are loaded with fat and sugar. This makes these treats almost irresistible. This is why your dog will dance and howl and yip and run and do amazing things just to get one of these goodies. Paws-itive Experience call them, “calorie grenades.”
Even a single, high-calorie treat -- such as packaged beef, bacon, or cheese snacks -- can fill as much as one-fourth to one-fifth of a small dog’s daily calorie needs. “It’s really dangerous because pet owners are in the habit of giving two or three treats at a time. Voila -- obesity. Too many owners forget to factor treats into a pet’s overall caloric intake.
“A general recommendation is that treats should not make up more than 15% to 20% of the pet’s total diet,” says Sarah Abood, DVM, PhD. That rule holds for commercial treats or people food, says Abood, who is an assistant professor of small animal clinical sciences at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Certain store-bought treats, such as dried chicken strips, are a better, low-fat choice than some of the heavily processed, high-fat snacks, says Mark Nunez, DVM, a veterinarian in Van Nuys, Calif. and president of the California Veterinary Medical Association from July 2009-June 2010. “I usually tell my clients [that] if it sounds like junk food, it probably is junk food,” he says.
For owners interested in homemade or organic dog treats, Ward says, “It’s still better to give natural, whole foods. I look for crunchy vegetables.”
He suggests offering small portions of snacks such as green beans, celery, or cooked yams, including canned ones. “You have to experiment with your own dog,” he says.
But avoid onions, garlic, grapes, and raisins, which are toxic to dogs.
Some owners have told Ward that their dogs refuse veggies. But he encourages them to keep putting healthy choices before them, as parents would do with children.
In the summertime, Ward freezes small chunks of apples, kiwi, and watermelon into ice cubes for his dog to lick outdoors. “They’re great for a hot day. Those are simple things that people can do,” he says.
Nunez says chicken hot dogs or tofu hot dogs -- the ones for human consumption -- can also be cut into pieces for dog treats.
It’s also easy to concoct delicious, natural dog treats at home. Here’s one of Paws-itive Experience’s recipes:
Lickety Split
1 frozen banana
1 cup rice milk or nonfat yogurt
Place ingredients in blender. Mix until creamy. Serve chilled.
Each 4 oz. serving has about 65 calories. To reduce calories, substitute 2/3 cups strawberries instead of using a banana.
Table scraps and bones What about feeding a dog from the dinner table? Nunez discourages the habit because it trains a pet to become a mealtime mooch. “You don’t want to get the dog used to begging at the dinner table,” he says.
In contrast, Ward says it’s unrealistic to expect dog owners to avoid table feeding. But that doesn’t mean that owners should slip their dogs greasy chicken skins or scraps of fat.
It boils down to having good choices. If you’re going to feed from the table, make it vegetable choices. Contrary to popular belief, dogs should not chew on bones, from either the pet store, butcher’s counter, or leftovers from owners’ meals. It’s a common thought that dogs have been eating bones since the dawn of time. But bones can cause a lot of problems. Dogs can fracture a back molar when they crunch down on a bone, or they may swallow bone splinters and suffer gastrointestinal irritation. “As a general rule of thumb, I tell people to avoid bones,” Nunez says. “I don’t see any need from a nutritional standpoint, and it runs an inherent risk.”
Compressed rawhide bones, horse hooves, and pig ears can also irritate or obstruct the intestinal tract, experts say.
So what’s a bored dog to do? Instead of giving a dog a bone to gnaw, place a few healthy treats inside a rubber Kong dog toy, which makes the pet work harder to dislodge snacks with its tongue. That occupies a lot of time.
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