General Question What type of healthy treats to introduce to my puppy?? [:

[Stoagie713]

Hi all!! Once again I have a question. My Stoagie will be 4 months on the 4th of Oct so and I would like to start giving him little treats or snacks ect. sometimes during the day. When I spoke to the breeder she said to not give him any store bought treats because of all that "crap" the put in the treats and she doesn't agree with them and doesn't think they do good for the dogs so she kind of put me off that idea...not to mention all the allegations against all those different types of dog treats causing death now I don't even want to risk it. The only thing the breeder suggested was buying liver and cutting it up and freezing it raw and giving that to him as treats.

So my question is...do any of you do that with liver? Do your dogs like it?
Do you have any suggestions for healthy treats? Fruits? Veggies? If so how do you give them these treats and how often? If it possible to give too much of these treats if so what's your daily limit?

Thank you in advance for all the help![:

 

[dalmatina38]

I make Amber beef jerky treats from cheap roasts when they go on sale. I have a dehydrator and get the meat sliced down very thin and dehydrate the meat for 5 hours. Then I break it into little pieces and put it in a tupperware container. It stays fresh for ever and she loves her treats. Also green beans and carrots are great. I have a large garden and Amber digs up the carrots and helps herself to one or two. She likes to dig up potatoes too. I give her on average a couple of strips of beef jerky a day; mostly when she is obeying her commands. She loves her treats.

 

[Stoagie713]

I make Amber beef jerky treats from cheap roasts when they go on sale. I have a dehydrator and get the meat sliced down very thin and dehydrate the meat for 5 hours. Then I break it into little pieces and put it in a tupperware container. It stays fresh for ever and she loves her treats. Also green beans and carrots are great. I have a large garden and Amber digs up the carrots and helps herself to one or two. She likes to dig up potatoes too. I give her on average a couple of strips of beef jerky a day; mostly when she is obeying her commands. She loves her treats.

Unfortunetly I do not have a dehydrator but maybe I will invest in one [:.
As the veggies go do you freeze them or is it ok for me to buy them and rinse them at home and give them to him whenever? I do not have a garden:/

 

[dalmatina38]

Well, you can freeze the green beans whole in bags and give them as treats, carrots too. When I didn't have a dehydrator what I would do is get the meat sliced down and then I would put it on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven on 225-250 and let it cook for a few hours until it was like leather. then you can still break it apart and give small pieces. Place the rest in a zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator. I just takes looking at the meat more often and flipping the meat on occasion but the puppy will still love it. Green beans can be from the can or fresh, makes no difference, they love ice cubes too.

 

[Stoagie713]

Well, you can freeze the green beans whole in bags and give them as treats, carrots too. When I didn't have a dehydrator what I would do is get the meat sliced down and then I would put it on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven on 225-250 and let it cook for a few hours until it was like leather. then you can still break it apart and give small pieces. Place the rest in a zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator. I just takes looking at the meat more often and flipping the meat on occasion but the puppy will still love it. Green beans can be from the can or fresh, makes no difference, they love ice cubes too.

Thank you so much I'm going to go out and buy him some right away [: I've been wanting to give him treats but was unsure.

 

[Winslow]

I give Winslow frozen green beans and he loves it. Also, he absolutely LOVES watermelon...and cantaloupe...and mangos... ...I guess he is a fruity guy hehehe

Anyways, he also has some store bought treats, but I try to buy only ones that have limited ingredients, or ingredients that I know what they are...for example "Wellness Just for Puppy Treats" seem to be decent and he likes them....Also, I have baked a couple batches of a pretty simple pumpkin treat (pumpkin + flax meal + egg + water)...This way we know exactly what is in it!

Since we found treats that he really loves, it has made training easier...plus I imagine he likes a little variety in his life! I'd go nuts if all I ate were kibble...the key though is moderation and he should be fine!

(ooo and Winslow is almost 18 weeks...)

 

[elearn]

[MENTION=6013]Stoagie713[/MENTION] I made chicken jerky for Herman and he loved it (I ate some too). I just got the chicken tender cuts from the meat department - put the oven on 200 - lined it with tin foil and let them bake until they were dry (2 or 3 hours). Just make sure to check to make sure they are dry when you take them out. Very simple.

Herman also loves baby carrots, frozen blueberries....and green beans (which give him gas). I also tried dried banana chips, he likes those too. I tried frozen strawberries but he didnt seem to care for them and he didnt really like apples. But you can get one of those bags of frozen fruit they now have for people who love smoothies and it has a variety of fruit in there (strawberries & bananas, or berry mix, etc). String cheese is really good - and they love it. I get the organic string cheese.

The only store-bought treats I've ever given him were Stewarts freeze-dried chicken livers, Blue Buffalo Bits Chicken Training Treats and Zukes Peanut Butter treats. I also give him the Blue Buffalo Puppy Biscuits because I wanted him to have a biscuit type treat (crunchy) as well. Just make sure if you do choose store-bought, that it says "Made in USA" on the front. I'm going to stop the Blue Buffalo treats because I'm going to go with a grain-free biscuit.

 

[Baconator]

Bacon loves frozen blueberries and banana, have fun with experimenting with new veggies. It was hysterical watching Bacon try new veggies at that age because he would chew them a little and put it down, then go back and chew it again(repeat) We use the wellness treats too, he really like them.

 

[loveabully]

I buy a bag of frozen berries strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, they all come in one big bag an I give it to them when they go potty. An when I have watermelon an apple's not the core or the skin an definitely not the seeds they love all the fruit I give them. Theirs one bag of dog treats I would buy an that's the fruitables they are grain free someone started a thread on them you should check them out.

 

[mdn525]

We use Fruitables Pumpkin Apple flavor and haven't had any problems. I would suggest breaking them in half for a couple days to get her tummy used to something new. We also used Stewarts freeze dried beef liver - the pieces we're a little large and the daily feeding allowance is low, so I cut them into smaller pieces.

 

[d0glover]

My bulldog loves these things called elk antlers. I get them at this website called BestElkAntlers and they're super inexpensive and super healthy. They're made from naturally shed elk antlers and have no chemicals or preservatives. Best of all, they come in all different sizes and my Lilly just loves them. Because the marrow is inside the antler itself, it'll take awhile for he to get through a whole antler, so it definitely lasts a long time! I recommend antlers for any size or age dog - give them a shot!

 

[hnhammond]

Matilda LOVES Iams Veterinary Formula Weight Loss Rewards treats. When I got her, she wouldn't eat ANY treats at all. Then we go to her vet, and she was obsessed with these - so I asked the vet what they were. Imagine my surprise that my doggie prefers DIET dog treats! Now of course, she'll eat anything. I also break them up thirds of halves because she gets treats so often. We treat her for not biting us, for tricks, and every time she potties in the right spot I trust these treats because my vet is an amazing bully specialist and is VERY precise about everything we should and shouldn't give her.

As for real food, string cheese is something the puppy kindergarten trainer uses for dogs that won't eat treats. They go CRAZY for it. You just can only give them very small amounts or they'll get an upset tummy.

Matilda hates liver and won't eat it (go figure), not even in the doggie treats. I guess that would just depend on your pup's appetite for it!

 

[linwhite]

Mawahhahaha - Wanna keep your dog busy? Take a spoonful of peanut butter - type and ingredients your choice. I use the fresh ground stuff with nothing but peanuts - and stick it to the roof of his mouth. It is so funny to watch them get it unstuck. A great healthy treat (if you want to be nice you can put it inside a kong) Try a RAW soup bone with the marrow inside. They are inexpensive and you can generally find smaller ones - when the get the marrow out you can stick peanut butter in them too. Here, they come about 6 to a package. I just freeze them and take them out when it suits my need.