How Safe Are Your Dog Treats?
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When it comes to dog treats I always wonder why we feel dogs even need them.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of dog treats really aren’t that good for your dog and provide no nutritional value. In fact, most of them contain things you would never allow in your dogs’ food, but yet you give your dog a treat that contains that ingredient.
How to Know What’s Good or What’s Bad?
One thing you need to consider when purchasing a treat is the choking danger. You want to make sure that you choose an appropriate size treat for your dog, something that they can chew easily and swallow without having a choking problem.
Quite often I see people giving their dogs greenies and for some people, greenies work well. Greenies at one point had a real choking issue and after some lawsuits, they actually changed their formulation to keep that from happening.
When choosing a treat try to get one that is most nutritional and also stay away from treats made overseas. There’s been a lot in the media lately about chicken jerky treats that actually have killed dogs and sickened hundreds or even thousands of other dogs.
Most of these products that had a problem were manufactured in China. I don’t think I’d ever give my dog a treat that wasn’t made here in the U.S. where. we have more stringent requirements regarding ingredients.
What Else Needs To Be Considered With Treats?
Another thing to consider about using treats is to use them sparingly. Using too many treats can really cause weight issues with your dog and as we all know being overweight can cause all kinds of health problems.
What About Rawhide?
Rawhides are not actually a treat but yet dogs do consume them when they’re given to them for chews. Rawhide treats are actually dangerous for your dog and here’s why.
First, your dog breaks off a chunk as it’s chewing and it is just small enough that it’s able to swallow without choking. However, it gets into the gut. In the stomach, rawhide expands with the liquid in the stomach and then can actually block your dog’s intestines.
Another cause for concern is choking. Basically, a dog breaks off a piece that’s just a little too big to swallow and actually chokes on it.
I actually saw a vet on the national news a few years ago who was talking about these exact issues and how he had clients whose dogs had died from choking or required surgery to remove the blockage.
What Makes A Good Treat?
So what should you give your dog for a treat?
Do a little homework and choose something that’s good for your dog, has the proper ingredients, and is nutritional.
And if you really want to be sure you are giving your furry four-legged friend the best possible treats, how about making homemade dog treats?
You might be thinking, “What? Is she crazy” “Who has time to make homemade dog treats?”
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This cookbook is great because it has a huge variety of easy-to-make treats to make for your dog that they are sure to love.
