We all like treats, and treats are a major and successful part of training, so how to select your treats, safely, for your dog.
There have been several fatal and near fatal episodes from using food or treats made in China or from ingredients imported from China (see note 1), so to play safe, I don’t use any treats made overseas … and now, I have to also consider the possibility that Australian companies are using ingredients sourced from overseas sources that do not have the same quality control or requirements as we do in Australia. So I look for the next step, wherever possible .. fit for human consumption! In fact I am notorious for saying, “if it isn’t good enough for me, it’s not good enough for my dogs” and that extends to bedding and bowls, and whatever.
When you make your own treats you know what is going into the treats, if you source food from regular shopping places specifically rated for human consumption you are on a surer bet, but remember even human supply chains suffer from recalls due to contamination or other issues.
So my current choices of treats:
After dinner snack type
- the large kibble made in Australia by a company of excellent repute for giant breeds, about 50% chew the kibble, the others vacuum it down whole
- whole small washed carrots
- easily chewed fresh, raw bone, such as rib bones from sheep, goat, or cut to 150mm beef, most bones from sheep or goat but never the lower limb bones
- limited to once a week, Box 1 brand 2 x 2 biscuits from
Training type (smaller portions)
- kibble made in Australia by a company of excellent repute
- short bits of carrot, larger carrots sliced lengthwise and cut to 10 to 200 mm
- small pieces of ‘hard’ cheese (be aware of the high salt content in cheese)
- Nutrigrain breakfast ‘cereal’ (beware of high sugar content in a lot of brands)
- dehydrated ‘yummies’ such as beef liver, sheep’s hearts, fish, provided these are sourced from Australia and processed here or home processed
- fragments of our homemade bread rolls, but Morse would do just about anything for for 1cm squares cut from an organic Spelt Chia bread
Trying something else, just play safe and Google it first. There are some horror stories about antlers but others think are they are ideal. Pigs’ ears are a favourite with many owners, I don’t use as I think they are over priced and many have tattoos (so who knows what is in the tattoo ink!) in them. Aain I would source these as Made in Australia as many are imported.
note 1) issues with Chinese made petfood and recalls https://www.google.com.au/search?q=china+ingredients+posion+toxic+dogs
