Pet
Food
Review

Treats - The good, the bad and the ugly!

Those who have read other pages on this website know that there's a bit of a campaign going on here for a common sense approach to pet treats.

Firstly, let's ask the basic question 'Are special treats necessary?' and the answer has to be 'No!'

We give treats for two reasons: 1) To reward behaviour, or to encourage training, and 2) Because we want to pamper our pets

Nothing wrong with that, but do we have to buy specially manufactured treats in order to achieve these ends?

Reasons against buying special pet treats

1) Cost:

Let's take as an example the more natural treat such as James Wellbeloved Crackerjacks - this is not a criticism of JW, as they are just typical of the better quality treats available from pet shops

2) Ingredients:

This is where the fun begins - where do I start?!

Let's call James Wellbeloved treats good quality (but expensive!) which is a fair assessment of this type of treat - good ingredients, well packaged but costly. Now let's look at soem of the other treats available and particularly at the ingredients that you are paying for.

3) Excess nutrients

A lot of pet owners forget that the treats they feed are full of fat and protein which adds to the overall nutrition of their pet. As most pet owners already overfeed their pets (and that probably means you!) because they don't measure out the food according to the recommended feeding rates, then additional nutrition as a treat simply adds to the load.

Lots of dogs and cats in the UK are overweight, or suffer from teeth or gum problems - treats full of sugar and unnecessary nutrients are not helping the situation!

And here I rest my case!

And offer an alternative approach to treats

So what's the alternative?

Two simple alternatives

1) Raw vegetables - Most dogs love pieces of raw carrot, or pieces of brocolli and cauliflower stalk - crunchy, moist and naturally sweet. Try them, they're far more healthy than any treat on the pet shop shelf!

2) Free samples - I hope that you can see that most treats are made from the same ingredients as the food you normally feed - therefore why not simply ask for free samples of a food in a different flavour (say a fish variety) and use the kibble as a treat. Your dog is NOT going to look at you and call you a skinflint, believe me!

Most pet food companies offer free samples, and your pet shop certainly should - make use of this facility and stop paying through the nose for pet treats!

Good Prices on Treats