27/05/2023
When training our dogs, we need to think about the reward we are giving them.
What one dog finds rewarding, another may not. One dog may love chicken, another fish and another prefer a toy reward.
But, not all treats are made equal. For starters, there are a lot with a lot of nasty added extras.
One that a lot of owners grab are pedigree ones as easy to get from all supermarkets and majority of pet shops, but that doesn't mean they are much good or them or the most rewarding thing. If we look at the ingredients for the pedigree Schmackos which is a common treat, they are Meat and Animal Derivative (poultry, beef and lamb), Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Cereals, Minerals, Various Sugars, Oils and Fats.
If you didn't know, meat and animal derivatives are According to European law, 'meat and animal derivatives' is defined as "All the fleshy parts of slaughtered warm-blooded land animals, fresh or preserved by appropriate treatment, and all products and derivatives of the processing of the carcass or parts of the carcass of warm-blooded land animals". So this can be very open to interpretation as to what part of the animal and what the animal is. In this case is has specified 38% of the 40% is made up of beef, lamb and poultry, but again we don't know what poultry.
This is generally the cuts that aren't human grade and not normally one protein, which isn't good for dogs will allergies or intolerances to anything.
The similar goes for Derivatives of vegetable origin.
"This is a bulking agent added to dog food that is to be avoided. It is the derivatives that are left after vegetable products including cereals, vegetables and legumes are treated. It is a fibre source but is highly heat treated so does not contribute any real vitamins or minerals."
So they aren't adding anything nutritional to the treats and there just as a bulker that isn't really all that healthy for them due to being highly treated and processed. You will also see there are added sugars in the Schmackos, which we want to try and avoid.
But something they have got right is them being soft and being easy to break into smaller bits for training sessions. But this alone doesn't mean they should be your go to treat in my opinion.
So, what are good alternatives?
I always go for treat that are human grade meat and no added extras like sugar. The meaty strips we will be stocking are 100% meat of whichever protein you opt for, the only expiation if for ones such as turkey which has a small amount of cranberries in.
There are also other alternatives, look out for natural, high meat content with no unnecessary added extras as these can cause issues when it comes to trying to rule out allergies if doing an elimination diet to work out what they are sensitive to.
