Recommended Dog Treat Brands as of APRIL 2015

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Finally!  Going to get a discussion started with good (and safe) dog treats!

 

As a reminder, any treats made from a company listed in our Recommended Foods list will work, so I am not going to list them here. Visit this link for those brands:  http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/recomme...

 

In addition to our recommended food brands, the following are good treat companies:

 

Bocce's Bakery: http://www.boccesbakery.com/pages/ingredients

Cloudstar: http://www.cloudstar.com/

Darford: http://darford.com/

Diggin' Your Dog: http://www.dydusa.com/about_us/

Etta Stays: http://www.ettasays.com/home.php

Fresh is Best:  http://www.freshisbest.com/

Fruitables:  http://www.fruitablespetfood.com/

Get Naked:   http://www.n-bone.com/

Healthy Partners:  http://healthypartnerpetsnacks.com/

Jones Naturals: http://www.jonesnaturalchews.com/

Northern Biscuit: http://northernbiscuit.ca/

Old Mother Hubbard: http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/index.aspx

Pet Kind:  http://www.petkind.com/index-us

Plato Pet Treats:  http://www.platopettreats.com/

Polkadog Bakery:  http://www.polkadog.com/

Pure Bites: http://www.purebites.com/products.html

Real Meat Pet:  http://www.realmeatpet.com/index.htm

Salmon Paws:  http://www.salmonpaws.com/

Sam's Yams: http://www.frontporchpets.com/

Spot Farms Pet: http://www.spotfarmspet.com/

Trader Joe's:  http://www.traderjoes.com/

Tucker's Bones (chicken jerky that is safe!): http://www.tuckersbones.com/

Tyson's True Chews:  http://www.truechews.com/

Wagatha's: http://www.wagathas.com/

Wet Noses:  http://wet-noses.com/

 

 

Please, if anyone has suggestions or additions, comment here, so we can get them added, research, etc...

 

[Sam&Bella]

I was surprised  too when I found in my grocery store, but since they had pretty good ingredients, I thought that I would give them a try instead of Milkbone:)

[Stacy]

I recently bought the girls some treats called Off Leash - with different flavors. The website is buddyskitchen.ca  I purchased them at the super fancy dog food grocery where they promise only the best foods and treats with no recalls. I was wondering if they would qualify for the approved treat list. I'm not very proficient at figuring out sourcing and all of the things that makes for safe food/treats, but I always feel like the good food comes from Canada.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm nervous about these treats. I found some varieties sold at Walmart, with a disclaimer about the country of origin. Any pet foods or treats sold at Walmart are suspect, and I have yet to see any of the recommended brands there. I couldn't find much sourcing info on the Buddy's Kitchen website. In fact, the website seems to indicate that you can't even buy a single package of treats or treats, it has to be purchased from them as part of an auto-ship program, which is making me wonder how your store is even getting them, and from whom. At this point in time, I would not feel comfortable adding them to our recommended list. 

[Stacy]

Bummer! Thanks for checking, Karen. That's what I get for impulse shopping without my list. And making the assumption that just because a store sells all the brands on the approved list, that they would only sell approved brands. 

Maybe I'll make a wallet card with the approved treats so we can try new stuff when I shop. We usually default to pure bites, my only (minor) complaint with them is that I feel like we lose a lot of volume in the form of crumbs in the bottom of the bag. I pour them in the dogs bowls when they're too small, but I really like the small soft treats best.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have the same complaint about Pure Bites; I feel like a quarter of every bag is wasted, and JD goes through a lot of bags! 

There really are so many good options for treats out there. Recently, I was at a similar store in my area that only sells food and treats that are sourced in North America, looking for something that JD could eat, and while I didn't find anything I thought would work for him, I did see all kinds of wonderful treats for dogs whose diets are not quite as restricted as his. All sorts of smaller, semi-soft training treats and even lots of things with limited ingredients and novel proteins. Carrying a list of recommended brands might be a good idea.

The Off Leash treats might be perfectly fine, but unless I'm absolutely sure, I can't put them on the list. 

[Stacy]

I was thinking the same thing about these treats - they're probably fine. One bag most likely wouldn't have an adverse effect... But I'm still so traumatized by our emergency surgery adventure that I can't do probably right now. I always knew that I would be devastated if something happened to one of my kids, but as  being in that situation was so much worse than anything I had imagined. I can't do anything that I am aware might possibly hurt them. 

When a dog dies of old age it's really really sad, but you can celebrate the joy of a life well lived. But when they are poisoned by their dog food or have surgical complications it's a whole different level of sorrow. (Ava is doing really really well - but apparently I am not over it!) So thank you for helping keep our kids healthy and safe. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This group was actually originally inspired by a member whose 9 yr old Standard Poodle was a victim of the 2007 melamine-in-the-dog-food debacle. He was eating Iams, which at the time was only available at specialty stores and was one of the best foods you could buy, or so we all believed. Imagine going out of your way (and your budget) to buy premium food, believing you are doing the best you possibly can for your dog, and then having him die from that food. 

[Stacy]

I remember that whole thing unfolding. And I remember thinking that it could never happen to us. And it didn't, but not because I was smart - I was just lucky. There was an incredible lack of oversight during that time. And if anything good came of it, it's that we're paying attention now. And it's people like you who are keeping people like me from having a tragic event like that in the future. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Aw, thank you. It's definitely a labor of love. 

[Stacy]

I have another question for you. I too have seen all the treats with the novel proteins. Kangaroo, antelope, elk, I don't even know. Perhaps I have been lucky, my dogs have always done well with a chicken based diet. They also do well with beef. But I have shied away from the treats with novel proteins, thinking one day I might need to introduce something they hadn't been exposed to. Is that silly? Or should I stay with the tried and true with the thought that if they develop an intolerance there will be something out there that they haven't ever experienced. Sometimes I wonder if they would like a little more variety, at least in their treat selection.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's not silly. You want to keep a few proteins in reserve, just in case. There are plenty of choices anyway. Turkey, lamb, pork, bison, venison, duck, every different kind of fish...no need to give them elk or kangaroo. They won't miss it. Even we don't get that much variety in our proteins, lol!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

My girls get Purebites treats. When you get to the part of the bag that is just "mush" I take a bit of that and sprinkle it on top of their food. They love it!