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...

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not familiar with these and couldn't find any past posts about them. In terms of ingredients, they look very similar to the Himalayan chews. They are made in Nepal, and I can't be sure about quality control. They don't appear to be sold anywhere except on Amazon. They are probably fine, but personally, I would feel more comfortable sticking with a brand that is tried and true, i.e. the Himalayan Chews.

[Josh Adams]

Thank you, Karen! So appreciate it. 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Karen would you say the Himalayan Dog Chew is okay to give a puppy? Im putting together a little gift basket for a friend who's bringing home a new puppy in a week or so and was going to through something along those lines in there. I was thinking either the Himalayan or an Elk Antler. If they both are not recommended for puppies,is there anything along the lines of a good chew that is?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would not give Himalayan Chews to a new puppy. I'd go with the non-edible chew toys by Nylabone or something similar. There are tons of good ones, my new pup loves them, and they are completely safe and cannot cause any digestive problems. And if you want to include treats, the only thing I would give a new pup would be Pure Bites or Stewart's liver treats. 

I did find a "puppy" split elk antler yesterday at Pet Supplies Plus, which I haven't given him yet. If you have to give a new puppy an edible chew, that would be much much better than the Himayalan Chew, as there is so much less chance of digestive upsets. 

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Thank you so much :) Congratulations on your new puppy! He/She is one lucky dog that is for sure!! Are the Nylabones your referring to the healthy edibles for puppy's or just the puppy chews?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You absolutely do NOT want the "Healthy Edibles". I was trying to put some links here to some that i got on Chewy, but my account info comes up. And I can't get the Nylabone site to load. But you want the non-edible chew toys for puppies. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I signed out of my chewy account.

These are the kinds of Nylabone chew toys you want: 

https://www.chewy.com/nylabone-petite-dental-puppy-chew-toy/dp/108531

https://www.chewy.com/nylabone-puppy-chew-teething-keys-dog/dp/39344

https://www.chewy.com/nylabone-puppy-chew-ring-bone-chicken/dp/39336

https://www.chewy.com/nylabone-puppy-chew-bone-chicken/dp/39347

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Fantastic! Thank you so much Karen :) As usual, you are the best!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Super off topic but congratulations on your new puppy, Karen.

I thought DH and I were crazy for already looking into breeders to get a dog after Luna passes, but we just can't imagine our lives without a dog.  

More on topic - any reason to not give a puppy an elk/deer antler to chew?  Nylabones never seemed to last long for us but we haven't bought one since Luna was a puppy.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My pup is tiny, and he hasn't made a dent in any of the Nylabone chew toys I've given him, but he loves them. The little bone with the spiky things in particular seems to feel good on his gums. But he's a Miniature Poodle, so tiny. 
There's really no reason not to give an appropriately sized antler to a puppy, I just would not do it before you've had him at least two weeks, as I advise with all new foods/treats/edible chews. And of course, you absolutely must supervise them with it.  

[Stacy]

Karen - do you put much stock in the fact that at least some of the dentists hate antlers, and I assume things like the Himalayan chews too? I was told that all of their chews should be soft enough that I could dent them with my fingernail. So nylabones and Kongs would be okay, but definitely not antlers. I've never had any injuries with them, but it did worry me when he said that. But then again I haven't heard much about dogs breaking teeth when chewing antlers. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that whole "dent it with your fingernail" thing is ridiculous. Think of all the perfectly safe and wholesome things dogs can chew or eat that you can't "dent with your fingernail". Kibble for one. Cow and pig ears. Beef tracheas. Beef tendons. I could go on. I have never heard of any dog injuring a tooth with any of those, have you? For that matter, you can't "dent" a Nylabone with your fingernail, either. (Maybe these dentists are talking about fake nails, but mine are real, lol, and they don;t make dents in hard surfaces.) After his IBD diagnosis, Nylabones were recommended to me by JD's IMS as a safe chew object, and quite frankly, they saved his sanity, and mine. 

I often wonder if the real reason these dentists tell us not to give these chews to our dogs is because they know that they help keep the teeth clean and tartar free, and that means fewer teeth cleanings, i.e. less $$$ in the dentists' pockets.
I get that dogs can break a tooth on an antler or other hard object. That's something that each of us has to take into account when we weigh the risks/benefits of giving them to our dogs.

The puppy antler I purchased is relatively soft, and is the split kind, meaning less of the hard outside and most of the matrix exposed. We'll see how aggressively he chews it when he gets it. JD gnawed at antlers and never tried to bite or break them. If this pup does differently, he won't get any more, lol.