For many dogs, treats are a part of their daily routine. While it’s a great feeling to do something nice for those you love, when it comes to dogs, it’s important to know why you’re doing it. Giving treats at random is not only a surefire way to help your canine pal gain weight, but depending on what you’re giving them, it could be negatively affecting their nutrition as well.
There are, however, times when giving treats is appropriate, and even beneficial (besides the fact that our dogs love us for it). Here are a few examples of these:
Training
Food is a powerful motivator for many dogs and can be a huge help when you’re training. Teaching new behaviours and commands, toilet and crate training puppies, and teaching positive associations with triggers (in reactive or fearful dogs) are all times when treats are appropriate. This is because treats reinforce what a dog is doing is a good thing, therefore increasing the chance of repeating the behaviour.
It’s important to note, however, that while treats can be given in abundance during training, those calories add up, and fast. Giving small amounts of nutritious treats (we’ll discuss options for those later) and smaller meals on training days will help your dog avoid gaining unnecessary weight during training, as well as contributing to their overall nutrition.
Enrichment
Dogs need mental stimulation/enrichment in order to thrive. Many of what we consider to be “bad” behaviours in dogs are often due to a sheer lack of excitement in their lives — they’re bored! Thankfully, you don’t always have to exercise them for hours on end to satisfy their need for stimulation; mental activities can be super helpful too. In fact, cognitive stimulation can greatly improve overall animal wellbeing. [1]
Treats for enrichment can be things like snuffle mats, puzzle toys, stuffed Kongs, natural chews (more on those later), and raw meaty bones. Anything safe and healthy that gets your dog’s jaw muscles moving (and their brain problem solving) will help to cure boredom and leave them feeling satisfied. Added bonus: these options can also be helpful for dogs with anxiety-related behaviours, as they can be calming and comforting while dogs work on them.
Diet supplementation
When dogs aren’t getting the nutrition they need from their diets — or aren’t consuming enough calories — treats can be a good supplement to provide the dog vitamins they’re missing. This can happen for various reasons, including changes in food preferences or feeling unwell. Another good reason to supplement your dog’s diet with treats is to provide them with a snack before bed, to avoid the dreaded “hunger pukes.”
Choosing healthy treats are even more important when dogs are already missing out on key nutritional elements. Make sure the treats you’re using to supplement their diet will help to provide what they need more of to give them a nutritional boost. Treats should include things like single-ingredient proteins, with no fillers. Dog-friendly bone broth and other natural, dog-safe ingredients will also help to plug nutritional gaps.
Dental health
Every dog owner knows the tell-tale odour of dog breath – and it’s not something we should necessarily put up with. Bad breath can actually mean that your dog’s teeth aren’t as healthy as they should be. There are ways to help them with their offensive breath and their dental health. Aside from cleaning their teeth on a regular basis, the act of chewing can be very beneficial for dogs’ dental health, provided you give them the right chewing source.
To note, while it’s tempting to grab a bag of commercial brand dental chews, they typically don’t contribute to your dog’s nutrition. With ingredients like glycerin, various starches, and even sugar, these aren’t something you can give your dog long term without seeing adverse effects on their health. Nature’s option is much better: natural chews like antlers, raw meaty bones, and dried hooves are all great ways to help keep your dog’s teeth tartar-free, and they’ll enjoy them, too! [2]
Hi, we received our first delivery of pro dog raw food last week & so far so good – our 2 English Pointers devour it with glee. Also notice poo’s are smaller & less copious so really feel they’re digesting & absorbing more nutrition.
On a separate note – would you consider doing a refill scheme in the near future.
The only downside to feeling the 2 dogs on this raw diet is the number of plastic tubs we get through each week – I know they can be recycled but they’re such sturdy tubs it would be far less wasteful and better for the environment & economically if your were able to reuse them! It wouldn’t cost an awful lost to stack say 14 tubs & lids and pop them in the return post bag for you to re-use.
I do this with things like washing liquid & cleaning products, so I know it works.
Many thanks
Hi Sian
So glad that your Pointers are loving our raw food.
We cant unfortunately take back our tubs,due to DEFRA regulations and it having contained raw meat.
We understand your concern.
ProDog are always on the lookout for more sustainable options. We have spent time looking at alternatives however not yet found one which we can be sure is 100% effective for safe storage and transport of our food.
We have also sought advice from industry experts who advise there simply aren’t adequate facilities in the UK yet to compost large volumes of biodegradable materials, meaning much often still ends up in landfill.
We are aware that other companies have changed packaging but have also had issues with the useability of the packaging, meaning orders arrive with broken packaging, temperature not maintained, and food wasted.
It is part of our long-term vision to one day offer 100% biodegradable packaging but we don’t have a timescale to share on this as yet. Our supplements are now supplied in fully recyclable cardboard containers.
We sadly have not been accepting returns on the yellow tubs since July 2020 due to new restrictions enforced by trading standards as a result of COVID 19.
This is why the yellow tubs are no longer on the returns form. They are fully recyclable so please recycle locally for the foreseeable future.
ProDog treats are rewarded in exchange for the return of wool liners. We require a minimum of 6 liners to be returned at one time, in exchange for one packet of treats.
I’ve shared the link below to our company packaging statement
https://www.prodograw.com/our-packaging/
Many of our customers also advertise them on local for sale and swap pages, and they are usually snapped up for craft uses, so that maybe an option for you also.