Healthy treats for your canine friend.

I love to spoil Chase! He just needs to give me that look over his shoulder and I want to drown him in food and love, but it’s the food part that can sometimes be dangerous for our dogs.  Not only can it add kilos to their waist line, some products contain ingredients that may not be good for our pets.

So here are some healthy snacks that can keep your pets happy and their waist line trim.

1.       Raw Meaty Bones

This is one of my favourite snacks/meals for Chase. Not only are they a great boredom buster, they can also give your pet a good workout (watch how your dog uses the muscles in their legs upper body and jaw to eat) and can offer your pets a lot of good nutrients.

What are some bone no no-s?

·       Never feed your pet cooked bones. This can splinter into shards and cause health issues for your pet.

·       Be careful when giving bones around young children. Dogs may become aggressive or guard bones if they have not been taught to relax around people and their bones. If you have children or even strangers at your house make sure the dog has its own private space to eat that bone and people are aware that your dog has a bone in its possession.

·       Appropriate bones for your dog’s size and eating habits - If your dog tends to swallow their food whole or eat fast, larger bones are best that you know they cannot swallow whole. Same goes for smaller dogs to get the best nutrients from a bone you want to give them ones they can chew and eat all of.

What are my favourite types of bones for Chase? The No. 1 bone I love to give him is lambs necks. For smaller dogs chicken necks are great as well as chicken wings and legs. You can also give lamb shanks, whole chicken carcases, and large beef bones for those scoffers.

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2.       Vegetables and Fruits.

Chase’s favourites are raw carrots, raw broccoli, cooked pumpkin, apples (make sure seeds are removed) pears (also seeds removed) capsicum and zucchini.

Other vegetable and fruit suggestions for your dogs can be: spinach, oranges, asparagus, blueberries, strawberries, peaches

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3.       Dried Treats

While these should be very occasional foods, they can also be great treats. This includes dried liver, pigs’ trotters, roo meat as well as dried sweet potato, pumpkin and carrots. If you own a food dehydrator, why not make your own!