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One of the coolest things about being a dog nutrition blogger is learning about new dog treats. But I have four unique dogs, and what works for one dog may not work for another, and I've learned which treats are best for my pack as a whole so that I'm no longer wasting money on dog treats that fail to “Wow!” my dogs.
The below list of dog treats is broken up into sections; some of the treats are repeated because they fall into multiple sections.
- Protein Dog Treats
- Cookies
- Dog Chews
- Fish Dog Treats
- Subscription Dog Treats and Chews
Looking for a more “official” list of dog treats? Check out The Treat List that was curated by Susan Thixton of The Truth About Pet Food. Susan provides detailed explanations as to why each brand made the list.
What I Look for in Healthy Dog Treats
I'm very careful about the dog treats I allow our dogs to snack on because we have dogs with various, yet minor, health issues:
- digestive issues
- joint pain
- easy weight gain
I stick to single-ingredient and limited-ingredient dog treats. I avoid artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, and artificial preservatives.
Sourcing is important, and I often buy from US-based brands I trust or dehydrate dog treats using meat from local sources. I don't often buy dog treats from other countries because quality control measures may vary. Countries that I have purchased treats from, other than the US, include Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
1. Healthy Protein-Based Dog Treats
- Real Dog Box – an affordable subscription service for high-quality protein treats
- SmallBatch – I love their jerky treats and buy all of the proteins for my dogs
- Vibrant K9 – grass-fed freeze-dried dog treats
- Green Juju Kitchen – freeze-dried dog treats in various cooling and neutral proteins
- Farm Hounds – I alternate through their jerky treats
- Mosaic – I reach for the wild-caught octopus and dehydrated quail feet
- Scout and Zoe's – chicken jerky, carp treats, and more.
- ZiwiPeak – I often order the green tripe and trachea treats.
- Barkworthies – duck feet, kangaroo treats, rabbit treats, alligator treats, and more.
- The Natural Dog Company – a wide variety of proteins, a chew or treat for every dog.
2. Healthy Cookies for Dogs
- Ava's Pet Palace
- Canna-Pet CBD Oil Dog Treats (the only CBD dog treats I buy now)
- City Bones (a local brand)
- CocoTherapy
- Einstein Pets
3. Chews for Strong Chewers
- Monster Himalayan Dog Chews
- Braided Bully Sticks
- Real Dog Box – dog chew subscription service
- PawStruck.com – chews, bully sticks, and more.
- The Natural Dog Company – a wide variety of proteins, a chew or treat for every dog.
4. Healthy Fish Dog Treats
- Real Dog Box – air-dried sardines, green-lipped mussels, anchovies, salmon, and more
- Northwest Naturals – freeze-dried green-lipped mussels (I order these by the case)
- Green JuJu – freeze-dried salmon treats
- Mosaic – wild-caught octopus
- PolkaDog – dehydrated cod skin and Alaskan salmon chips
- Plato – wild-caught Baltic sprat
- Vital Essentials – freeze-dried minnows (my cat goes CRAZY for these)
5. Monthly Subscription Treats & Chews
When I signed up for Real Dog Box, I began to save a ton of money on treats and chews because the variety that came in each box (protein, organ, fish, light chew, medium chew, and heavy chew) covered my shopping for four big dogs. Recently, Real Dog Box celebrated their 100th box, which included:
- Chicken feet
- Pork kidney
- Salmon
- Lamb trachea
- Elk shoulder
- Cow ear
There's something for everyone in each month's box. And the generous boxes are combined with access to the Secret Shop where we can order other healthy treats and chews. With stellar customer service, the ability to customize boxes to account for protein sensitivities, and access to a Wellness membership and online courses – Real Dog Box (and the Feed Real Institute) has turned out to be an amazing investment.
I didn't bother to add other subscription services because I haven't found any dedicated to providing a high-quality product that matches Real Dog Box.
You are right about not using any artificial ingredients. We also like to make our own treats for our dogs.
The content you posted is really helpful. we have to treat our pets, especially dogs just like our own kids. whenever I feel anything wrong with my dogs, I take assistance from PetCareRx. They are known for their wide range of products and quick assistance.
I love your blogs and all those cool advices and guide. Good job
Hi ?
Amazing post you have posted.
This ultimate guide can help me to give proper care for my small dog.
Your thinking is very amazing and writing also.
Thanks for sharing this…
That’s a new one to me. Thank you.
How about Lakse Kronch 100% salmon treats. These are a product of Denmark sustainably sourced all natural. They have their single ingredient and their pocket treats which is 2 ingredients. My dogs love them and have never had GI issue from them
Wow, makes sense. Thank you blogger for this useful information. I really appreciate your guidance about dog treats.
Please take a look at wonderdogsuperfoods.com for your next list, I’m sure you will be very pleased with what you see!! 🙂
Fabulous!
Hey, thanks a ton for this lengthy list of healthy treats for dogs. I am going to try all of them.
training my dog for pet therapy and they cannot be on a raw diet.
I would suggest sticking with limited ingredient, protein treats. That way you don’t have to worry about any chicken in the treats at all. I learned last year that brands don’t have to share their complete ingredient list; if there is only a small amount, then they can leave it off the list.
When I learned about my dogs’ protein allergies, I started looking for treats that were freeze dried or dehydrated. Here are a few that I’ve been feeding our dogs that they love:
Petcurean Catfish Jerky
KodaPet.com makes several treats, I buy the bison: http://kodapet.com/papatatanka.html
Beams Catfish Skins
Scout and Zoe’s offers protein and veggie treats that aren’t chicken; I buy their venison and duck
Bahia Blue makes dehydrated smelt
Vital Essentials Raw has several protein treat options
My dog can not have poultry or poultry by-products. What do you suggest ?
P- I break those up since they are crunchy and my dog has never had issues with it.
I just got the beef lung and noticed that they are REALLY hard. and in really big pieces.
do you find that your dog has nay problems eating them?
I order my dogs bones through a local raw food co-op. If you’re in the States, you can check this page to see if there’s a co-op near your home (https://www.keepthetailwagging.com/coop). You can also get them at small pet stores that carry raw bones – look for ones with a freezer.
For our dogs, I avoid marrow and rib bones but that’s just a personal choice. I prefer duck necks, turkey necks and lamb necks. Our dogs chew those up well.
Where can we purchase some dog bones that are healthy for our dogs?
Thanks for the list. Several of them are new to me!
I’m a big fan of single protein/limited ingredient treats such as dehydrated liver and lung, tripe, etc.
Some of my favorites include Plato’s (especially EOS and small bites), Honest Kitchen Beams, Barkworthies tripe sticks, Pet N Shape Chunx (beef lung), Lakse Kronch Fish treats, and Real Meat treats. I also use Stella and Chewy’s cat food as training treats.
That’s what I do as well. At first, I used to label the treats so that we kept them straight, but that was too much of a hassle for me so now I only buy treats all of the dogs can have. Much easier.
hmmmmmm. Lots of goodies here for all my pups including Happi. Actually I only bring in treats that work for him because it is impossible to keep track of “his” treats vs “their” treats and ONE little slip up can results in weeks of itching and irritation.
I will work my way through this – my pack approved this resolution!
Cheers! Viveca
Viveca
Fabulous! This one was fun to write. I kept updating it as I remembered a new one. LOL
This is an especially bookmark worthy post. I will return to this for sure. I don’t have a dog (as you may know) but I have friends who do.
I’m also totally wondering if my cat would love those Bahia Fish treats. I don’t know if they’d be ok for him though since dog and cat nutrition is quite a bit different.
I noticed they have fish flakes which kitty would be more inclined to maybe like. He likes fish food fish flakes, so…
It’s so great to “meet” someone who knows Cindy. I think she’s fabulous and when I learned about the inspiration for her dog treats, I knew that I wanted her treats for our dogs. What I love is the work she goes into making the treats, but also understanding the product chain. I know that I’m feeding our dogs proteins that come from humane farmers, that none of the meat is being processed in China, and I know she won’t add a bunch of chemicals or weird ingredients in the treats. I want the best for my dogs and Cindy is one of the best.
I am a personal friend of Cindy Quirk with Scout and Zoes. Thank you for recommending her jerky treats on your blog. Cindy has worked tirelessly to make her company successful and is doing a great job. For a colleague to recommend her product to others is awesome.
I have known Cindy for at least 40 years and watched her grow up from a child to the woman she now is. I commend her for her business acumen and her success in such a competitive market Thanks again for your assessment of her products.
Great list! There are quite a few you mentioned that we have tried and love, but also a number that are new. I’ll have to go check those out!
My pleasure, Michelle – this has been a great year so far for healthy treats. A lot of dog owners are jumping into the market 🙂
Awesome list! Thank you for taking the time & energy to post this, Kimberly!