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If you're looking for healthy dog treats to feed to your dogs, check out my list of top dog treats that our dogs love and I love to give to them!

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.

  1. Protein Dog Treats
  2. Cookies
  3. Dog Chews
  4. Fish Dog Treats
  5. 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

3. Chews for Strong Chewers

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.

Read More About Dog Treats

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