What are some healthy low fat treats for dogs?
Nov.10, 2009 in
Health
TallyWolf14 asked:
I have a just over a year old sheltie. What are some healthy low fat treat options that we can let her snack on?
She is also starting to gain too much weight. She doesnt get enough exercise because we dont let her run loose in the backyard any more. We lost our fence during Ike and there is a waiting list to get it fixed. We have busy schedules and try to take her for a walk as much as possible
I have a just over a year old sheltie. What are some healthy low fat treat options that we can let her snack on?
She is also starting to gain too much weight. She doesnt get enough exercise because we dont let her run loose in the backyard any more. We lost our fence during Ike and there is a waiting list to get it fixed. We have busy schedules and try to take her for a walk as much as possible
November 10th, 2009 at 6:08 am
There are lots of recipes online for some easy ones. Raw treats are always good, avoid anything with corn or glutens in them.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
For a dog, also a carnivore, you want to avoid the grains, corn etc. Go for the raw meaty bones that will offer nutritional value, a frozen egg perhaps or a turkey/chicken drumstick depending on your dogs size.
Liver is good, but you want to avoid giving too much, not only does it cause loose stool, it can be toxic if too much is fed, although it takes quite a bit to do that.
Fat is very good for dogs, if your dog is over weight, start cutting back on the amount you are feeding after you make sure the dog food you are feeding is good quality.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Actually, a low-fat treat is the wrong question. Let me explain….
1. The ONLY dogs that should be worrying about fat levels are aging dogs that aren’t mobile. A year year old sheltie–actually, I’d look for HIGH fat treats. At minimum, I certainly wouldn’t worry about the fat levels.
2. Humans and dogs process food differently. Humans do best with a low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate diet. If humans eat that way, they are healthy, low CVD, lean, high energy. High protein and high fat produces a fat, lethargic human.
But dogs aren’t humans. They have shorter guts/intestines. Food that is great for humans (complex carbohydrates and grains) is mostly bad for dogs. For instance, almost all grains and corns are nothing but fillers for dogs–it’s like you eating pork rinds! But research with dogs on high protein, high fat diets has shown that they are lean, learn quicker, faster and more agile, get fewer injuries, recover from work faster. Wheat and corn are even the most common allergens for dogs! Dogs in the wild have diets of nearly 98-100% protein and fat and autopsies show low incidence of tumors and renal failure.
3. Actually, what you should be asking is: what are some treats for dogs that have no grains in them? And for that, there are a lot of options: many of the Wellness treats, Innova has some non-grain treats, ditto for Dogswell and Zukes. All of these examples I’ve just mentioned are healthy, may include good stuff like Omega-3 or 6 oils, or glucosamine.
Seriously, unless your Sheltie has joint problems and can’t be active, do NOT worry about the fat levels (as long as you’re not talking saturated fats like bacon grease allowed to solidify or transfats like something soaked in coconut or palm oil). The best ways to keep your sheltie lean are:
–practice portion control
–keep your dog active
–stay away from grains and don’t worry about the protein or fat levels. More specifically, a low protein, low fat treat will make your dog fatter rather than a high protein high fat treat. Or to put this another way, a wheat dog biscuit is less healthy for your dog than a piece of chicken or steak.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:35 am
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