Many commercial dog treats contain ingredients and additives that may be unhealthy for our dogs. A dog may also be allergic to some of these ingredients. For example, my Shiba Inu is allergic to wheat, and my Siberian Husky is allergic to wheat, oats, and fish.
There have also been a variety of dog food and dog treat recalls, so make sure to only get food from companies that have good quality control. Get dog treat information and dog treat reviews from a range of sources before making a choice.
Below are a list of commercial dog treats that I have given to my dogs. I will list their pros and cons, and discuss how strong a motivator they are in training. I also give my dogs non-commercial dog treats.
Dog treats can be very useful in dog grooming and dog training, but always exercise moderation and feed our dog a balanced diet.
Commercial Dog Treats
1. Innova EVO Treats.
EVO dog treats are great, because just like all other EVO products, they are high in protein and grain free. My dogs also love the taste of this treat. Good for stuffing in Kongs ,and putting into the Nylabone Crazy Ball.
2. Wellness Bar Treats.
I use Wellness bars to add variety, and keep my dogs motivated. These dog treats are wheat free, and the molasses give them a wonderful smell.
My dogs prefer the vegetarian yogurt, apples, and bananas flavor. I no longer give my dogs these bars, because they have lower protein content compared to the EVO treats.
3. Zukes Mini Naturals.
Zukes Mini treats are moist, and have a very different texture when compared to the dry Innova and Wellness treats. They are also wheat free.
My dogs like the peanut butter flavor best, and the chicken flavor least. I only use a very small amount of Zukes Minis, because the ingredient list is not as great as the EVO treats. I have also tried the Zukes Z-filet, but I would not recommend it. The Z-filet contains a high amount of salt, which upsets the stomach of my Siberian Husky.
4. Chicken Breast Strips and Jerky Treats.
These chicken treats are nice because they are mostly meat and do not contain too many additives.
My dogs absolutely love chicken breast strips, however, there have been several chicken jerky treat recalls in the past. In particular, we should be careful of chicken jerky products that are made in China.
This page from the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association has good updates on various pet food and pet treat recalls.
I used to buy Dogswell jerky treats, but after reading this FDA complaint report, where Dogswell was one of the brands mentioned, I have stopped using them. Dogswell is an American company, but their jerky treats are made in China. Other companies may produce the treats domestically, but buy packaging or ingredients from China.
It is actually quite difficult to find treats that are fully China free. I am currently using Trader Joe’s chicken breast strips. I have also tried Aunt Jeni’s treats. Another possibility is the Blue Wilderness jerky products.
Here is what is stated on the Aunt Jeni’s website -
No ingredients from China; No “Co-Packing” All treats are made by us, on-site.
Here is what is stated on the Blue Wilderness site -
All of BLUE’s Chicken Jerky Treats are made in the US and the meat is sourced exclusively from US meat suppliers.
We do not use meat from China, or anywhere in Asia, in any of our products.
Here is what I found on Trader Joe’s -
In October 2007, Trader Joe’s began to phase out foods imported from China amid concerns that standards on “organic” products from the country are not as stringent as they should be. Between February 2008 and April 2008, Trader Joe’s claimed to phase out single-ingredient products from China due to concerns over tainted goods. However, Trader Joe’s does not provide ‘Country of Origin’ disclosures on most of its private label brands, citing reasons of food source and supplier secrecy.
~~[Wikipedia]
5. Baa-Baa-Q’s Lamb Lung.
Baa-Baa-Q’s are made out of lamb lung, is 100% natural, and is not high in fat. I mostly put these into the Hol-ee Roller Ball dog toy. This provides my dogs with an interesting mental activity, and they are very motivated to get the lamb lung out.
6. Gimborn Freeze Dried Liver.
This dog treat is similar to the Baa-Baa-Qs because it is high in protein, and does not contain any additives. However, my dogs only have medium interest in these.
7. Premier Liver Biscotti.
I have tried the wheat and egg free versions. Sadly, my dogs quickly lost interest in these treats. The liver biscotti also upset my Siberian Husky’s stomach, because it contains oat flour. Otherwise, the ingredient list looks good, and it has relatively high protein content.
8. Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls.
These rolls have a nice, strong smell that drives my dogs crazy. Both Shiba and Siberian love these treats, and will do good work for them. Unfortunately, these rolls also contain wheat.
If your dog does not have any wheat allergies, then these rolls can be very effective for obedience training. Just cut them up into small, bite-sized pieces.
9. Charlee Bears.
During dog training class, my Shiba Inu would not stop begging from the people with Charlee Bears in their pockets. Unfortunately, Charlee Bears contain mostly wheat flour, and my poor Shiba Inu is allergic to wheat.
Otherwise, these dog treats can be helpful for dog training. My dogs love them, they are low in calories, and they do not contain bad additives. As with all other treats, however, it is important to feed in moderation.
10. Smokehouse Chicken Poppers.
A problem I had with Smokehouse Poppers, was that they were too large in size. To make sure I did not overfeed my dogs during training, I had to cut them into smaller pieces individually. This was very time intensive and a big pain in the ass, so I stopped using this dog treat.
It turned out for the best because in 2007, there was a recall on Smokehouse products.
For this reason, I would not recommend using Smokehouse dog treats.
Dental Dog Treats
In the past, I gave my dogs deer antlers for their chewing pleasure.
However, my Shiba Inu cracked one of his pre-molars while chewing on a deer antler.
The dental specialist I went to advised us NOT to give our dog any hooves, compressed rawhide, compressed antlers, processed white bones, or even non-edible Nylabones (basically anything that we think is too hard, and has no give).
Instead, she suggested that we use Greenies for dental health. Make sure to get the proper Greenie size for a dog, and supervise his initial chewing sessions to ensure that he does not swallow large pieces of the dental dog treat. So far, Greenies have worked out well for us.
Note that rawhide is not a good dental dog treat.
Many dogs can tear off fairly large chunks from a rawhide chew-toy. If swallowed, these chunks may become a choking hazard. They may also block the digestive system and cause infection. Rawhide pieces may absorb water and expand in your dog’s stomach, causing further digestive issues.
Please Let Us Know
If there are particular commercial dog treats or dog food that have caused your dog problems, please post about it below.
The more information we share, the better we can protect our dogs from poor quality dog treats and dog food. Woof Woof!!
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Hi again
Sammi turns 6 months old in 2 weeks time…
I just wanted to ask whether you found this behaviour strange. We give Sammi Greenies and he used to love them but lately when we give him the treat, he whines at it then picks it up in his mouth and starts running around (still whining).
We’re not sure whether he doesn’t like them or if he wants to find a place to bury or hide it? I follow him to see what he’s doing with it but when he sees me close by, he just runs again.
But he must like them because he finishes them… at some stage.
It’s the funniest thing to watch but we’re just stuck as to why he behaves this way?
Thank you as always,
Frances
LOL! Yeah Sephy used to do exactly the same thing. He also does this with bully sticks. As far as I can tell, this behavior is triggered by-
1. A high priority item. Something that he really likes but has limited access to.
2. Something that can’t be finished with just one gulp.
When faced with such an item, Sephy runs around to try and find a safe hiding place for it. He has tried to bury things under the sofa cushions before, and he has also buried a deer antler in the backyard. I think he does this because he doesn’t want to finish it right away, and wants to keep some of it for later. It is high priority though, so he gets stressed out about finding a safe hiding place for it.
We were able to stop the behavior for Greenies by doing the following-
1. We gave his Greenie to him at night for going into his crate.
2. He works on his Greenie inside his crate where it is safe and he knows that nobody will take it away from him. He also has the whole night to work on it.
3. Initially, we brought two Greenies with us. We gave him one and showed him that we have a second one that we will keep safe for him for tomorrow night.
Now he knows that he gets one every night for going into his crate so he is not frantic about it anymore. Bully sticks will still trigger the behavior though, because he doesn’t get it regularly and it is not in his routine.
This always reminds me of that insurance commercial where the dog takes his bone to the bank and puts it in a safety deposit box!
Big hugs to Sammi! Always great to hear from you both.
Natural Balance makes a grain-free duck & potato dog food roll actually. My dogs are grain-free and love this product. They also like their sweet potato, salmon & apple Healthy Bones, and I also get them their L.I.T. treats as well (sometimes bison, sometimes venison) Natural Balance has lots of really healthy grain-free treat options.
Thanks Jake. I will have to check out these products and update the article.
wow what a great treat list iam actually going to pick up a bag of greenies hope eddie likes them. Last year a friend brought treats for eddie from alaska that is made especially for huskies well ive never seen my dog like this he actually jumped on my kitchen counter and almost knocked his treat container on the floor. They were called chummies and theres a husky on the front of the package you should try those.
for some strange reason puparoni ( i know not the best choice) gives eddie terrible gas needles to say never gave him those again.
Thanks for the treat suggestion. They look good, especially the grain free version – kindda reminds me of Zukes Minis. My Sibe is allergic to fish oil though, so she can’t take salmon; which is too bad.
I went to look for them on Amazon, and they actually carry them now.
Arctic Paws 2-1/2-Pound Yummy Chummies Gold 95% Salmon Bulk treats
My Sibes love Greenies and totally inhale them – you know how Sibes are with food.
I supervise them very closely initially to make sure they don’t try to swallow chunks that are too large. Hope Eddie likes them.
Great treat suggestions, I am always looking for new goodies to give my food allergy-ridden Shiba. Since your Shiba is allergic to wheat, I wanted to mention the Natural Balance treat roll, duck and potato formula in place of the Natural Balance dog food rolls in lamb, beef, or turkey. There is no wheat in the duck & potato treat roll, so maybe your Shibz can enjoy that
Thanks Stefanie!
I didn’t know about the duck and potato formula and will definitely check it out. Shiba Sephy thanks you too!
Thank you so much – that is exactly the information I was looking for. And I also must admit that I was thinking I already sent those to you but am realizing now that I didn’t! I’ll get to mom’s this weekend – my pictures of him are stored on her computer – and PROMISE to send you some to pick from. I also need to send you his series of pictures which I’ve dubbed “Shiba ‘Death to my Tail’ Chase”… yeah, you can imagine. ;o) Go hug those doggies for me!
The new pictures are great! Sephy’s face in the battle pictures absolutely cracked me up. I can’t believe how fast the new pup is growing, and what a cuddler! I do have a question for you… Zeus isn’t bored with his kong but he does have a been there done that, maybe I’ll chew on it after I tear up the carpet type of attitude. I wanted to get him bully sticks or some rawhide bones but have heard such mixed reviews from vets I just wasn’t sure. He is 7 months old now. Do you do rawhide or bullies with your pups? Have you had any bad experiences if so?
Hi Jess,
I started with rawhide but several trainers warned me about them. The problem with rawhide is that sometimes dogs chew of pieces that are too large and when they swallow them, they may choke on them. Based on what I read, Shiba’s are susceptible because of their long sharp teeth which allows them to tear chunks off effectively.
Another problem with rawhide is that it is not digestible by dogs. As a result, it may also cause digestive issues if it absorbs water and expands in the dog’s stomach.
I now use bully sticks. I don’t give them too much of these, maybe about 1 per week or less. The nice thing about bully sticks it that it is digestible, and is mostly made up of protein.
However, they are more expensive and the dogs can get through them very quickly. Shania finishes one in about 15-20 minutes. Still though, she likes it very much. Sephy is weird and will only work on bully sticks that have first been per-chewed by Shania.
Bully sticks can also be somewhat smelly. Some of this is brand dependent.
Anyway send me some pictures of Zeus when you have the time so I can include them with his new poem.
Hello Dani,
I am afraid I do not know much about breeding dogs.
When I was trying to find solutions for my Siberian’s crooked leg though, I got a second opinion from a different vet. That helped me a lot in terms of deciding what to do for her. At least I was sure what the issue was.
Also consider posting on the Shiba forum – there are many people there who know a lot about Shibas.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/
Let us know how things go with your Shiba. Many hugs to her.
Hi I love your website but I have an urgent question for you being that you own A shiba inu and a siberian husky like I do and last month my female shiba inu got pregnant by my male siberian husky I have seen the mix before but my vet is telling me that it will kill her to have them I would not want to jeopardize her life ever and never would so if you have any information on this I would greatly appreciate it anything would be sufficient thanks for your time and your beautiful pictures and great information on your site hope to hear from you soon
Thanks Clair.
Love your profile pic! Are you owned by a Shiba?
Awesome content – thanks for all the tips!
Thanks jackinabox. Carrots and apple are great treat choices too.
My dogs weren’t really into them though. My Shiba Inu would usually just shred the carrots and spit them out. The apples he really didn’t like the skin. After I took the skin off he liked it a bit better but it didn’t really light a fire in his belly or anything
Those are some great suggestions for treats. My dog loves to eat carrot and slices of apple. (without the core and seeds)