How Safe Are Your Doggie Treats

Hi, my name is Cassy, and this is my sister, Jewel.  We are both dogs!  Yes, you did read that last sentence correctly.  You see, our human master named Barry decided to write an article about doggie treats.  Now with all due respect to Barry, what ever does a human know about the greatest goodies for a dog?  That would be like a dog writing about the finest goodies for a goldfish!

So Jewel and I decided that while Barry was outside in the yard, most likely cleaning up our “cigar deposits” prior to mowing the lawn, (he! he!), we would compose an article on doggie treats from the canine point of view.  There is no time to squander, as our human would completely freak if he realized that I was using his computer and getting paw prints all over the keyboard!

All doggie treats are not created equal!  Looking at the notes on this topic lying here beside the computer, I see that our human has done some researching into the sorts of substances that you must pass up adding to your home-made doggie snacks, or for that matter, the kinds of components to steer clear of when purchasing commercially made treats and dog food for your dog as well.

8 “No-No” Ingredients for Doggie Goodies

1. Chocolate- is lethal to dogs as it acts as a stimulant and speeds up the heart.  Did you realize that we can actually get “chocolate poisoning” from too much chocolate due to a chemical called Theo-bromine that is found in chocolate!  Well there goes my Easter snacks!

2. Onions- in any form are poisonous to us!  We can get a medical situation known as Heinz Body Anemia, which is a fancy way of stating that onions can damage our red blood cells!  Yipes!  No more liver and onion sandwiches for me!

3. Grapes- as a result of their high sugar content, foods high in sugar such as grapes or raisins give us digestion problems and make us sick enough to throw up.  Yuck!

4. Mushrooms- not a great idea as depending on the kind of mushroom, these may cause us all sorts of problems internally and even death if the mushroom is of the deadly variety.

5. Nuts- should be avoided as they may bring about dangerous digestive troubles which means a irritated stomach for me!  Peanut butter is an omission to this “no nut rule” as it is processed and less difficult to digest than raw nuts.

6. Salt- only in tiny amounts as this can cause electrolyte imbalances in our body.

7. Sugar- keep away from creating or buying goodies high in sugar content, both natural or refined sugar, as our bodies are not made to handle large amounts of sugar intake from our foods.

8. Cheese- the research appears to be divided on this one.  Some of us can cope with cheese fine and others cannot!  Most of us love cheese in our treats, but to prevent probable tummy problems and diarrhea later, only use small amounts in your goodies.  As cheese is a dairy product, this word of warning applies to other dairy products as well such as milk, powder milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt.

My human must be almost done the lawn, so time to carry on and discuss what kinds of food are safe to add to your home-made doggie treats or harmless to have in commercial doggie goodies.

5 “Yes-Yes” Ingredients for Doggie Goodies

1. Vegetables- with the exception of onions, grapes, and some say garlic, are all all right to add to treats.  I know that Jewel and I fancy carrots and peas in our snacks.

2. Fruits- stay away from the high sugar fruits such as grapes and raisins, otherwise fruits such as apples and oranges make good treat ingredients.

3. Meat- we all love meat in our goodies!  Raw or cooked meat is excellent!  No bones, especially chicken bones which often break up and can seriously hurt us.

4. Eggs- very nourishing as an ingredient, and did you know that even the egg shell ground ground up is fine too as a source of calcium.

5. Rice- personally, Jewel and I go for rice, but some “human experts” are in opposition to rice, so this is one of those ingredients that is smart to only use in small amounts until you are sure that your dog has no bad side effects from ingesting rice in their goodies.

In conclusion, it is of little good to be careful about the kinds of doggie treats you give your dog, if you are not also careful to see what ingredients are in the dog foods you are feeding us. Our existence is depending on you!

Tags: Dog Food, dog treats, safe dog foods, safe dog treats