How To Choose The Healthiest Dog Treats, And What To Look For

Healthy Dog Treats and Dog Food quickly became the priority of millions of pet lovers after the pet food recalls in 2007. Most of us were absolutely mortified to think that we could have been potentially poisoning our own dogs. Even worse, it involved many major pet food manufacturers, which only served to undermine our trust in what had been a trusted standard in every dog's life for over fifty years.

Over 100 dogs died within a two week period alone and many more reported cases of kidney failure, all from tainted dog food. This instantly stopped millions of dog owners from purchasing their dog's treats and food from commercial sources but without their local markets, many people were at a loss as to where to go from here.

However, it didn't take long for the close knit family of pet owners everywhere to jump online and start chatting about how they could feed their dogs treats and food made right at home! Soon there were recipe exchanges going on and new dog bakeries popping up on every e-store front corner.

Before long, there seemed to be a bonanza of new types of dog food and healthy dog treats to choose from. The idea of bakery dog treats isn't really a new one. The first dog bakery was actually opened back in 1937 in St. Louis by Ed and Helen Lubeley. Although many thought they were crazy to make dog treats in their bakery, their business is still alive and thriving over 70 years later.

Over the years a few health conscience dog lovers started their own bakeries or home dog treat businesses but it was a slow trend that led to the sudden onslaught of interest in natural, organic, holistic, homemade and other healthy dog treats.

As our human society became more aware of the importance of nutrition in our own lives, we began to transfer that concern to our pets. As the concern for their health grew so did our need to treat our pets as if they were miniature humans. Once our precious pups surpassed the hurdle of just being "pets" and society began to accept them as true family members, the explosion of pampered pet products went wild!

As with any booming industry, there are always a few bad apples in the bunch. When you are choosing a healthy dog treat for your furry friend, it should be an easy choice. It seems you should simply be able to read the label that says, "natural dog treats" or "organic dog treats" etc., and know that's what your dog is getting. Right? Sadly that is not always the case.

Unfortunately the labeling regulations have not yet caught up to the new industry standards and it's fairly easy for a company to label their dog treats natural when they aren't really 100% natural.

Once you are aware of what can and can't appear on dog treat labels, then you should consider what it is you and your favorite pup are looking for. Don't worry too much about healthy dog treats tasting bad because with the multiple choices available there is a wide variety of flavors available. Remember to consider whether you dog has any allergies that needs addressing.

I also want to mention that even if you don't think your dog will eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, you will be surprised. Your dog will likely eat anything if given the chance to be introduced to the new food properly.

A Look At What To Consider:

* Natural - A healthy natural dog treat should not include any chemicals, preservatives, dyes or added artificial flavorings. The whole idea is that this type of treat is natural and should not include processed ingredients.
* Nutritious - Each treat should supply a healthy amount of vitamins and minerals.
* Made-to-order - Your dog certainly will have different likes and dislikes than my dog and may also have different foods that disagree with them. The point is, you will want to be able to choose specific ingredients to include and exclude for your dog's treats.
* Fresh - Any ingredient used to make a dog treat should be fresh including all fruits and vegetables. Healthy dog treats should be no different than food you would prepare for yourself in that they are made with human grade ingredients.

Once you have an idea of what flavors, shape, size etc. it's time to start making a few sample choices. There are numerous sites online that will offer you free samples of dog treats. This is a great way to see what your dog likes and dislikes and/or what agrees or doesn't agree with them. When your freebies arrive, remember to space them out and not feed them all at once. That way you can determine how well they like each one and be sure that each one agrees with them.

Remember to choose several dog treats that your dog enjoys. The idea behind this is that you wouldn't want to eat the exact same snack every day for the rest of your life, right? So, give them several to choose from and mix it up.

Be aware that there are many types to choose from too. Everything from dog biscuits, dog treats, dog cakes, homemade dog treats, and various others. Then there's also the varieties of all natural, organic, gourmet, holistic, homemade and a few others. Check each one out and see if it meets your dog's needs.

This may seem to be a lot of work for just a dog treat to some but for those of you who are true dog lovers, you know that for every healthy dog treat you serve your precious pooch, that's one more thing you're doing to make a difference in the quality and health of their life. They spend so much time making us happy and adding joy to our lives, let's keep them around and keep them healthy while they're here.