Pet owners often pick out dog treats at random and give them to their furry companion but they don’t think about what can be beneficial for their furry friend. How to choose the right treat for your dog with so many options lying around? Relax and read the complete article if a similar thought bothers you too.

Types of Treats

There are natural hard treats, soft treats, and freeze-dried treats available in the market.

Soft Treats

Different dogs have different chewing urges. The teeth of young dogs are weak because they are still in the developing stage, and hard chews will not work for them, so puppies and older dogs should opt for soft treats. High-protein and low-fat soft treats should be considered for puppies because they can fulfill their nutritional needs.

Hard Treats

Hard treats are generally opted for dogs with aggressive chewing instincts. Hard treats made from natural substances like deer antlers can act as a treat and dog toys. Dogs can carry such treats anywhere and chew them for a long time. These natural dog chews and treats can go on for weeks or even months. These treats not only satisfy the chewing urges of a dog but also strengthen their teeth by pulling out impurities.

PetYupp has a wide range of natural dog treats like water buffalo cheek roll and buffalo bone collagen treat, that are very helpful to keep dental issues in dogs at bay.

Freeze Dried Treats

Freeze Dried Treats are the healthiest option among all the treats because as their name suggests, these are prepared from freeze-dried nutrients. Cooking can take away some of the benefits of some ingredients but freeze-dried treats make sure that dogs are provided with the nutritional richness of raw ingredients.

How Can You Choose Treats for Your Dog?

Even though there is a wide range of treats available in the market, you can’t feed everything to your dog. Many factors come into play while choosing a treat for your dog.

• Age is a major factor that comes into play. Softer dog treats should be provided for puppies and older dogs because hard treats can cause severe dental damage in their case. Dogs who are young and more active should be given hard and long-lasting treats to satisfy their chewing urges and strengthen their teeth.

• Ingredients are another major deciding factor to choose the right treats for your dog. Avoid treats filled with excessive fat and sugar content. Treats with additional and unnecessary fillers can be harmful to your dogs. Choose treats with more natural content and less artificial flavors.

• The best long-lasting dog chews and treats have a hard and firm texture that helps to reduce plaque and tartar buildup in your pooch. The texture of the treats should be good enough for your pooch to engage. Dogs can spend hours chewing treats with good texture.

• If your dog has a medical history or an underlying health condition, do not provide them treats without the vet's recommendation. A vet can properly recommend what kind of treat can be provided to your dog.

• Always check the ingredients thoroughly, sometimes “natural ingredients” are written on the pack but they do not mention anything else about the ingredients. It is very important to know about the source of ingredients. Just having natural ingredients is not enough, ingredients like chocolate, raisins, and toxins can be poisonous for dogs so considering the quality of ingredients is also helpful.

What Kind of Treats Should You Avoid?

Sometimes preservatives are added to increase the shelf life of a dog treat. You need to avoid brands that contain artificial preservatives like BHA, BHT, potassium sorbate, and ethoxyquin. Should dog owners also check the color of the treats? Of Course, they should! Artificial coloring can be harmful to your pets so buying treats that contain harmful colors should be avoided. Synthetic sweeteners that are added to enhance the taste should be avoided at all costs because they can make a dog obese and cause dental problems.

Chemical humectants are used to save dog treats from dryness and discoloration, such treats can disrupt the digestive system of the dogs which is why they should be avoided. You don’t need to worry about how to choose the right treats for your dog, PetYupp provides a wide variety of the safest chews at very affordable prices.