Healthy Dog Treat Recipes
Let’s think outside of the conventional treat bag, as I’m always searching for the best treats out there. First, understand I’m not a good cook. Actually, I’m terrible. But I still want to provide healthy dog treats that dogs love! If dogs don’t love them, then they will not work for them. It’s that simple. Will you work for a piece of string bean? I won’t.
Hence, my quest for finding the perfect healthy dog treats that require no cooking begins!
Dried Fruits for Dogs
Dogs love dried fruit, but not all dried fruits are the same. 🙂 As a dog trainer, I was pretty shocked at the results of using dried fruit as treats. Think of dog treats as your dog’s currency. The better you pay, the faster your dog will learn. Would I classify dried fruit as a high value reward around major distractions (during a group class)? Probably not, but they will improve behaviors around your home, such as your dog’s recall (coming when called from the backyard), which is pretty darn important to me. 🙂
Dried fruit winners, listed in order of doggie deliciousness, are:
- Banana Chips
- Pineapple
- Apricots (Yes, I was pretty shocked too!)
Why Dried Fruit?
As with teaching or improving any behavior, rewards are pretty important. If you don’t believe me, try teaching your dog to sit using a piece of kibble or chunk of tuna fish! I tried all types of fruit, even a few veggies, such as dried green beans and sweet potato, but my dogs did not respond as fast as I would have liked. Yes, they came when called, responded to cues, but not quickly or enthusiastically until they tasted dried bananas, pineapple and apricots. They were hooked!
If you’re sprinkling additives to your dog’s daily meals, take a peek at the ingredients. Supplements add additional vitamins to your dog’s diet, right? Well, daily dried fruits will do this for you too! Let’s take a deeper look into the dried fruit winners.
Banana Chips
Banana chips are a great example of a low glycemic fruit that provides a unique mix of vitamins and minerals. Bananas are rich in vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, manganese, biotin, copper and much needed fiber. Plus, bananas provide plenty of fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which feed friendly bacteria in your dog’s gut.
Pineapple
Pineapple is loaded with vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, folate, manganese, copper and lots of fiber. This is a sensitive topic, but does your dog eat poop? Well, pineapple can help! Bromelain, found abundantly in pineapple, produces a bitter taste to stools. This prevents your dog from eating, well, you know. 🙂
Apricots
Even while dried, apricots maintain their chewiness, which dogs love! Apricots are packed with vitamin C, vitamin A, carotenoids (protects eyesight when aging) and polyphenolic antioxidants like flavonoids, which prevent heart disease and many other illnesses. If you’re still not convinced, apricots  contain large amounts of catechins (also found in green tea) and reduce inflammation in the body.
But Dried?
Fresh fruit is best, as a small percent of vitamins are lost during the dehydration process. You still can’t beat the convenience of dried fruit though. Plus, supplements contain dried fruit too so you’re still providing much needed vitamins while rewarding good behavior!
Experiment. Which dried fruits (excluding raisins) drive your dogs crazy?
